Six teams compete 7-9 p.m. Nov. 9 at the Daniels College of Business
The Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver gives its first-year students a crash course in entrepreneurship, requiring them to split into teams to design a mobile app. Then, students can enter into the Madden Challenge to compete for a chance to present their final product to a panel of investors. This year, the program has expanded to include 10 high school students who are on teams with Daniels’ students. It’s called the Compass Project.
These six teams will pitch their apps to a group of judges Wednesday, Nov. 9 from 7-9 p.m. in the Reiman Theater on the University of Denver campus. Prior to the competition, the teams and their families are invited for dinner in Marcus Commons.
“High school students in the program and Madden Challenge will be able to master their tech skills in a live, competition environment,” says Stephen Haag, professor and director of the program. “While it will enable students to build a portfolio of projects, thus showcasing their marketable skills, this program is much more. We find that our students end up with a whole set of skills that better prepare them for careers including teamwork, presentation and communication skills.”
For weeks now, the high school students have been coming to Daniels on Saturdays to learn the skills to develop mobile apps. The students received a MacBook Air and all of the software necessary to participate in the Challenge, including the Adobe Creative Suite for image development and editing, proto.io for app prototyping and Wix for web development. Each student received 20 hours of instruction and mentoring by the DU students.
“At Daniels, we’re not only passionate about our students, but our community as well,” Dean Brent Chrite says. “This is not only a great opportunity for our students to build skills in mentoring, but we hope it also paves the way for some high school students to pursue a path they hadn’t thought of before.”
The teams who win Wednesday evening will go onto the final competition Thursday, Nov. 10 from 7-9 p.m. in Reiman Theater.
Note: The best time to interview the students and faculty is prior to the competition.
Event: Madden Challenge and Compass Project
Where: Reiman Theater, Margery Reed Hall, University of Denver Campus
When: Wednesday, Nov. 9
Time: 7-9 p.m.