Project Topic:
- In the application, teams should outline their project by
- i) identifying a specific problem in the company they are working with and
- ii) giving the outline of the solution they plan to develop.
- In this edition of the competition, team projects must be focused on strategies and actions aimed to Contribute to Supporting and Developing Short Food Supply Chains. Projects dealing with innovative production, processing or packaging; eco-preservation; innovations in distribution, logistics, and marketing are some examples.
- Each team must find an industry mentor and identify a challenge in that company. During the competition, teams design and develop a project consisting of ideas, tools, and actions to solve this real, industry-based problem with a solution that is doable and of interest to their food industry mentor. See the information for industry mentors here.
- All teams work in collaboration with their industry mentor on the development of a solution to their problem. Teams may have input from from university faculty but the facilitators of the competition do not aid in the development of team projects.
- The project does not require practical work in a lab and should instead be focused on finding the best solution to meet food company expectations in terms of health and safety risks, improvement of economic value, quality enhancement of products, improved sustainability, etc.
- Teams have a maximum 4 pages to describe their project (incl. references, graphics etc.), to be submitted by 16 January 2022 at 23H59 CET by email to ssc@iseki-food.net. Teams have a maximum 10 minutes to present their project at the FoodFactory4Us Final Virtual Conference 27 January 2022. The report template can be downloaded here and instructions for presentations can be found under Important Dates.
Team evaluation:
The course facilitators and the Advisory Board will evaluate the teams and their projects and find the winning team based on:
- The Written Report (30% of final score): The match of the project to the competition topic. The originality, innovativeness, and potential exploitability of the project (application to industry and social, economic, and environmental impact). The clarity and overall quality of the written report. The project report template can soon be downloaded here.
- The Presentation (30% of final score): The clarity and overall quality of the oral presentation at the FoodFactory4Us Final Virtual Conference. All presentations must begin with a 1-minute summary (elevator pitch). Responses to questions by all team members. Instructions for the presentations can soon be downloaded here.
- Student Reflection Document (20% of final score).
- Participation (20% of final score): complete “learner evaluation begin” and “learner evaluation end”, attend online trainings (the more team members at each online training, the more points for your team), complete assignments.
Why participate:
- Each team of students will work on a real, food industry-based problem in sustainability and therefore improve specific knowledge and competences.
- All students will improve group cooperation skills and awareness of the importance and benefits of teamwork in a competitive environment.
- Project evaluation will be ‘real’, that is carried out by food industry and/or food associations who, in collaboration with academics, will evaluate the projects based on the best professional abilities in problem-solving and teamwork.
- All students will participate in an action-oriented, participatory learning experience in which they will share knowledge and improve skills in a virtual environment.
- If accepted by the home university, students can earn university credit for their participation in the Competition Game.
