Mobile Startup Challenge: Bridging the Student and Professional Gap

Mobile devices are increasingly gaining importance in our daily lives. It is becoming more and more common to rely on our cell phones and other mobile gadgets to get us to our destinations efficiently, check our emails on the go, figure out where to have dinner and coordinate meet-ups with friends. The importance of mobile applications are also being increasingly integrated into our Universities. It is more and more prevalent to hear of a college student creating an application that we use everyday. Classes are even being offered to help students understand the creation of mobile applications as well as inspire students to create their own.

UC Berkeley offers a class specifically catered to those interested in integrating their passions with the uprising of applications. Taught by Professor Ken Singer, Industrial Engineering and Operational Research 190E, or rather IEOR 190E, allows students not only to learn the “technological and marketing challenges that make mobile applications difficult to commercialize,” as stated in the course description, but also to learn how to overcome the challenges by creating a mobile application themselves.

The students enrolled are then given the opportunity to compete in the annual Mobile Startup Challenge that took place this last Tuesday, December 6^th. This Mobile Startup Challenge is an opportunity not only to showcase what the students have created but also to have a chance to win a grant that allows them to transform their application from an idea to a product.

Step One. Design a mobile application.

The goal of the class as well as the competition was to not only think of an idea for a mobile application, but to design and execute it. The students had to create an interface that actually worked and was desirable for a mobile device owner to want to use.

Over the course of the short semester, the forty or so students met weekly with Professor Singer. After many “mini projects” completed with their fellow classmates, chosen at random, it was time for the larger project which would not only be reflected in their final grade, but in their ability to take this project outside of the Berkeley campus and into the big leagues.

The application had to prove to work, satisfy a consumer need, and be financially effectively. With this vague structure, the students had the freedom to create an application that satisfied a need that was interesting to them personally.

The ability to choose a topic of interest to your group was boldly displayed in the wide diversity of projects presented on Tuesday. Each group, comprised of both engineers and businessmen, used their mobile applications to answer a demand, offer a solution to a problem, or enhance and alter a device that was already being used.

Applications ranged from creating an easier more effective way of spontaneously meeting up with friends which could be utilized by college students to creating a system of “medical records” for a house which could be utilized by technicians.

LifeCheck, who qualified for round two of the competition, presented a mobile application that would be used in hospitals as a way to combat accidents that occur in surgeries. Their application took inspiration from the book The Checklist Manifesto, pointing to the importance of using checklists. LifeCheck application would replace the paper checklists used in hospitals, doctor’s offices and operating rooms and would instead keep a checklist on a mobile device. Synched with a patient bracelet, the application would keep a timestamp and record data of when and by whom the task was completed by. The idea is that a digital checklist would paint a picture of what actually happens in an operating room, for example, and would hold doctors, nurses etc. accountable for the tasks needed to be done. Using a mobile application to prevent medical errors and address human error is a revolutionary idea, but through testing and marketing, the group found that this application was something that would be helpful in a real life situation.

On another side of the spectrum was a mobile game application called Sleight Edge. This game combines applications like GoolgeMaps, Angry Birds, and Facebook to create a mid-core game that integrates real life into the gaming world. Playing with people in your local area, the game creates a battlefield on your own turf that you are familiar with; Sleight Edge allows you to defend and attack real places that you go to everyday. The application would note your location, track your interaction with the places you visit on the daily, and monitor your activity with other players. While this application moves from the practical world to the fictional world, the group proved that applications do not only have a market for functional users but also for entertainment.

Step Two. Present the application.

After months of working in class, round one of the competition this last Tuesday was the opportunity to see if their application could make it professionally. The presentations at the Mobile Startup Challenge were the chance to convince the audience that their application could be used in the real world, outside of the classroom walls.

Each team was allotted about five minutes to essentially “sell” their application. Within these five minutes, the groups transformed from Industrial Engineering students to professionals promoting a product. Each team explained their device that they had created, going over the problem their device would solve, the logistics of the device, marketing and revenue model, results from their trial runs, and the future for their applications.

Complete list of competitors: 3^rd Ear, Amelyor, Harmonify, LifeCheck, Ringify, PassionPit, Sleight Edge, Clearance Kart

Step Three. Qualify for round two.

Out of the eight groups that presented, the judges chose four winners to move onto round two. While choosing four advancing groups is unconventional, the choice to reward four groups is a testament to how qualified each group was this year.  The four groups that will move on to the competition in January include LifeCheck, 3^rd Ear, Harmonify, and Clearance Kart.

From now until the round two competition, these four teams will be mentored by Professor Singer in order to continue the advancement of their application. The judges will be expecting significant development on the applications in the next month which will require further testing and consumer support as well as continuous creative development.

While the ideas for the mobile applications may have started with a class grade in mind, the effect that these applications could have on the way that we use mobile devices are huge. As these teams move onto competitions with other teams from other Universities, both locally and internationally, their applications will be put to the test and perhaps one day, will help the average mobile device user make their day a bit more efficient.