Invention Convention: Students Wins $10,000 in Prizes at Design Competition
Art supplies not unlike those found in an elementary school classroom鈥攃onstruction paper, paint, mason jars, trinkets, mini trees, and more鈥攁waited students in the AU Center for Innovation (AUCI) on the morning of February 18.听
鈥淚t looked like a hobby store threw up everywhere,鈥 said Cammi Rood, CAS/BS 鈥23, a student worker in the Design and Build Lab, who entered the contest.听
Nearly 100 undergrads and graduate students grabbed scissors and glue to piece together prototypes during AU鈥檚 first annual Sustainability Invent-a-thon. The goal: to create a toy or a game designed to educate young students about a United Nations sustainable development goal. The prize: $10,000, including $5,000 to the first-place team.听
鈥淪ustainability is in AU鈥檚 DNA,鈥 said Danielle Vogel, WCL/JD 鈥07, assistant director of AUCI, which partnered with the Design and Build Lab for the event. 鈥淲e鈥檙e constantly looking at ways to engage students, teach them, and maximize their impact through sustainability goals.鈥澨
Sixteen teams, many of which banded together shortly after meeting for the first time, spent eight hours developing and building their prototypes during the first leg of the competition. Each team was assigned one of the UN鈥檚 17 goals, and all decided to construct a game. Five teams advanced to the finals on March 4, giving them two weeks to perfect their product.听
The winning team鈥擬adeleine Danzberger, CAS/BA 鈥23, Joseph Rogero, Kogod/BS 鈥23, Kennedy Smith, CAS/BS 鈥25, and Rood鈥攃onstructed a three-player board game, Biome Builder, which teaches elementary schoolers about biodiversity. The game鈥攚hich focuses on UN goal 14 about life on land, protecting terrestrial ecosystems, and stopping biodiversity loss鈥攆eatures three biomes and five ecosystems and includes hexagonal pieces and action cards. 听
Danzberger entered the competition individually and had never met her teammates until the morning of the invent-a-thon. They bonded in the first round and stayed in contact over a group chat and in-person meetings while refining their game. Danzberger, an environmental science major, plans to work in sustainability, so the excitement about the competition outweighed any awkwardness about teaming up with strangers.听
鈥淲e went from zero to 100鈥攊t felt like a race,鈥 she said. 鈥淭he exercise was a great lesson on delegating tasks and hands-on learning. Everybody contributed, and we got such positive feedback.鈥澨
The team went from using glitter and glue for their prototype to the Design and Build Lab鈥檚 3D printer. The feedback from the judges, who included AU professors and a development consultant for the World Bank, could keep Biome Builder blooming past the competition. Rood and Danzberger said they hope to meet with the AUCI after spring break to see if there鈥檚 a place for the project in the center鈥檚 incubator.听
The invent-a-thon replaced AU鈥檚 hack-a-thon after the latter saw a drop in participation. 听
鈥淲e think the sky鈥檚 the limit for the invent-a-thon,鈥 said Vogel, who also teaches in Kogod鈥檚 Department of Management. 鈥淲e鈥檙e already talking about how to scale up the competition in the future.鈥澨
The second-place team (Natalie Parker, Pearl Jindal, Isabelle Ritz,听Mikki Mesfin) won $3,000, and the third-place finisher (Lily Kaiser, Hailee Arrington, Isabella Hite, Caden Headrick, Kim Minseong) received $2,000.