Q Any chance this will become an annual competition for US competing teams? A We hope that we will generate sufficient interest among students in the various universities in each country for applications to exceed the number of 5 final teams per country. If such will be the case, our plan is to hold a national competition among all US teams around the end of May 2015, in a location to be determined. That competition will be of the same format as the final in Beijing. (Similar nation-wide competitions may be held for the finalist selection in China and/or the UK.) From the national competition in each country, five teams will be selected to advance to the final competition. It is likely that the 5 teams so selected will also receive monetary prizes to be determined. Should we choose to hold a national competition, the organizers of the competition will fundraise for all local costs to be covered. Transportation costs to the national competition site will be covered by the competing team. However, efforts will be made by the organizers of the competition to fundraise to partially defray some of these costs.
Q Are mentors required? A There is no formal requirement for mentors. However, mentors are very useful in guiding a team and their participation is beneficial. Specific guidelines on mentor responsibilities can be found in related business plan competitions. For example, attached is a document from a related competition at USC (the Maseeh Entrepreneurship Plan Competition, MEPC).
Q Are there any supporting resources available? A The National Science Foundation I-Corps program has developed curriculum based on the “lean start-up” model. Abridged versions of this curriculum, as further edited by the Los Angeles Node (http://lanode.org/) will be available.
Q Tell me about costs and accommodations A Any costs incurred in the development of the business plan for each team will be borne by the team and/or the entity that supports it. Partial travel costs for the final five U.S. teams traveling to China for the final Student Day competition will likely be available from the sponsors of the Summit.
Q Who can be on a team? A All teams should consist of undergraduate students only, with the team leader being an engineering student. Students from other disciplines, e.g. business, can also be included. However, we strongly prefer that the majority of the team is engineering students. Teams from a single university (e.g. Team USC) or from a partnership of universities (e.g. Team New York), or across the three countries (US, UK, China), are all acceptable. Students who will be graduating in Spring 2015 are permitted to participate on a team as long as they can attend the final competition in September 2015 if their team is selected a finalist.
Q What should I expect at the GGCS Student Day finale? A The final competition will be held with a panel of judges during Student Day, on September 14, 2015, which is the day before the official start of 2015 GGCS. We expect that 15 finalist teams of up-to-6 students each will compete. While ideally we would have liked that all teams consist of students from all three countries (e.g. 2 each from China, UK, US), the most likely scenario is that there will be 5 teams from each of the three countries (with all students in a given team being from the same country).