Team Bee Box captured the grand prize of $5,000 as well as the People’s Choice award of $500, for their proposed solution to the Environmental problem: How can we offset the mass collapse of bee colonies in a natural and sustainable way?

Their solution is a monthly subscription box where consumers can sponsor a beehive and in return, receive various bee products from local provincial partners. A portion of each Bee Box’s profits will be contributed to support a local bee apiary, “Beeproject Apiaries,” to increase the number of bee hives in Manitoba. The Bee Box benefits the local economic community, the local bee community and the consumer.

Team members were U of M undergrad students Alexandria Townsend (Faculty of Education), Jacquelyn Townsend (Asper School of Business), along with Hannah McCutchon (Asper School of Business).

“The judges said it was a unanimous decision on this year’s winner,” said Jody Dexter, Technology Transfer Office at the U of M, one of the Game Changer organizers. Judges who volunteered their time to adjudicate the competition were Carine Bado (World Trade Centre), Jane McDonald (International Institute for Sustainable Development) and David Lipinski (Futurpreneur).

Judges provided feedback to each of the teams directly, after adjudicating, as the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place winners were announced. All team winners are provided the opportunity to take their proposed solutions forward as a business with support and mentoring from the Technology Transfer Office, Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship, North Forge and Futurpreneur.

Team 3Streams captured $2,500 in 2^nd place and Team Framed placed 3^rd with $1,000 in cash.

Team 3Streams takes home $2,500 in 2nd place.

3Streams team members were U of M students Nicholas Duan (Faculty of Science), Elizabeth Ng (Asper School of Business) and Janet Lee (Faculty of Education). They proposed a solution to: How can the school system be moulded to have the classroom fit the student and not vice versa? Their approach would provide a learning platform for students to do work placements in a series of three industries over the course of nine months, for a fee. During these placements, students would learn what they enjoy through real-life experiences in various fields and receive feedback on their skills in those fields. The program would further make recommendations after assessment, on the most suitable post-secondary school options, based on their learning styles. 

Team Framed placed 3rd and brings home $1,000 in cash.

The Framed team members were U of M students Travis Cook (Faculty of Science), Sarah MacDonald (Asper School of Business), and Edno Mesquita (Centro Universitario Anhanguera).

They embraced the challenges of solving: How can artists bridge the combination gap between art and society? Their solution was described by the team as “IMDB for art.” A web-based [social media] platform that focuses on building a comprehensive ontology of art by providing tools for the crowd-sourced classification and criticism of art, in the context of a unique exhibition environment and accompanying marketplace.

The Game Changer competition is an initiative of the Office of the Vice-President (Research and International), and co-organized by the Technology Transfer Office and Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship.

The problems are:

Education: How can the school system be moulded to have the classroom fit the student and not vice versa? Cameron MacKay | Graduate student | U of M

Environmental: How can we offset the mass collapse of bee colonies in a natural and sustainable way? Jordan Malig | Undergraduate student | U of M

Medical: With bacteria becoming antibiotic-resistant, are stronger and more potent antibiotics our only answer? Prinz Francisco

Societal: How can artists bridge the communication gap between art and society? Janine-Annette Littmann | Graduate student | U of M

Technology: How can we ensure viable employment opportunities for workers as artificial intelligence is increasingly used in the workplace? Jadon McFall | Undergraduate student | U of M

Don’t forget – a $5,000 cash prize is up for grabs! The top 10 solutions will move forward to the Grand Finale event on Nov. 21 where faculty, industry and community professionals select the winners.

Important Upcoming Dates:

Not sure how to form a team and what’s involved?
Join us at the Expert Tips and Info Session on Oct. 11, 4:00 p.m. at The Hub Social Club at UMSU University Centre.

Solutions to any of the five problems must be submitted by Nov. 7 at 4 p.m. CT via umanitoba.ca/gamechanger.

Full contest details are available on the Game Changer website.

