The Change 7 Hour Challenge is a collaboration between Aston Enterprise (a department at Aston University) and the Birmingham Enterprise Community (a student/graduate-led enterprise support organisation). They invited Aston students to develop an idea that could change the world in 7 hours.
The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals formed the basis of the challenge. Each multidisciplinary team had to choose a goal to work towards from the 17 goals and create an idea that focuses on that goal. The solution could take the form of a physical product or digital solution. At the end of the challenge teams were given five minutes to pitch their solution. Teams were encouraged to include a technical view of the solution, an associated plan of commercialising the solution and comment on the potential social impact of the solution.
Positive Feedback
The prize funding provided by Engineers in Business enabled us to attract more participants to the event – the prizes on offer, combined with the mission of ‘changing the world’, made for a high-energy, creative day of problem solving.
Kath Rice, Enterprise Consultant at Aston Enterprise – part of Aston University
The support from Engineers in Business in the form of prize funds for the Change 7hr Challenge added a great deal of value to the overall event. The competitive edge provided by the knowledge that a prize was on offer drove those who took part to step up and engage with the challenge - pushing themselves to put their skills to the test and develop a high standard of solutions to the problems being explored.
Daniel Evans, Founder of the Birmingham Enterprise Community