It may have been a day off from classes, but Thursday, March 20, 2014, certainly was not a holiday for the hundreds of BYU–Hawaii students who participated in both the Undergraduate Research Conference and the Empower Your Dreams competition.
The annual Undergraduate Research Conference gives students an opportunity to research a topic that they find intriguing within their disciplines and offer a 15-minute presentation about their findings. Using methods ranging from PowerPoint presentations to visual posters to demonstrations, students presented on diverse topics ranging from music and the arts to culture and communications to science and technology.
The conference featured a keynote address from Matt Kester, assistant professor of history and university archivist. His interest in history, specifically of Oceana, Hawaii, and the LDS Church, led him to becoming a historian and contributed to his professional publications throughout his life. “This is not the end to the journey to knowledge, but only the beginning,” said Kester, counseling students to continue their research in their fields of interest.
Elsewhere on campus, the Empower Your Dreams competition, sponsored by the Willes Center for International Entrepreneurship, was also taking place. Students participated by preparing an entrepreneur plan for a new business. There were also competitions in computer science and accounting. The competition began in February, when plans were submitted from over 70 teams, each consisting of one to four people. The ideas were plans about products, social improvements, or new services, and the initial plans were judged by 60 off-island judges before the first day of the competition, which began on Wednesday, March 19. Later that evening, the top ten teams were presented as the finalists.
Thursday was a busy day for those involved in Empower Your Dreams as well as the many students, faculty, and community members who came to watch. The finalists presented their plans in the morning. Third place (earning a $3,500 prize) was awarded to Fluir, a water-filtering company, and Amulux, an importer of luxury items to China. Second place (earning a $4,000 prize) was awarded to Perfect Perch, an eco-retreat, and Guajón, a non-permanent percussion drum addition to guitars. First place (earning a $5,000 prize) was awarded to three teams: Rice Love, an organization that donates a bag of rice to families in India when you purchase their product; Mongo, a company which provides customer relationship management to small/medium companies in Mongolia; and AgriCongo, a company seeking to help improve tapioca production in Congo.
In between the competitions, successful entrepreneurs who were on site as judges and mentors spoke to students either as keynote speakers or during panel discussions. The speakers told the students to follow their dreams, never be discouraged, and to value education, both formal and informal.
Schlingel