Game Changer is a two-phase competition that rewards out-of-the-box thinkers who can identify problems with a global reach and problem solvers and find tangible solutions for them.

Phase one of the competition started Aug. 27. Manitobans 16 and older are encouraged to simply submit an idea – one that identifies practical, real-world challenges and has potential to bring about positive change if a solution was found. Individuals or groups can submit a maximum of two problems each. A committee will choose up to five problems, which will go on to the next phase of competition. Submitters of each selected problem receive a $500 prize.

For phase two of the Game Changer competition, entrants will form cross-functional teams of up to 5 individuals to develop viable, practical solutions for any of the selected problems from the first phase. Up to 10 teams will move on to the finale event on Nov. 21 where they will present their solutions to a team of judges. The grand-prize winning team will receive $5,000 with second and third place teams receiving $2,000 and $1,000 respectively.  There will also be an opportunity for teams to put their plans into action with mentoring and additional funding for project execution available.

Examples of last year’s problems – and solutions – addressed access to education in Indigenous communities, reducing e-waste, improving financial literacy, improving women’s inequality in the workforce, and encouraging pro-active health outcomes.

The Phase 1 deadline for submitting problems is Sep. 28.

For more information, visit umanitoba.ca/gamechanger

Team Hour Off captured the grand prize of $10,000 with their winning idea. They answered the question, “With technology filling all our free time, how can we reclaim boredom as a productive or creative force?” Their solution was to create a societal movement to encourage people to be “screen free” for one hour a day to make a daily incremental change. They were also the People’s Choice award winners ($500).

Team members are: Kira Pearson (Asper School of Business), Piesebel Berlane Pasco (Faculty of Science), and Indigo Adam-Grant (Asper School of Business).

Second place went to Team Just A Warm Sleep ($5,000) and Team Degreezy took third place ($2,500).

“This competition is about challenging Manitobans and our students to think in new ways, from new perspectives, and to work together to find solutions to the biggest problems they can imagine,” said University of Manitoba Vice-President (Research and International) Digvir Jayas.

The two-phase competition got underway in September when people from across Manitoba were encouraged to submit an idea – one that identifies real-world challenges where there is a potential to enact positive change if solutions are found.

Six problems were chosen from 204 submissions and teams of cross-faculty students submitted their solutions Nov. 1.

Seven finalist teams, addressing five challenges, moved forward to the final competition on Nov. 14 in the EITC Atrium.

Teams looked at reducing reclaiming boredom as a creative force, better mental health care for marginalized groups, preparing for challenges associated with an aging population, using artificial intelligence for sustainable development and, improving child literacy and numeracy in Manitoba.

“Students want to transform the world and it’s rewarding to see how excited and committed they are to using the Game Changer competition as the platform to achieve this,” said Jayas.

The solution entries were scored based on multiple factors, including novelty of solution, clarity and conciseness (no scientific jargon), feasibility and ease of implementation, entrepreneurial spirit, sustainability and innovation.

The solution entries were scored based on novelty of solution; clear and concise (no scientific jargon); feasibility and ease of implementation; scalability; entrepreneurial spirit; cross discipline members; sustainability; and innovation.

The teams chosen address five of the six problems.

The problems and teams tackling them are:

SOCIETAL: How can we ensure society will be adequately prepared to handle challenges associated with our aging population?

Team: Due North Systems
James Warren (Red River College, Business Information Technology, ACE), Denys Fiialko (Red River College, Business Information Technology, ACE), Jared Kozak (University of Manitoba, Asper School of Business)

Solution: Develop a user-friendly mobile application to connect people (ages 30-50 years) for the purpose of mentorship, co-op housing in exchange for services rendered. The application will be the “Tinder” of mentorship and community outreach.

Team: Health on Hand

Quynh Doan (Red River College, International Business), Xuan Nguyen (Red River College, International Business), Fernando Karamm (Red River College, International Business), James Warren (Red River College, Business Information Technology)

Solution: Create a peer-to-peer mobile application that facilitates service to deliver healthy food options and medication (non-prescription and prescription) directly to the home of the senior citizen. 

