On April 1st, the semifinals of the third “Startup Wheel” competition were held at DTU. It was a lively competition, with 16 of the best student startup projects selected from local universities, colleges and high schools.
Confident contestants present their ideas
Launched in November 2015, “Startup Wheel” is a contest for students to present their startup products and ideas and realize their dream of becoming wealthy. The contest attracts students from Danang and surrounding provinces, from the Danang University of Science and Technology, the Danang University of Economics, the Vietnam-Korea Friendship IT College, the Hue College of Economics, Phan Chau Trinh and Le Quy Don High Schools and so on. Thirty ideas were submitted in the preliminary round and the sixteen most unique, creative and practical ones were selected for the semifinals.
The judges closely watch the team presentations
“This is the third year that DTU has sponsored this contest,” explained Associate Professor Le Duc Toan, DTU Vice-Provost. “In the first two contests, DTU supported and consulted on several noteworthy business projects and helped develop and implement them. This year, almost all the projects propose feasible solutions to the practical needs of society, demonstrating the creativity and the awareness of our young students and how much they understand about local market requirements. The DTU Provosts and lecturers inspire the students’ passion for learning and using their newfound knowledge and skills profitably, to help them complete their projects and make their dreams come true.”
In the semifinals, teams were given only five minutes to each present their business plans to the judges, showcasing sixteen creative and intelligent ideas. Many of the projects had practical applications, such as the ACT team’s “Functional Clothes” project, aimed at designing clothes for gay people, or the “SMS-Fighting Fake Goods” project, to apply technology to help consumers avoid using counterfeit and low-quality products, and to help businesses identify forged products and protect their brands. Some other projects were impressive, such as the “Talking Bag” by Doan Ngoc Quynh Tien, a student of class 10/24 at the Phan Chau Trinh High School, who had the idea of designing multi-personal and multi-cultural school bag.
The “Startup Wheel” is a very practical contest,” said Dinh Nhat Thang of the DTU Faculty of Pharmacy, when asked about his experiences in the contest. “It helps us apply our theoretical knowledge, exchange creative ideas and unleash our business aspirations. We can be more confident and dynamic and learn how to work independently and in groups, to come up with ideas to perfect them, in order to quickly integrate into our real-life working environments on graduation.”
The jury selected the six best teams to proceed on April 8th to the finals. The total value of prizes is 40 million VND, with one special prize of 20 million, one first of 10 million, one second of 6 million and two thirds of 4 million. In addition, there are other prizes for the highest votes by the community and the most outstanding individual contestant.
(Media Center)