4x4 Challenge 2016 – Event Package

Ig Kolenko, Chair, School of Engineering and Information Technology ikolenko@conestogac.on.ca

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Contents Welcome ....................................................................................................................................................... 3

2016 Sponsorship .......................................................................................................................................... 4

4x4 Challenge 2016 Timeline ........................................................................................................................ 5

Showcase Agenda – Friday February 19, 2016 ............................................................................................. 6

Team Registration and Event Locations ........................................................................................................ 7

Hardware Available for Students .................................................................................................................. 8

Industry Visitors ............................................................................................................................................ 9

2016 Theme ................................................................................................................................................ 10

Student Project Ideas .................................................................................................................................. 11

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Welcome A welcome from Ig Kolenko, Chair of the School of Engineering and Information Technology at Conestoga College! As Chair, I am pleased to offer the following challenge to all IT, Software and Electronics students at Conestoga and to any entrepreneurially minded students beyond the School of Engineering and Information Technology. The event is called the 4x4 Challenge, and is in its 5th year. It is offered as a means to showcase and celebrate the entrepreneurial and technical skills that Conestoga College students possess. The event will take place over the Reading Break February 16th to 19th inclusive (which gives all participating students 4 days where they won't technically be tied up with academics) to explore the art of solving real-world problems through innovation. This also gives Conestoga College a chance to introduce students with these skills to the industry in a fun, challenging and hopefully collaborative manner, with as many student teams participating as possible. The first 4x4 Challenge concept was simple and set a very modest target: A minimum of FOUR Conestoga College student teams will have FOUR days to design and implement solutions from a pool of industry-provided projects, or their own unique ideas. Thus the name “4x4 Challenge”. Note that each registered team is expected to submit one solution for the Showcase, but can submit multiple of they feel they have the time and energy to create multiple solutions! The event has grown in popularity and far surpassed the minimal goal set above - in its inaugural year (2012), we had 10 team solutions and about 35 students participating, easily surpassing the goals of 4x4. In 2013, we had 16 teams generating solutions, involving nearly 50 students, with similar turn out in 2014 and last year, and I expect excellent participation in 2016! This document will provide details on the event timeline, information for visitors, the theme for 4x4 Challenge 2016 and a list of proposed project ideas to get the creative juices flowing! Enjoy 4x4 Challenge 2016!

Ig Kolenko Ig Kolenko, P. Eng. Chair, School of Engineering and Information Technology ikolenko@conestogac.on.ca

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2016 Sponsorship As of the date of release of this event package, I am pleased to announce sponsorship from:

Ontario Centres of Excellence – $3000 to support Showcase Luncheon, keynote speaker and prize pool Visit www.oce-ontario.org and www.onebusiness.ca for details. The Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE) is a collaborative network of organizations across Ontario, designed to help entrepreneurs, businesses and researchers commercialize their ideas by providing a comprehensive suite of programs and services across the full commercialization continuum, from idea to market.

Uncharted Research and Development – $2000 donated to the prize pool

Car-San Manufacturing Ltd. – $750 donated to the prize pool

Ig Kolenko, Chair of Engineering and Information Technology – $600 donated to the prize pool

Centre for Entrepreneurship (C4E) – New Venture Opportunity prize awarded to the team that has been chosen as having the best possibility of becoming a new entrepreneurial opportunity / spin off from the 4x4 Challenge. The prize will consist of BlackBerry Q5 mobile devices plus a business consulting package through the C4E valued at over $500 in total. Cash prize pool will be finalized and announced at the 4x4 Challenge Launch, but as in past years, we will have 1st to 6th place awards for overall best projects, and targeted awards for meeting specific objectives of prize funders.

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4x4 Challenge 2016 Timeline

Tuesday 2016-Feb-16 2016-Feb-17 2016-Feb-19 Friday 2016-Feb-19

The 4x4 Challenge Launch will be Tuesday February 16th at 9am for those participating out of Communitech Hub (Laurier Launchpad space), and at 11am at Doon campus, 2A618 (Centre for Entrepreneurship teaching lab), for those participating out of Conestoga.

Continue design and development activities at either Communitech Hub or Conestoga.

Continue design and development activities at either Communitech Hub or Conestoga.

4x4 Challenge concludes with the 4x4 Challenge Showcase Friday February 19th, at the Doon campus, Blue Room. The showcase will run from 11:30am for the networking luncheon, and official showcase activities between 1pm and 5pm. See the showcase agenda later in this document.

Pictured above - 4x4 participants at Communitech Hub for the Launch. Randall Kozak (faculty in the Information Technology cluster) spoke to students to welcome them to the event.

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Showcase Agenda – Friday February 19, 2016 11:30am to 1:00pm OCE Sponsored Lunch and Networking Opportunity 1:00pm to 1:10pm Welcome / intros by Ig Kolenko, Chair, School of Engineering and IT 1:10pm to 1:25pm Introductory talk by Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE - sponsor) 1:25pm to 2:00pm Keynote speech [speaker TBD] 2:00pm to 4:30pm Project Showcase and project judging 4:30pm to 5:00pm Announcement of prize winners and adjournment

Pictured above - 4x4 participants at Doon Campus for the Launch. Randall Kozak (faculty in the Information Technology cluster) and Jane Carr (faculty in the Electronics cluster) spoke to students to welcome them to the event.