Team: Degreezy
Sanjay Abraham (University of Manitoba, Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering), Nina Lam (University of Manitoba, Faculty of Arts), Rylan Ramnarace (University of Manitoba, Global Political Economy, Faculty of Arts),

Solution: ElderBuddy is a non-profit social enterprise that uses a distributed network to connect seniors with volunteer caregivers, Volunteer caregivers serve as a companion to their buddy and assist them with day-to-day needs, providing them with emotional and social support.

TECHNOLOGY: How can artificial intelligence assist us in sustainable development?

Team: Software Trainers
Beom-Jin Park (University of Manitoba, Computer Science, Faculty of Science), Rochelle Morris (Red River College, Computer Aided Drafting, Science), Anton Sitnikov (University of Manitoba, Agricultural Business, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences) Nhat Thanh Vu (University of Manitoba, Faculty of Science), Daniel Heslop (University of Manitoba, Physics, Faculty of Science)

Solution: To resolve traffic congestion and to reduce the number of car accidents in the near future, use existing artificial intelligence neural networks consisting of CNN (Convolutional Neural Network) and RNN (Recurrent Neural Network)

EDUCATION: How do we improve child literacy and numeracy in Manitoba?

Team: We Teach

Aisha Haji-Hussein (University of Winnipeg, Faculty of Science; Faculty of Business and Economics), Ebun Olorundare (University of Winnipeg, Faculty of Applied Computer Science; Faculty of Business and Economics), Marii Balcha (University of Winnipeg, Faculty of Kinesiology),

Solution: Design a customized learning program that is a handbook for mentors or educators along with a user friendly mobile application for teaching purposes.

HEALTH: How can we provide better mental health care to marginalized and lower socioeconomic groups?

Team: Just a Warm Sleep 

Dell Dyck (University of Manitoba, Faculty of Law), Haley Hickey (University of Winnipeg, Human Rights), Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud

Solution: Provide a mental health care services to Winnipeg’s street population at homeless shelters in Manitoba.

SOCIETAL: With technology filling all our free time, how can we reclaim boredom as a productive or creative force?

Team: Hour Off

Kira Pearson (University of Manitoba, Asper School of Business), Piesebel Berlane Pasco (University of Manitoba, Faculty of Science), Indigo Adam-Grant (University of Manitoba, Asper School of Business)

Solution: Create a societal movement to encourage people to be “screen free” for one hour a day to make a daily incremental change.

Game Changer: Manitoba’s Idea Competition is an exciting contest that gives all Manitobans an opportunity to identify global problems and work in teams to devise innovative game-changing solutions.

With a $10,000 grand prize up for grabs, the teams will present to a panel of judges, with a second prize of $5,000, a third prize of $2,500 and an additional award of $500 goes to the People’s Choice.

Judges this year are:

Nicole Fontaine, Liaison Officer, World Trade Centre

Joelle Foster, Director, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the North, Futurpreneur

Aman Goyal, Venture Leader, Creative Destruction Lab

With a $10,000 grand prize up for grabs, now the real work begins.

The bold competition developed at the University of Manitoba, now enters the second phase after the winning six problems were announced on Facebook Live on Sep. 26.

It’s time to assemble a team to answer one of the six winning problems below. Teams must have three to five people and can be made of any Manitoban over 16. At least two team members must be students from any Manitoba post-secondary institution, and if from the same school, from different faculties or degrees programs. Cross-institutional teams are encouraged.

Viable, practical solutions to any of the six winning problems must be submitted by Nov. 1 at 4:00 P.M. CT via umanitoba.ca/gamechanger.

The top 10 solutions will move to a final round on Nov. 14 where faculty, industry, and community professionals will chose the winners. The grand prize winning team will receive $10,000, 2^nd place takes $5,000, 3^rd place $2,500, and People’s Choice $500.

