It’s that time of the year again and Science Park is back on campus! For all our newbies, as well as those of you, who didn’t know much about Science Park beyond their building that sits opposite ours, let me break it down for you. Science Park is a meeting place where people, companies and organisations come together to develop new knowledge and innovations. Fun fact! Science Park was founded in 2002 right here in our very own cafe RIO by ordinary students with extraordinary ideas. Keeping this in mind it comes as no surprise that Science Park has sustained an unwavering relationship with JU, which is manifested through their involvement on campus. Which brings us to the subject of this article: Science Park’s Impact Challenge.
The impact challenge is an annual one that is carried out over the course of three days. It is centred around innovation initiatives relating to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This year’s challenge aims to bridge the gap between social engagement and the corporate world, taking on the theme; Health and Wellbeing. This was split up into three categories, namely; mental health among young people, preventative health and health among the ageing population. Participants from JIBS, JTH and Hälsohögskolan are being given the opportunity to take part in this challenge and develop a product that poses a solution to problems within these sectors, the best idea standing a chance to win 15,000 SEK. Speaking to Asia Chaabi, a JU student intern at Science Park and project leader for the event, she highlighted the goal of the event as to inspire students while shedding light on the fact that anyone can start a business as long as you have an idea.
Although the actual challenge commenced on Monday, September 23rd, the participants were provided with an informational lecture on the 19th and a series of preparatory workshops to help them get familiar with the theme and improve their pitching and brainstorming techniques. Which definitely paid off, as we got the opportunity to witness the amazing pitches of the six finalist teams, fifty four hours after the competition officially began.
The event was held in the JU-Aulan in HLK , making it possible, not only for all the students involved to attend, but also for the team’s supporters and anyone interested in the matter. Following the opening offered by Science Park and the introduction of the judges – Emelie Ramsö, Sustainability Manager at Länsförsäkringar Jönköping, Frida Lygnegård, Senior Lecturer at the School of Health and Welfare, Leona Achtenhagen, Professor of Business Administration at Jönköping International Business School and Tomas Hagwall, Business Developer at Science Park Jönköping – the participants got right into it and wowed us with their creative, innovative and potentially impactful for the future business ideas.
Seed
Seed is a mobile app that aims to create a safe space for teenagers and young adults to learn about sexuality and safe sex, therefore diminishing sexual frustration and anxiety in young people. It focuses on personal growth, providing the user with the necessary tools to discover themselves, gain knowledge in the field and even procure contraceptives. It also acts as the bridge between parents and teenagers when it comes to treating sex as a taboo subject.
Mood Scape
Mood Scape is a card game created with the purpose of helping young people deal with their emotions and improve their emotional intelligence. Intended as an educational and interactive game for students aged 15 to 19, it includes a teacher guidance manual and different cards with emotions, scenarios or prompts that are designed to teach the players empathy and how to act in certain situations.
Saturday Goodies
Saturday Goodies is a DIY sweet treat kit that is meant to replace the traditional Saturday sweets with a healthier alternative. The colourful boxes do not only provide local, sustainable ingredients, but also quick and easy to follow recipes. The product aims to prevent diabetes type 2 for children and guide them to acquire healthier habits, while also being a fun family activity that can transform cooking from boring to fun.
21 Day Challenge for Emotional Intelligence
The 21 Day Challenge is an activity pack meant for both parents and children, aiming to develop communication skills through exercises and reflections. Its goal is to raise awareness and prevent mental illnesses by promoting emotional intelligence from a young age, while also strengthening the relationship between parents and kids.
RollaCare
RollaCare is a platform through which elders can acquire accessible and affordable walkers without having to worry about being scammed. It also offers second-hand options, delivery and renting services and interactive forums where the elderly can learn how to maintain the walkers themselves, by also allowing them to create a close community.
ScentSync
ScentSync is a smart scent diffuser that intends to help elderly manage anxiety, stress and other such health conditions. Connected to a heart wrist rate monitor, it aims to innovate the aromatherapy industry by being automatically activated depending on the user’s state and providing different soothing scents. It creates a calm environment for seniors and supports them when dealing with both mental or physical issues.