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Team Registration and Event Locations Students who wish to participate, please gather your team member information:

• student name and ID • program of study for all team members • the team name • proposed location to work out of (Conestoga - or - Laurier Launchpad at Communitech)

Email this information to Melanie Ney Mney@conestogac.on.ca who will add you to the 4x4 Challenge database. If you are an independent student with no team, don’t worry – send your info to Melanie and we’ll try to add you to a team of other independents or to another team to ensure everyone has a chance to participate! All participates will receive a signed letter of participation that is ideal to add to any future resume package you send out for your job and career searches! Through generous and ongoing support from Laurier Launchpad and Communitech, a maximum of 5 teams of students (approximately 15 students maximum) will be given an opportunity to participate in the 4x4 Challenge 2016 right in the Laurier Launchpad space at the Communitech Hub in downtown Kitchener. For those that have an interest in working out of Communitech, please identify this in your team registration. First 5 teams to register (to 15 student maximum) indicating interest to work out of Laurier Launchpad will be able to work out of this space. Note that parking at Communitech is extremely limited, so carpooling of teams to Communitech or taking the bus is a requirement, and access to the Laurier Launchpad space will be from 9am to 5pm. As ambassadors of Conestoga College, you will be expected to work as professionals in industry. You will have 24 hour lab and parking access to Doon campus in specific labs (2A140, 2A213, 2A141) during the 4 days of the competition as in previous years. Note that you can also take advantage of the “innovation sandbox lab” space within the Centre for Entrepreneurship (2A220), where a small assortment of devices and software can be signed out, as well as a comfortable area for brainstorming ideas and solutions.

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Hardware Available for Students To help out with the challenge, the 2016 event has the following hardware available to students:

• BlackBerry Q5 devices - donated by BlackBerry to Conestoga in our Centre for Entrepreneurship (C4E) Innovation Sandbox

• 5 BlackBerry Playbooks (32GB) • 2 Android Tablets • Microsoft Surface RT available • Arduino embedded platforms • Raspberry Pi embedded platforms • Developer access to a full Drupal content management system • ConnectTech RoadWarrior data collection devices • QuadCopter available if not in use for capstone projects • Kiosk hardware

Students will need to sign out devices via the Tool Room, room 2A305 or the Centre for Entrepreneurship (C4E) Innovation Sandbox, room 2A220. Contact Karen Ouellette or Randy McQuade for devices in the Tool Room, or the receptionist in the C4E. These people will be happy to assist you with signing out any devices you may need. First come, first served. If you need a part or device that isn't listed above, ask Randy or Karen, and if the lead time to procure the device allows for next day delivery, asking for the part/device early enough on Tuesday may allow for use on Wednesday. Note that this is limited to 'lower cost' items, as we don't have the budget for big ticket purchases (so no iPads, etc., available this way, sorry). Any devices/parts purchased in this manner will remain property of Conestoga College for use by students in future project development.

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Industry Visitors Industry is highly encouraged to come to Conestoga on Friday Feb. 19th, from 11:30am to 5:00pm to take in the networking luncheon, Keynote address, as well as check out the results from 4 days of effort by our students! Parking information is as follows: FREE PARKING IN LOT #5 - see the link below for location of Lot #5. Parking anywhere else without a valid Conestoga parking tag will unfortunately result in ticketing. Sorry, that's not in my control. Doon Campus Site Plan www.conestogac.on.ca/campuses/doon/siteplan.jsp Lot #5 is in the Orange lot area, right "above" building labeled K. The event takes place in the Blue Room. I will have signage available at the entrance to Building A to the left of the K building (where you see a disability logo). That's the closest entrance to the Doon Main Building from Lot #5. The signage will lead you to the Blue Room. In case you come to Conestoga via alternate means, the Blue Room is located on the lower level (floor 1) of Conestoga's main building (labeled A on the diagram above). Enter via Door #4 (B-Wing) and head down the staircase to the main Cafeteria. The Blue Room is around the corner from the Cafeteria, you can't miss it, as it is painted blue! Again, signage will be provided from Door #4.

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2016 Theme For the third year, we will have a theme to help focus the projects: Innovations in Education The technologies we will focus on for the 4x4 Challenge are: Mobile Solutions - where we will have student teams target major mobile platforms such as BlackBerry, iOS (Apple), Windows Phone/Surface or Android devices to solve educational problems Web Solutions – where students can team up to create web centric solutions for the educational industry Hardware Solutions - where student teams work with embedded platforms such as the Arduino other platforms including Windows/Linux desktop platforms to design solutions for the educational market This year’s theme encourages students to examine a specific industry sector that is ripe for innovation – education! Students the world over are clamouring for better ways to learn – who better to innovate in this space than students themselves! Solve the problems you believe are most pressing for your own success as a student! See the next section for ideas to tackle for the Challenge!

