UMass Lowell Contests Teach Entrepreneurship, Award Cash Prizes
12/03/2013
Contacts: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu, Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu
* Media Advisory *
Wednesday, Dec. 4
What: UMass Lowell student entrepreneurs poised to develop new products and launch new enterprises will pitch their ideas to expert judges and vie for cash prizes during two contests.
From a robotic device that tunes string instruments to a college social-media incentive program, the Creative Venture Competition will feature ideas from six teams of UMass Lowell students who will unveil a business or nonprofit plan for the humanities or social-services sector. The winning team will receive $2,500 in seed funding, while four other top finishers will receive $500. The contest is presented by UMass Lowell’s College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
Eight other student teams will square off in the DCU/UMass Lowell Manning School of Business Innovation Contest, which asks them to develop products and services for the banking and financial-services fields. Students pitching ideas such as a new mobile banking platform and an investment tracker will compete for a first-place purse of $500 for each winning team member. Other finalists will receive $100 each.
Judges will include UMass Lowell alumni and other successful business people. The winning team in each event will compete in the final round of UMass Lowell’s 2014 DifferenceMaker $25,000 Idea Challenge. Launched last year, the DifferenceMaker Program encourages students to hone their problem-solving skills in order to develop innovations for business and the community. Two of last year’s DifferenceMaker contest winners have already seen success developing a new type of prosthetic limb and launching a business that offers a website that streamlines options for restaurant customers.
Where and When: Creative Venture Competition, 4 to 6 p.m., O’Leary Library Learning Commons, Room 222, South Campus, 61 Wilder St., Lowell. DCU/Manning School of Business Innovation Contest, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2), Wannalancit Mills, second floor, 600 Suffolk St., Lowell.