Timeline
February 13, 2024 – Registrations for the competition open
March 18, 2024 - Registrations for the competition close. Finalists will be contacted one week after submissions close.
April 4, 2024 (Design Day) - Final presentations and evaluation of the 8 finalist concepts to receive monetary awards totalling $10,000. The first, second, and third place projects will win $5,000, $3,000, and $2,000, respectively.
Competition eligibility requirements
This competition is designed to encourage and support prototyping and real-world validation of entrepreneurial concepts. Entries are expected to go beyond the Idea phase, but have not received any meaningful traction prior to submission (funding, sales, or any other accelerants as determined by the selection committee).
- Individual entries: participants will need to be registered students in any of the Faculty of Engineering undergraduate or graduate programs of studies during the Fall and/or Winter term.
- Team entries: majority of the participants need to be registered students in any of the Faculty of Engineering undergraduate or graduate programs of studies during the Fall and Winter term. For teams comprising only two individuals, this condition will be fulfilled if at least one of the two team members meets these eligibility requirements.
Competition submission requirements
- Video recording (up to five minutes) that explains the problem, your solution, and a summary of key validations made to date.
- Written submission (up to 800 words) that summarizes your business validation so far.
Submissions will be reviewed based on the following areas:
- Problem Validation - Provide evidence of customer interviews, surveys, or data that validates the existence and significance of the problem.
- Solution Validation - Demonstrate how the proposed solution addresses the identified problem.
- Market Validation - Provide evidence of market research, potential customer segments, and market trends.
- Customer Validation - Demonstrate understanding of customer needs and preferences.
- Business Model - Demonstrate a viable and sustainable path to monetization.
- Finance and Legal - Demonstrate potential funding avenues, corporate structure, potential legal regulations, and limitations