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Student Project Ideas To help get the creative juices flowing, some suggested projects might include the following:

• Adaptive Technology Lab – connect with the ATL staff and find what adaptive technology solutions either are outdated, don’t work or are missing! The number of students who need accommodations and support is growing, and there is no end in sight for how technology can solve these educational needs!

• Low cost educational tools for developing world – Canada and the western world are blessed with top notch lab facilities for education. The developing world struggles to match this. Work with international students who may have been through the educational system in a developing country to determine what areas need immediate attention! Look at platforms like VidyaSmart which leverage DataWind devices being developed for India and other developing nations to provide ultra-low-cost access to digital lab resources and develop solutions to bring to life e-Learning at low cost! For example, can you develop modules that can connect to a tablet / phone that can support e-Learning for physics, biology, astronomy, electronics, and so forth?

• Specialized interactive and gamified content for difficult to teach concepts. For example: o Gamified content to show how a CPU stack works, content to illustrate how a transistor

based amplifier works, interactive content to illustrate blood flow through a body, interactive solutions for common training needs like WHMIS training, first aid training, and so forth … the educational world is full of many hard/tedious to learn concepts can be brought to life with gamified solutions that work on mobile devices or web

o Use your knowledge gained through your studies to develop engaging curriculum that would help other students learn difficult concepts

o Show how these could be integrated into eConestoga as learning modules! • Automated grading solutions for difficult evaluation types. For example:

o How to speed up the grading of an electronic circuit lab when 20 students have to demonstrate their solutions to the faculty, or automated grading of software solutions (including plagiarism detection), and so forth … speak with faculty from across the college and determine their pain points in student evaluation. How can you make this better?

o Learn what eConestoga (Desire2Learn platform) can offer for evaluation techniques – can you design a solution to common evaluation issues that work with eConestoga and other Desire2Learn variants? Desire2Learn is a local company, with many coop and graduates working there – may be a great opportunity to make yourselves known to a local empoyer!

• Simulation solutions for dangerous teaching environments – consider training for trades (woodworking, welding, etc.) – can you design a simulation that would make student training far safer? For a good example, connect with Woodworking faculty for a demonstration of their paint sprayer simulation. Conestoga is an Ontario leader in trades education, and connecting with our trades and apprenticeship faculty can lead to many cool project ideas!

• Solve the dreaded eConestoga email / Outlook email problem – eConestoga email can be forwarded to Outlook email, but responding from Outlook yields bounced email. Faculty are required to log into eConestoga to reply to eConestoga email. Can you solve this communications bottleneck?

• Consider well designed annotated slide decks or video content for hard to teach course content.

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• Design an electronic log book for use in engineering, health and other professional academic programs (and industry) – an eConestoga compatible means to electronically take lab notes, insert graphs, drawings, circuits, code, etc., and offer a means for faculty to mark.

• Can you propose and design a better Student Portal? What makes the current Conestoga Student Portal less than perfect – can you design something better?

• ESL teaching aids – connect with our ESL faculty and determine how to make learning English as a second language better through mobile / web or other solutions

• Solutions to convert educational content into other languages and locales. We have many international students where English is not their native language. Are there solutions that would allow conversion of our day to day curriculum into their native languages / locale?

• Low cost digital network solution for developing world – some parts of the world do not even have access to networks that can provide digital content for electronic devices. Can you design a low cost network solution that could be deployed in remote villages to offer eConestoga type services at a fraction of the cost?

• SMS based education – can you design a solution that uses low cost text messaging to support learning? How can you access information only through SMS connections?

• Corporate training solutions – once you’re hired, how do you keep yourself up to date? Talk to Conestoga’s Corporate Training department on what industry is looking for to streamline employee training!

• Conestoga Boot Camps – think back to week one of your program in Level 1 and recall the things that you SHOULD have known, but didn’t. How can you solve the traditional first semester startup issues and quickly plug the gaps of knowledge. Consider basic concepts that students need training for, like how to research, how to write a report, time management skills, basic computer skills like organizing a hard disk, and so forth. Can you create an online / mobile solution to support all future first year students?

• Faculty Access Kiosk – consider the concept of a self-service kiosk outside of faculty office where you can determine faculty timetables, office hours, and connect with faculty through instant messaging or VOIP to make appointments. No more knocking on doors! Kiosk hardware available to play with!

• Solutions to market our programs to future students – all schools (colleges, universities, etc.) all will spend time and dollars on marketing of their programs and courses. Can you design high quality demonstrations that can be used in a booth at a trade show setting to lure future students to a program? Consider your own programs – what drew you to the program, and what could be done better to draw even more students to Conestoga? Connect with our marketing department for ideas that would assist them in their role to promote the college!

This list will continue to expand as more ideas flow in prior to the 4x4 Challenge Launch!