做厙輦⑹

Deadline approaches to register for Innovation Competition

by MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson

Calling all trailblazers! The heat is on, as the countdown to the Innovation Competition at Dickinson (IC@D) begins. A year in the making, IC@D is led by Eddie Finocchiaro ���15, Alex Torelli ���16 and Philip Velez ���15, who wanted to help spark and support student-led businesses, processes, services and initiatives. Monday, Feb. 9, marks the official start���and the final day you may to join the action, if you have ideas and/or talents to share.

If you register your team by Monday, you���ll have a chance to work with students from different majors to develop an idea and submit it digitally to the judges; you also can tap campus experts through groups such as the and the Student Investment Group. If your team���s plan and progress make it to the second round, you���ll have the luxury of honing your idea with an alumni mentor who���s an expert in venture capital and/or entrepreneurism. Teams that advance to the third round vie for a $2,000 prize.

IC@D organizers held a pre-kickoff mixer in the Rector Atrium Thursday night, where contestants could register online and introduce themselves to potential teammates. (Interested students who could not attend may still register through Monday; those who have not yet found teammates may discover like minds through the event���s .)

Noah Thompson ���17 and Abbey Fisler ���17 both arrived with ideas at the ready. Thompson, who majors in English and art & art history, hopes to create an executive board to run Project Storytime while he studies abroad next year, while Fisler (Italian studies, international studies and environmental studies) is searching for a business-savvy student to help her strategize her as-yet top-secret idea.

Other students, like Allison Roberto ���18, an undeclared major with Peddler experience, and Abigail Hsieh ���17, a computer-science major, hope to contribute skills that could help bring someone else���s stellar idea to life. ���I have a lot of ideas, but I really like helping to cultivate brilliance���I���ve been brilliance-adjacent my whole life,��� Roberto explained with a laugh, adding that the inventive projects brewing at the Idea Fund played an important role in her decision to attend Dickinson. ���It���s always good to help make something happen, to be part of a brilliant team.���

Learn more

• "Entrepreneurial Advice"
• "Nearing the Finish Line"
• ���Calling All Entrepreneurs���
• IC@DC rules and deadlines
• Latest News

Published February 6, 2015