The problems are:

With technology filling all our free time, how can we reclaim boredom as a productive or creative force?
Cameron MacKay | graduate student in the Faculty of Education | U of M

How can we eliminate the population of zebra mussels in our lakes without harming the ecosystems?
Joshua Villanueva | undergraduate student in U1 | U of M

How can we provide better mental health care to marginalized and lower socioeconomic groups?
Kapilan Panchendrabose | undergraduate student in the Faculty of Science | U of M

How can artificial intelligence assist us in sustainable development?
Sanjay Abraham | undergraduate student in the Faculty of Engineering | U of M

How can we ensure society will be adequately prepared to handle challenges associated with our aging population?
Carly McFall | undergraduate student in the Faculty of Arts | U of M

How do we improve child literacy and numeracy in Manitoba?
Ben Guest | graduate student in the Faculty of Science | U of M

Full contest details and submission form criteria, as well as a sample submission are available on the Game Changer website.

Game Changer is a two-part competition that rewards out-of-the-box thinkers and problem solvers who can identify problems with a global reach and find tangible solutions for them. For the competition’s third year it has expanded significantly.

The challenge was first started by the U of M in 2015 and was open only to U of M students. Last year it grew, allowing any post-secondary student to enter. This year, Game Changer is open to any Manitoban.

“We want to increase the collaborations between the academic institutions and the rest of the province, so this year we opened the competition to all Manitobans who can submit problems in the identification phase and can partner with students in the solution phase,” said Digvir Jayas, Vice-President (Research and International) and Distinguished Professor at the University of Manitoba.

Phase one of the competition started Aug. 21. Manitobans 16 and older are encouraged to simply submit an idea – one that identifies practical, real-world challenges and has potential to bring about positive change if a solution was found. Individuals or groups can submit a maximum of two problems each. A committee will choose the five best single problems, which will go on to the next round of competition. Up to five winning problems will each receive a $500 prize.

Examples of last year’s problems – and solutions – addressed access to education in Indigenous communities, reducing e-waste, improving financial literacy, improving women’s inequality in the workforce, and encouraging pro-active health outcomes.

For phase two of the Game Changer competition, entrants will form cross-functional teams to develop viable, practical solutions for any of the winning problems from the first phase. Up to 10 teams will move on to the finale event on November 14 where they will present their solutions to a team of judges. The grand-prize winning team will receive $10,000.

The contest aims to increase awareness of entrepreneurship and showcases the creativity and the intellect of post-secondary students and people all over Manitoba

“The previous two years’ of competition have been building to this year,” says Jayas. “This year we wanted to expand the collaboration and showcase the skill and expertise we know is present across the Province.”

The Phase 1 deadline for submitting problems is Sep. 20.

For more information, visit umanitoba.ca/gamechanger

The University of Manitoba, University of Winnipeg and Red River College were all represented in the four finalist teams who competed in last night’s Game Changer.

“They were very good,” says Nicole Fontaine, part of the panel of all-women judges. As a liaison officer with the World Trade Centre in Winnipeg, she helps aspiring entrepreneurs make their ideas a reality.

“Everybody was really into their topic and wanted to make their project worthwhile,” she adds. “They were passionate and you could tell they were there to make a point and to move forward with their innovative solutions.”

Though judges congratulated all four teams for their strong presentations, Team Loop won the first place prize of $10,000 for their solution to the problem of e-waste.

Their idea: a weekend-long event where people could have any type of electronic waste picked up at their curb free of charge.

The three members include Haneen Shouman and Michael Hall, students in the Asper School of Business MBA program, and Maria Sanchez who is studying marketing management through extended education at the University of Winnipeg.

“It’s awesome. It was unexpected,” says Shouman. “It started as just a project to make sure that we were keeping our brains going over the holidays but then it turned out to be a serious proposal and serious work put on.”

Team Opes was runner-up, winning $4,000 with their presentation on how to improve financial literacy. The team also earned the people’s choice award.

