Left to right: Darren Fast, Technology Transfer Office, U of M; and problem winners Hong Ngoc (RRC); Olandunni Olanubi (U of M); Forouz Mahdinezhad (U of M); and Dumitru Ignat (U of M). Not pictured: Avery Simundsson (U of M)
Five problems, can you solve one?
$20,000 in prizes up for grabs as phase 2 of Game Changer begins
Game Changer is a two-part competition open to all Manitoba post-secondary students (undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral fellows) to challenge them to identify problems and find tangible solutions for them.
The bold competition developed by the University of Manitoba, is now entering its second phase after the winning five “problems” were announced at an evening event at the Hub on Sep. 27.
For the first phase, 192 problems from five post-secondary schools (Assiniboine Community College, Brandon University, Red River College, University of Manitoba, University of Winnipeg) were submitted, and five have been chosen. The student who submitted the winning problem receives $250.
The problems are:
How do we encourage people to be pro-active about their health rather than reactive?
Avery Simundsson, graduate student, Engineering, University of Manitoba
How do we improve the access to education in Indigenous communities in Canada?
Hong Ngoc, undergraduate student, International Business, Red River College
How can we reduce e-waste to diminish harmful side effects to the environment?
Forouz Mahdinezhad, graduate student, Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Manitoba
How do we improve financial literacy in society?
Dumitru Ignat, undergraduate student, Economics, University of Manitoba
How do we improve women’s inequality in the workforce and reduce the salary gap?
Olandunni Olanubi, graduate student, Microbiology, University of Manitoba
For phase two of the competition, students will form cross-faculty/department teams to develop viable, practical solutions for any of the winning problems from the first phase. The deadline for submitting solutions is Nov. 2.
The submissions will be reviewed and the 10 semi-finalists made public on Nov. 4.
The Game Changer grand finale event takes place on Nov. 16, 4-7 PM in EITC Atrium at the U of M, where the semi-finalists present their solutions to a panel of judges. Prizes are:
Grand Prize Winning Team – $10,000
2nd Place – $4,000
3rd Place – $2,000
People’s Choice Award – $750
Research at the University of Manitoba is partially supported by funding from the Government of Canada Research Support Fund.