DCU/Manning Contest Info College of Engineering Contest Info

  • These events have ended. Please check back in fall 2024. In the meantime, please apply to the Spring $50,000 Idea Challenge!
  • DifferenceMaker co-sponsors and supports college competitions that emerge from the program each year.

DifferenceMaker Information

  • North Campus – Stop by our location next to Starbucks in the Lydon Library
  • South Campus - Wednesdays: 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. in O'Leary Library Lobby

DifferenceMaker Fall Competitions

Digital Federal Credit Union and Manning School of Business Innovation Contest

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, four teams pitched at the final contest and the First Place  was awarded to team Bean Hub, Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) with the DCU personal assistant helping users navigate the app and their financial information.

Francis College of Engineering Prototyping Competition

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.
  • In the Fall 2023 competition, 15 teams participated in the competition and the First Place Award of $2,500 was awarded to team ZipperBuddy- A device to help individuals with upper mobility issues fasten their jackets, shirts, and other garments.

Event Locations Details