These events have concluded. Please get involved in our spring 2023 events!

DifferenceMaker co-sponsors and supports college competitions that emerge from the program each year.

Digital Federal Credit Union and Manning School of Business Innovation Contest -

Applications Open September 21, 2022!

This contest is open to all UMass Lowell students.

  • DifferenceMaker, the Manning School of Business and Digital Federal Credit Union hosts the DifferenceMaker DCU Manning School of Business Innovation Contest each fall semester.
  • This Innovation Contest seeks UMass Lowell students who may have a cutting-edge banking and/or financial innovation which will help drive the future success in the banking industry.
  • At last year's contest, five teams pitched at the final contest and the First Place Prize of $500 per team member was awarded to team StockToMe - a stock opinion community where anyone can post an opinion about a stock. They received $1,800 in cash prizes!

FAHSS Creative Community Competition *NEW this year*

Applications Open September 15, 2022!

This competition is open to all UMass Lowell students, however, each team needs to have at least one student on it from FAHSS, who is also the team leader.

  • DifferenceMaker and the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences will host a NEW competition this fall; the DifferenceMaker FAHSS Creative Community Competition.
  • The Creative Community Competition seeks to motivate and guide students toward the improvement of their community in a measurable, actionable, and continuable manner.
  • The competition will encourage creativity and promote actionable thinking – from concept to delivery – required to plan and launch a potential program, product or service. The proposed concepts will seek to make the world a better place; starting with our local community.

Francis College of Engineering Prototyping Competition - 

Applications Open September 21, 2022!

This competition is open to all UMass Lowell students, however, each team needs to have at least one student on it from the Francis College of Engineering.

  • DifferenceMaker and the Francis College of Engineering hosts a Differencemaker Prototyping Competition each fall semester.
  • The Prototyping Competition seeks ideas that can be turned into real products. This competition assists students in thinking about an idea and actually building it into a reality.
  • At last year's competition, over 20 teams participated in the competition and the First Place Award of $2,500 was awarded to team PEAK Performance - A device that assesses and corrects rotational misalignments between the pelvis and spine.