Some students slow down during the summer — no classes, no assignments, no responsibility. But at the University of Louisville, students Speed Up.
Speed Up, UofL’s summer product launch competition, returns for its third year from May to July. Students will team up and build their ideas into products and companies that could attract investors.
Participating teams will present the projects they plan to pursue at the next Speed Up meeting, which is 5 to 7 p.m. on May 23 in Duthie Center Room 225 at the U of L J.B. Speed School of Engineering.
Teams can choose to work on one of two themes: open data or digital health and wellness. Or, they can tackle a special challenge to produce a targeted mobile application for sponsor, Plumbers’ Supply Co.
Sponsors also include Kindred Healthcare Inc. and Care Innovations. The free program is through the Speed School’s department of Computer Engineering and Computer Science and the UofL Institute for Product Realization, which connects industry with campus.
Teams can be between two and five students from any department — business or design, for example — but the leader must be a Speed School student or recent graduate. They will have several weeks creating a product and mini business plan, including a preliminary marketing pitch and evaluation of potential customers.
At the end of the program, the teams will present their work to a panel of judges to compete for investment and awards. Winners will be announced in an awards ceremony on July 18.