“Definitely valuable learning experience,” says David Dang, an undergraduate student in the Asper School of Business. “I had a lot of fun working with my team.”

Team Easy A(ctivity) was third place earning $2,000 for an idea that would help university students improve their physical activity.

Game Changer is a two-phase competition. For the first phase, 92 problems from five post-secondary schools (Assiniboine Community College, Brandon University, Red River College, University of Manitoba, University of Winnipeg) were submitted, with only five of them advancing to the next round.

For the second phase, students select a problem to tackle and identify practical, real-world solutions. Their ability to present a solution – to solve one of the challenges – with potential to enact positive change is essentially how the second phase is won.

Shouman says their team worked hard and took advantage of the time they had over the Christmas break. Now they hope to make their idea a reality.

“We were thinking a good exercise for us is to try to work on this event on the U of M campus first and then proceed to it fully outside with all of the commercialization that’s possible,” she explains. “We’re glad we won.”

Game Changer is a unique two-phase competition where students from all departments and faculties are encouraged to submit an idea – one that identifies practical, real-world challenges and has potential to enact positive change if a solution was found. Once a variety of problems are identified, teams of students pitch their best solutions.

The solution entries were scored based on novelty of solution; clear and concise (no scientific jargon); feasibility and ease of implementation; scalability; entrepreneurial spirit; cross discipline members; sustainability; and innovation.

The following teams were selected to present solutions to these pressing problems:

HEALTH: How do we encourage people to be pro-active about their health rather than reactive?
Team Easy A(ctivity)
University of Manitoba team members: Jona Erenberg (undergrad in Kinesiology and Recreation Management), Shael Minuk (undergrad in Electrical & Computer Engineering), Daniel Kroft (M.D. in Max Rady College of Medicine), Eidan Hassan (undergrad in Asper School of Business/Commerce-Business)
EDUCATION: How do we improve the access to education in Indigenous communities in Canada?
Team Midewiwin Lodge (IICEC)
Red River College team members: Hong Ngoc Trinh (undergrad in International Business), Fatima Feliciano (undergrad in International Business), Dinae Robinson (undergrad in Indigenous Studies), Selimat Oladimeji (undergrad in International Business), Patience Ajiamah (undergrad in International Business)
ENVIRONMENTAL: How can we reduce e-waste to diminish harmful side effects to the environment?
Team LOOP
University of Manitoba team members: Haneen Shouman (Master’s student, Asper School of Business), Michael Hall (Master’s student, Asper School of Business), Maria Sanchez (Master’s student, Marketing Management, Extended Education)
FINANCIAL LITERACY: How do we improve financial literacy in society?
Team Opes
University of Manitoba team members: Dumitru Ignat (undergrad in Arts/Economics), Andriy Rudnyk (undergrad in Asper School of Business/Commerce), David Dang (undergrad in Asper School of Business/Commerce)

Check out the Game Changer conversation on social media at #gamechangermb

The five problems that teams can tackle are:

How do we encourage people to be pro-active about their health rather than reactive?
Avery Simundsson, graduate student, Engineering, University of Manitoba

How do we improve the access to education in Indigenous communities in Canada?
Hong Ngoc, undergraduate student, International Business, Red River College

How can we reduce e-waste to diminish harmful side effects to the environment?
Forouz  Mahdinezhad, graduate student, Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Manitoba

How do we improve financial literacy in society?
Dumitru Ignat, undergraduate student, Economics, University of Manitoba

How do we improve women’s inequality in the workforce and reduce the salary gap?
Olandunni Olanubi, graduate student, Microbiology, University of Manitoba

Students must form cross-faculty/department teams to develop practical, viable solutions for any of the winning problems.

Details on submission form criteria and a sample submission are available on the Game Changer website here.

Prizes are:

Grand Prize Winning Team – $10,000
2nd Place – $4,000
3rd Place – $2,000
People’s Choice Award – $750

Check out the Game Changer conversation on social media at #gamechangermb