The MDX Dubai Wellness Office invites all students to submit their ideas to the 2020-2021 Wellness Innovation Competition (WIC). The WIC is a problem-solving exercise through which students are given the opportunity to showcase their creativity and critical thinking skills by developing innovative solutions to current issues in Happiness and Well-being.
The competition is now open until 1 May 2021. Judging will take place from 1 May to 1 June 2021 and winners will be announced in June 2021. The winning innovation and runner-up will receive prizes and an opportunity for guidance to implement the innovation. Interested applicants should register their interest here https://forms.gle/yvSdPkuJLz5msbYZ7. Those registered will be contacted with a registration confirmation. The competition is open to all students enrolled at Middlesex University Dubai for the 2020-2021 academic year across all programmes and levels of study. Entries can be from individuals or teams of students. For questions, contact the Wellness Office at wo@mdx.ac.ae
Instructions
Working individually or in teams, come up with an innovative solution to any current issue impacting happiness and well-being. The innovation can address any need within the topic of Happiness and Well-being but must be a new idea or a modification/improvement of an existing idea. It is a good idea to focus on university populations so that your idea can have relevance to the community to which you currently belong.
Steps:
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Brainstorm current wellness issues. Look at social, economic, health, and environmental issues.
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Choose an issue you feel you have ideas to address.
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Come up with an innovation that would solve one or more problems around the issue chosen
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Put together a plan to roll-out the innovation.
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Who will be involved? How many people? What are their roles? Who is the target population?
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What materials/contacts are needed? What are the costs? What form will it be in?
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Where will the innovation be started?
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When will the innovation be started? What is the timeline for roll-out?
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Why is this innovation necessary? What need is it addressing? How is it new and impactful?
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Think of ways to advertise your innovation to the public
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Present your innovation in 5 minutes or less.
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Who are you and what is your idea?
i.Introduce yourself and your research interests
ii.Clearly introduce the innovation
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What need is your idea addressing?
i.Clearly refer to the impact on well-being
ii.Cite secondary research on the problem for which your innovation is proposing a solution
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How will your idea address the aforementioned need?
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What do you need for this idea to get started?
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How is your idea new/different from existing/past innovations?
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Respond to questions about your innovation/plan/research, as well as your role in the development of the innovation
Judging Criteria
Ideas will be judged on the following criteria. These criteria should act as guidance for your 5-minute presentation.
Innovative Solution
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Is it an impactful solution to a problem or issue? (The innovation can be a product, process, technology, market-based solution, service, etc.)
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Is it new or being put into practice in new way?
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Does it create new opportunities for positive change?
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Does it offer benefits that are an improvement on previous efforts?
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What other responses to the same problem have been tried?
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How does your project differ from ideas and responses to the problem already attempted?
Target Beneficiaries
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Is the community that the project impacts clearly identified?
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Does the project address a need/problem? (This can be specific or broad)
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How much effect will this have on the community you have focused on?
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How many people across a broad spectrum could benefit from this?
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Can the impact created by the innovation be measured?
Scalability
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Is there potential to scale up the innovation?
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Is there potential to repeat and roll-out the idea to a wider audience?
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Can the idea be moved to prototype or pilot stage?
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How will additional funding support the further development of the innovation or the scaling of the project?
BONUS: Sound Business Plan
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