The TU/e Contest was set up ten years ago as it was becoming clear that the engineer of the future must be able to market their new ideas. Students learned to deliver short pitches and received support from the business community. Every edition guaranteed extraordinary plans, and some were converted to a student team or startup.

This year, many ideas across all kinds of subjects were once again submitted, from healthcare to energy and from smart AI to very tangible projects. TU/e Contest Project Manager Bart van Grevenhof gives some examples of teams that will present their posters tomorrow. “Cyano2, a team that is developing a new kind of carbon capturing, and they might be one of the coolest new student teams on campus. ArtVista, a startup that is going to make your visit to the Prado, Louvre, or Rijksmuseum a whole new experience by providing you with your own personal guide. FABBS, a project from within the student team InMotion, where the team develops a novel battery management system, which may help charge your car battery even faster. Past Echo, a team who shows great compassion and empathy, is designing an emotional passport for people with dementia and their caretakers.”

The tenth edition takes the form of a conference. Alongside the finalists, all contestants will present their posters, and students that didn’t participate can still join to network. There will be various workshops and presentations by alumni that share their experiences. Keynote speaker is former TU/e Contest participant and Goal 3 startup founder Jelle Schuitemaker.

Looking back

"Looking back at all the ideas that participated over the last 10 years, many students transformed their projects from idea to impact,” says Van Grevenhof. “A great example is Hable One, an idea transformed into a venture that helps visually impaired people use smart phones."

The TU/e Contest gives all participating students the opportunity to develop their entrepreneurial spirit. “Although the TU/e Contest is fully extra curricular, the learning process is crucial,” says Gert Guri, coordinator of Education on Entrepreneurial Learning at Innovation Space. It’s all about working together, with each other and with business partners. “The competitive component of the TU/e Contest keeps the students on their toes.”

Not continuing is also positive

Not every winner will automatically become a student team or startup. Guri: “The TU/e Contest is a starting point to discover whether your idea has the potential to become a student team or startup, but also to discover whether you are really committed to continuing this journey. So, choosing not to continue with an idea after the Contest is a positive result, as long as someone gave it their all, and takes all new skills along with them to make impact in the future.”

Finally, Guri expresses the hope that in these times filled with uncertainty, people will also come away from the contest with a bit of optimism and inspiration. “Because innovation, ingenuity and entrepreneurial behavior can provide amazing solutions for even the toughest problems.”