Five student teams win inaugural Koch Innovation Challenge at Wichita State

Five teams of students from Wichita State won the university鈥檚 inaugural Koch Innovation Challenge.

The annual competition, held Saturday, Dec. 3, supports the College of Engineering in fostering a culture of creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship and teamwork among students.

The goal is to begin preparing students the moment they join 黑洞社区 to become real world-ready graduates with an entrepreneurial mindset.

The winning projects / teams are:

鈥淧icture This!鈥� - a magnetic Polaroid-like photography prop. Team members: Caroline Childs, Connor Egan, Liam Huckaby and Julie Sok.
鈥淥ut Cold鈥� - a customizable pillow with air chambers that helps reduce sleep discomfort. Team members: Derek Slaymaker, Braden Bohl, Cesar Gamboa, Jacob Kimble and Austin Nordyke.
鈥淪tim Support鈥� - A small box that children with ADHD or autism can play with to help them focus. Team members: Hayden Schrag, Natalie Ashbrook, Jacob Griffin and Talitha Wilson.
鈥渄-Safe鈥� - An electronic box with a breathalyzer that will return car keys only if someone is below the legal limit for blood-alcohol levels. Team members: Natalie Dutton, Azby Alshemeri, Zachary Bacon, Joseph Grondin and Abigail Richardson.
鈥淪nail-shell Camper鈥� - An ultra-lightweight camping shell that hooks onto a bicycle. Team members: James Sizemore, Kristian Buan, Michael Lee and Raistlin Welker.

The challenge is organized from two courses: the new Introduction to Technology & Innovation freshman seminar general education course and Engineering 101 Introduction to Engineering course.

Cross-disciplinary student team members are first-year freshmen and transfer students from majors all across campus, including four sport management majors, one pre-dance major, one chemistry major, and six liberal arts and sciences undecided majors.

Each of the five winners will be provided up to $1,200 in investment capital to pursue their ventures during their second semester. Additionally, students on the five winning teams will be awarded a $1,000 Koch Innovation Challenge scholarship for their second semester.

Each winning team will be paired with a faculty innovation mentor.