Huntington University student and native of Westfield, Victor McCarty, was a member of the second place winning team, BikeIndy, at the seventh annual I-69 Collegiate Innovation Challenge. McCarty is a sophomore at Huntington University and is majoring in broadcasting.
BikeIndy’s mission was to institute a commuter friendly and sustainable mode of transportation in downtown Indianapolis by planting kiosks of quality GPS-capable bicycle stations throughout the city that can be share-rented among Indianapolis travelers.
The Grant County Economic Growth Council held the challenge Feb. 8 through 10 with 25 new students from Anderson, Ball State, Huntington, Indiana Wesleyan and Taylor universities. The Challenge took place at the Wyndham Hotel in Warsaw. Students were awarded an iPad2 for first place, $100 certificate for second place and $50 for third place.
McCarty’s team was one of five teams that competed. Each team was made up of one student representative from each of the participating universities. The students were placed into teams and collaborated for less than 24-hours on a for-profit business solution to a social problem selected by students. This year’s social problem was resource allocation and efficiency in Indiana public transportation.
The teams then presented its solution to a panel of five judges from Indiana Municipal Power, Ginovus, Vistage, Insight 2, and Elevate Ventures. Following the presentations, the judges selected the winning teams based on criteria that included innovation, profitability and market potential.
The purpose of the I-69 Collegiate Innovation Challenge is to encourage entrepreneurship among students along the I-69 Indiana corridor, provide networking opportunities for students and judges, generate creative ideas and allow for collaboration between the five universities.