KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Student entrepreneurs and inventors will have an opportunity to show off their original ideas to a wide audience this Friday at Western Michigan University during the Innovation Expo.
The purpose of the event is to allow students of all age groups to show off their ideas for an original invention. Criteria of each presentation must address a problem, the need to fill that problem, and how each idea meets that problem.
Different guidelines are issued for each age group. Students must also prove that the product or prototype is functional.
Interim Dean for WMU’s College of Engineering and Applied Science says that part of the goals for the event include reigniting creativity in college students.
“The younger participants typically have a lot more creativity than we see often in our college students,” Butt said. “One of the things that we do in our programming out here…is try to drive creativity back into our students that’s kind of lost as they are put through the rigorous courses that they take over time.”
Attendees of the event are given “Innovation Dollars” upon arriving, and are encouraged to “invest” their dollars in the most innovative products and services.
Because of this, Butt likens the event to the TV show “Shark Tank.”
“Those innovation dollars are essentially your way to vote, similar to Shark Tank, on the products that you like,” Butt said. “There will be a popular vote which is from the community, and there’s also judges that we are bringing in to do more of a straightforward judging.”
The event will take place this Friday at the Parkview Campus located at 4601 Campus Drive inside Floyd Hall. Parking for the event will be free all day.
A full schedule, as well as a list of regulations, rules, and guidelines can be found online at https://wmich.edu/ieeem/innovationexpo.
