RoboAI week 2021: RoboAI Innovation Challenge – Satakunta 2.0 and sustainable development

Innovation Challenge RoboAI interactive activities for students. The event begins on Wednesday evening with networking event, where you will find out more about design thinking process. Participants get to know their team during this evening, too. On Thursday teams start their sustainable development challenges. Picture from last year’s challenge.

RoboAI Innovation Challenge – Satakunta 2.0 is an open competition where innovative participants talented in problem-solving meet some problems and challenges of Satakunta UAS and the enterprises in the region. This autumn is the fourth time the event is organized. M. Koivisto is proud of this tradition as part of the basic activities at SAMK. The main theme this time is sustainable development. This year will also feature a networking event on 24.11. at Crazy Town, Pori.

– We want to highlight the human, social and economic side of sustainable development in the ecological framework. There are so many technically oriented experts in the field that also the challenges are seen from the that point of view, but we aim to find meaningful activities for all participants, promises M. Koivisto.

Entrepreneurial mindset and networking

Good network connections are key factors when organizing an event like this. Principal hosts are Pori Entrepreneurship Society (Pori ES), SAMK and Prizztech.

– We want to challenge the students but also promote entrepreneurial mindset in Satakunta in general, M. Koivisto reminds us.

Ms Violeta Ivanova has won RoboAI Innovation Challenge twice. She is the chairperson and one of the founding members of Pori ES. She sees this event as a great opportunity to promote their goals, create new networks and help especially foreign students integrate in Satakunta.

– RoboAI Innovation Challenge is organized twice a year, it is the highlight of all our events! This event means first a lot of fun, and second it also gives a good glance on the topical challenges in our region, tells Ms Ivanova.

Also, the public sector is involved, so there are a lot of networking possibilities. We encourage people to talk with organizers. Some have found a traineeship or job in participating companies. Some have asked references from me. Some solutions invented during the competition have been developed further later, such as bamboo foam packaging material, M. Koivisto specifies. One of the challenge owners will be Blockchain Forum Helsinki, one of the main organizations to advance Blockchain technology adoption in Finland.

Important lessons for the future

Manu Kivelä, student in international AI degree program, has also won RoboAI Innovation Challenge twice. He praises the event and it’s positive and encouraging atmosphere.

– Both events where I have participated in have been interesting, exciting, and rewarding. Last spring this event was organized online because of the pandemic, so it was different, and we were faced with new challenges during the day, M. Kivelä says.

This autumn the event forms a part of the project basics course of international students at Satakunta UAS. We are looking forward to welcoming participants from a wide range of different schools, universities and representants of different businesses. M. Kivelä recommends the event for all since the more participants from various backgrounds there are, the more benefits for everybody.

-I personally like how the participants are divided in random teams. People from different backgrounds bring their own ideas and thoughts to the problem-solving process. This helps everyone to see the familiar subjects from a new angle. I warmly recommend this event for everybody! you will learn new things during the event, you don’t need previous experience at all, he declares.

Ms Ivanova has an important message for participants: Keep the solution simple to the problem given to you. Think of something that the company could begin using already Monday next week!

Innovation Challenge RoboAI 23 and 24 November. Networking Kick-off on Wednesday, challenges on Thursday.
Let the technology inspire you! Check out the full week’s programme. (only in Finnish)

More info from Pori ES. Register now!

Pori Entrepreneurship Society, Pori ES, is a student-lead organization promoting start-ups in Pori region. We offer mentoring for young people interested in starting a new business. We give advice in financing and how to find more team members. Pori ES organizes many events where participants can develop their ideas, invent some new ones, or learn from inspiring business leaders. Follow us on Instagram @pori_es and Facebook Pori Entrepreneurship Society.

For more information:

Santeri Koivisto, Senior advisor (Startup-palvelut)
tel. 044 710 3213
santeri.koivisto@samk.fi Violeta Ivanova, Pori ES chair
tel. 044 218 4574
violeta.ivanova@pories.fi

The Principal hosts of RoboAI Innovation Challenge – Satakunta 2.0 are Pori Entrepreneurship Society (Pori ES), SAMK and Prizztech.