First-Ever Great Race Innovation Chase
| Published: 04/06/2008 |
|
University students are on a hunt for the best vehicle - marketing vehicle - in the Great Race Innovation Chase, a competition challenging student teams' innovation and creativity on Saturday, April 12, 2008.
"We hope to see teams learn to work together quickly under outside pressures to become effective problem-solvers," said Dr. Jeffrey Blessing, associate professor at Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), who is organizing the event.
In the midst of scouring the city for clues to their next mission, teams of students will work to develop a strategy for Chevrolet that features their new, environmentally-friendly engine technologies such as the E-85, Hybrids and, ultimately, the Chevy Volt, (an electric car). The marketing strategy targets their peer demographic group in an effort to discover novel ways to make Chevrolet vehicles appealing to first-time car buyers ages 18 to 34.
MSOE, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Illinois Institute of Technology, Marquette, Bradley, Lawrence Tech, Valparaiso and University of Illinois at Chicago are the universities participating in the event, which will be broadcast live online from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at http://www.innovationchase.com/ on the day of the race.
Team-oriented tasks that are commonly encountered with innovative thinking, problem-solving and entrepreneurship are featured in the Chase. With up to $2,000 at stake, the winning team will convince judges that their designs and delivery methods will hit their target audience the most effectively.
"We hope that teams go back to their home universities and continue to practice their team-building skills on longer-term projects," Blessing added.
Sponsors of the event include MSOE, the Uihlein/Spitzer Endowed Fund for Entrepreneurship, Holz Chevrolet, OnStar, GMAC Financial Services and the KEEN (Kern Entrepreneurship Education Network) grant. MSOE plans to make this an annual event.
MSOE is an independent university with 2,500 students. MSOE offers 17 bachelor's degrees and 10 master's degrees in the engineering, engineering technology, architectural engineering and building construction, computer, business and health-related fields.