Leaders from Park Industries have partnered with St. Cloud State University faculty to deliver an exciting challenge to St. Cloud State student teams Nov. 16-18 at St. Cloud State.
Huskies Invent is a non-stop weekend “Invent-a-thon” modeled after a similar event that started at Texas A&M University and used at universities around the country.
Student teams will have 48 hours to develop and present their unique solution to a real-world challenge Park Industries faces in the industry. It will take teamwork, communication and creativity to meet the challenge.
St. Cloud State will be open around the clock for the students to use equipment and prototyping and fabrication labs. Faculty members Mark Petzold, Eric Little, Mark Schroll and Matt Vorell will join with experts from Park Industries as mentors and technical resource experts to aid student teams in developing their designs and presentations.
The teams will use design process methodology to select an approach to the problem, devise a working proof of concept prototype, and present their solution all in a single weekend. The event concludes with a formal presentation by the teams to a panel of Park Industries experts.
St. Cloud State University will use the selected project as the central focus of a spring semester course, Petzold’s ECE 260, focusing on taking prototype of an idea and refining and developing it as far as possible toward a final solution.
Though each team will be competing for top recognition, the goal of Huskies Invent is to bring out the students’ creativity and problem-solving skills. Each team’s ideas, prototypes and approaches will add direct and tangible value toward addressing actual issues.
“It is a win-win-win scenario”, said Mark Petzold, an event organizer. “All of the students receive a resume-worthy experience working on actual challenges faced by Industry, the university gets to work side-by-side with community partners while exhibiting the skills and creative talents of St. Cloud State students, and industry professionals get to work directly with students and faculty as advisors around programs that help to produce their future workforce.”
Park Industries is excited for the opportunity to partner with St. Cloud State University and assist in developing students’ creative problem-solving skills as they prepare for their careers ahead.
