This competition connects talented creators, innovators, and leaders from all colleges and majors to confidential mentoring at the LaunchPad in the Student Union Lobby. Our mentors help students improve their career readiness by developing their entrepreneurial skills and startup ideas. 

This signature competition supports LaunchPad’s goals to reduce startup risks, broaden access to startup resources, and encourage underrepresented and under-resourced students to dream big and succeed.

Join UCF’s artistic and cultural innovation competition, where we challenge students to present projects that create aesthetic, social, and financial value from novel offerings in the arts, fashion, film, and other cultural industries. 

Artistic and cultural innovations are provocative offerings that pioneer and nurture novel ideas and designs that challenge the status quo and enrich our shared human experience. It fuses imagination, tradition, and groundbreaking methods to produce expressions that resonate with contemporary audiences. For instance, a digital art installation might use augmented reality to let viewers “step into” a classic painting. A theatrical performance might seamlessly blend various cultural narratives to tell a universal story. In music, traditional instruments might be paired with digital soundscapes to create a fresh genre. This competition is a call for visionary artists and cultural enthusiasts committed to sculpting a vibrant, inclusive future. Students from ALL disciplines are encouraged to express their visions and talents in this showcase event.

Join UCF’s Social Innovation Competition, where we challenge YOU to develop solutions for society’s most pressing problems. You can make a difference while earning fame and fortune! Be the spark that ignites change!

Social innovation is the development and implementation of novel solutions to address complex societal challenges, creating positive change and improved well-being for communities. It’s a blend of creativity, collaboration, and entrepreneurship resulting in initiatives that are sustainable, impactful, and inclusive. For instance, in education, a social innovation example is EdTech startups enriching learning experiences with AI and virtual reality. In homelessness, tiny home villages are emerging as community-built solutions offering safe, dignified housing. Regarding sustainability, urban rooftop farms are turning unused spaces into green food sources, promoting local, organic produce and biodiversity, and reducing carbon footprints.

UCF’s Tech Innovation Competition is designed to challenge, inspire, and celebrate inventors and innovators across our campus who harness the potential of emerging technologies to address real-world challenges. Whether you’re passionate about sustainable solutions, AI advancements, digital health, or other tech frontiers, we encourage you to showcase your proposals for better, faster, and/or cheaper solutions to important problems. You can make things better while you earn fame and fortune! Be the spark that ignites change!

Technological innovation refers to the process of developing and realizing new or significantly improved products, services, or processes that leverage emerging technologies to address specific challenges, enhance efficiency, or improve quality of life. Innovations may represent improvements to existing products or processes, or entirely new solutions that could create new markets. This competition challenges UCF students to present innovative technological solutions that are not only novel but also desirable, feasible, sustainable, and impactful. It also asks contestants to consider entrepreneurial challenges associated with delivering these solutions to consumer, business, or government markets.

The Joust New Venture Competition celebrates the entrepreneurial efforts of student starters across our campus by introducing them to community leaders and providing key resources to help launch their ventures. The top four ventures will earn up to $50,000 in cash and essential business services provided by some of our region’s most forward-thinking sponsors and donors. The Joust is open to all UCF students and accepts all types of venture proposals. This competition brings together big prizes, ideas, and leaders to create one of UCF’s most exciting student events.

2024 Applications Due: March 15th, 2024

What is the impact of your research? How could it solve problems, help others, and make things better? One of the key components of any research project is being able to demonstrate how it impacts and benefits society. The Research Week Impact Competition provides an opportunity for all UCF graduate and undergraduate students to showcase the impacts and benefits of their research. Participants will record and submit 3-minute presentations describing three graphics/slides that describe the research problem/question, the research project, and the potential impact of the results. Prizes will be announced as the competition draws closer!