NEWS
NORMAN, OKLA. – The University of Oklahoma hosted the inaugural Oklahoma Innovation Challenge on March 29 at the Tom Love Innovation Hub. Designed to foster entrepreneurial thinking and cross-disciplinary collaboration, the event brought together nearly 30 students from a range of academic backgrounds to solve real-world problems in just three hours.
“This is a great opportunity to increase cross-campus entrepreneurial collaboration,” said Bobby Lepak, executive director of the Tom Love Center for Entrepreneurship. “Often times, business students have a great idea, but they need help from engineers or journalism majors or fine arts students. Every college on campus has something to offer to entrepreneurship.”
Inspired by a national undergraduate business competition known as eFest, the Oklahoma Innovation Challenge was funded by a grant from EIX and the Schulze Family Foundation. The goal is to give students an opportunity to investigate the idea of entrepreneurship without having to totally commit to a program. By forming diverse teams, they get to develop a business idea and pitch it to a panel of judges.
Junior pre-med student Mohamed Elgouhari, who has participated in Startup OU programs in the past, helped organize and run the event. He also helped explain the idea of crafting a problem statement to the participants, which is an important first step in entrepreneurship.
“Mohamed worked as a congressional intern at the U.S. Senate last summer and compiled a report on the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Oklahoma. So, when I became the executive director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, he and I connected,” said Lepak. “He’s a great leader who really makes things happen. Without his leadership, this event wouldn’t have had the energy or turnout that it did.”
After working for three hours to develop a business idea, each team made three-minute pitches to two groups of judges that included Lepak alongside Aaron Latham and Micah Headley from Startup OU, Chase Greeno from the Fabrication Lab, OU alumnus Kent Long, and professor Sean Dwyer. The top three teams won cash prizes.
When reflecting on the success of this inaugural event, Lepak stressed the importance of student collaboration at OU.
“It’s really important to get students out of their silos. We need a dynamic and collaborative university system and programs like this are a great way for students to have meaningful cross-disciplinary interactions,” he said. “It also gives them a chance to stand in front of a room of strangers and pitch their ideas. That’s an important skill that every student, regardless of their major, will use in their careers.”
The motto of the Price College of Business, which houses the Tom Love Center for Entrepreneurship, is to ensure the enduring global competitiveness of Oklahoma and the nation. Programs like the Oklahoma Innovation Challenge do just that.
“Entrepreneurship is our superpower, and I want to encourage that in every way possible,” Lepak said. “I look forward to hosting the Oklahoma Innovation Challenge next year and continuing to grow the program bigger and better.”
Learn more about the Tom Love Center for Entrepreneurship and Startup OU, both of which co-hosted the event.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. For more information about the university, visit www.ou.edu.
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