INTERVIEWS
After listening to all the six amazing pitches, we -the audience and the teams- were directed out of the auditorium to enjoy some fika in the HLK lobby while the jury would decide the winning team. During this time EDIT took the opportunity to chat with some of the team members about their experience and advice for future students taking on the Impact Challenge.
First we chatted with the team behind the incredible idea “ScentSync.” The team consisted of Addie Eiland, Joske Sanders, Samra Omerovic, Paul Tchidemian, Matthew Markee, and Tyler McGee.
“How would you describe your experience with Impact Challenge, from start to now?”
Tyler: Personally, I have had a blast for the past two days! My team worked together really well and for the past 48 hours we have been working really, really hard. We all put our minds to it and it was a great process because we made a lot of good friends along the way and we came up with a really good idea. So we were happy to pitch during the Impact Challenge!
“How did you come up with the idea, what was the inspiration?”
Addie: I think it was just kinda back and forth. We started with a couple of ideas, but then we kinda went more into the mind mapping finding like ‘okay our first idea is not so unique.’ So we started breaking it down and ultimately, through some brainstorming, we came up with this idea to infuse an essential oil diffuser with heart monitoring to lower anxiety. We thought it was an untapped market and that it would be a great way to enter it.
“Were you able to choose the groups, or how did that work?”
Matthew: The groups were randomly assigned since they thought that picking our own groups would be too much. So they tried to break us up between majors, different schools, and so on — they tried to mix the teams up to create sort of a competitive equalness.
“Since you were assigned the groups, did that make it more difficult in the beginning?”
Addie: I am a big believer in ‘it all happens for one big reason.’ I think the best thing was that we had no idea who our teams were and we couldn’t pick them, so we couldn’t be selective. And our personalities clash really well and we get to make new friends, and meet friends of friends!
Tyler: It is definitely an experience worth trying out because it is, well personally for me — it has been the most fun, most innovating, most challenging, most mind boggling challenge that I have done to this day!
EDIT then stumbled upon the team behind, what we didn’t know at the time, was the winning idea “Mood Scape.” The team consisted of Vanshika Dhawan, Micaela Stella, Caroline van Rijckevorsel, Inés Beaudemoulin, Naya Gharib, and Jenei Tamás.
“What was your overall experience with Impact Challenge, from start to now?”
Micaela: I would say, to get to know each other and to have this team building experience — and have it under really stressful circumstances, was really interesting. It was a really great experience in terms of how to collaborate with people from different countries and different cultures, and to see where our heads are in terms of how we see this challenge and to gradually see how we can solve this problem within the time limit that we have.
“Did you feel that the brainstorming process was more difficult since you didn’t know each other from the beginning?”
Caroline: We got the brainstorming workshop, where we had to write different ideas and then pass it on to the next person and we kept writing more ideas, and I think that really helped. That also allowed for everyone to open up as a first impression and be like ‘okay I want to talk about this, and I think this is important’.
“What led you to this specific idea?”
Vanshika: We went through a lot of ideas in the beginning and then decided on doing a card game, which was very different from what everyone else was offenting on the market. I think the card game really nicely puts that good talk in the classroom, that brings them all together and creates a very positive environment.
Caroline: And it’s funny, because during the first brainstorming, the first word someone wrote down was card game. And we were like ‘haha yes card game,’ and then we actually thought about it and then it was like okay let’s do card game!
Micaela: Yeah, it was stuck in the beginning, but then we went back to it and was like ‘well this makes sense though, like we can actually do something with this. We can develop on this so much further.’ So yeah, we saw an opportunity there!
“Do you have any advice for future students who will take on the Impact Challenge?”
Vanshika: An advice would be to, as they said in the paper, don’t restrict your ideas within a box, like go beyond it!
Caroline: I think another thing is ‘just go for it!’ Just try your best and hopefully you will have a good team that you will work well with, and then you know… have fun!
EDIT congratulates the winners and all the participants of Science Park’s Impact Challenge 2024!
Writers: Vilma Bovin, Briana Zafiu, Loreleigh Mostert
