Students will have the opportunity to win cash prizes for their unique creations in the Wiscontrepreneur Challenge beginning Wednesday, Feb. 17.

The contest provides students with $15 vouchers to UW’s Surplus With a Purpose and 100 hours to design and create their own projects. Students must then complete their projects by 1 p.m. Sunday by posting photos or videos to a publicly accessible website, Office of Corporate Relations Assistant Director Doug Bradley said.

“We try to get all our students to think and act entrepreneurially and expose all students to the possibilities of entrepreneurship,” Bradley said.

Bradley added that cash prizes of $300 are awarded to students in three categories: most value, most social value and most creative. A $100 People’s Choice prize is also awarded to the contestant whose entry is viewed online by the most people.

Prizes, however, are not the focus of the competition. The challenge also aims to educate students that entrepreneurship is not only about making money, but also benefiting society and thinking creatively and spontaneously under a deadline, Bradley said.

As a result of the contest, some students have decided to study entrepreneurship or business.

“Many students then participate in other activities in business or entrepreneurship,” Bradley said. “This is just one step on a pathway to encourage students to think and act as an entrepreneur.”

In the past, students have used test tubes, bicycle parts and even vacuum cleaner parts to create original and innovative products, Bradley said.

He noted several particularly interesting projects at the contest, including the use of a bicycle pedal to energize an iPod, a water purification system designed to work in poor countries without filtration systems and a dress designed from air and vacuum filters.

UW junior Jessica Cabrera, the designer of the dress, described the challenge as a learning experience.

“I went into the challenge thinking I was doomed because I didn’t have any experience with putting things together to make them work,” Cabrera said.

She added she did not expect to win or place until Bradley informed her of being a finalist.

“I had no intention of being one of the prize winners and never thought my dress would have a chance,” Cabrera said. “I learned that you just have to take chances and believe in yourself. It challenged me to think differently and use my creativity to my advantage.”

Jeanan Yasiri, honorary associate in the UW School of Human Ecology, requires her students in a class on entrepreneurship in society to participate in the challenge to teach them how to think through creating a product in a finite amount of time.

“The challenge encourages students to leverage each other’s assets and appreciate what everyone can bring to the picture,” Yasiri said. “In over a few hours and with quick organization, they learn a lot from each other and realize they have the ability to create amazing things.”

Both students who have worked in teams and individually have created original and socially beneficial products in the past, Yasiri said.