During the 2020 Silicon Valley Innovation Challenge (SVIC) Tuesday, San Jose State students proposed ideas for solving a growing global health crisis to industry professionals in an effort to receive awards.
SVIC is a competition created by the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business in 2004 as a way to encourage student entrepreneurs’ creativity, according to the competition’s SJSU webpage.
Students from all departments are able to create an innovative solution to a local or global issue and compete for cash rewards.
In October, students submitted project proposals and finalists were selected to present at the remote event through Zoom and Mozilla Hub, a virtual reality chatroom.
A team of SJSU students from the master’s of biotechnology program won the category for Best Elevator Pitch with their project, BioMe. An elevator pitch is a description of an idea or product that is explained in a brief time period.
The student team proposed a solution to obesity by using a combination of probiotics and postbiotics.
According to a 2013 article in the scientific journal, Clinics in Perinatology, probiotics are microorganisms and postbiotics are byproducts of probiotics, both of which alleviate symptoms associated with obesity.
“[BioMe] actually takes an unhealthy gut which is a result of a diet that could be high in fats and sugars [that] leads to weight gain and it actually transforms it back to a healthy state...which modulates the metabolism for sustainable weight loss,” Laura Henry, a biotechnology graduate student and BioMe co-founder, said over Mozilla Hub.
According to the SVIC judging webpage, students are evaluated on the practicality and originality of their product idea, its implementation and overall presentation.
Judges from industries including marketing and technology determined the winners for all categories except the People’s Choice Award, which was decided by an audience popular vote.
Award categories included Best Elevator Pitch, Best Peer-to-Peer/Social Networking Innovation, Best Healthcare Innovation, People’s Choice and Best Overall Innovation.
Henry said the team’s win was unexpected.
“[There] was a lot of competition today, a lot of really good pitches, but we’re incredibly excited to hear [about the win],” Henry said during the event. “We put a lot of work into it and we’re excited that the judges saw what we saw in our idea.”
The Emergency Connection team won Best Peer-to-Peer/Social Networking Innovation, for their app proposal allowing people to create posts asking for or offering community aid during or after a natural disaster.
“The inspiration for the app was purely to help people get quick and local access to resources in their communities during a natural disaster,” business management senior and team member, Kylie Pappas, said over email.
Pappas said the competition made her realize how many students are capable of coming up with innovative ideas.
“I also learned that there is a lot that goes into creating a business [and it’s] a lot more than just having an idea,” Pappas said.
Sarika Pruthi, an SJSU Global Innovation and Leadership professor serving as the main organizer and faculty adviser for the event, said she was amazed by students’ capabilities to create original ideas, especially during a global pandemic.
“This year was unusual as the event was held in a virtual setting,” Pruthi said over email. “At first, it was difficult to gauge how much interest it would generate and to what extent students would feel willing and motivated to participate.”
Pruthi said even under different circumstances this year, SVIC attracted a higher number of submissions than its previous two years, hosting 43 student teams at the first-ever online competition.
“I am very pleased that we have student teams from the College of Business, College of Science and the College of Professional and Global Education (CGPE) among our winners today,” she said. “This year is unusually successful for the College of Business, with student teams from [the college] taking four of this year’s top seven awards, including the Best Overall Innovation.”
Pruthi mentioned that she was disappointed the event was online.
“Not being able to see the smiles on the winner’s faces and not being able to capture those smiles on camera, was perhaps the most difficult part of the event for me this year,” she said.
