Area high school, college students can win scholarships, cash prizes for creative mobile app ideas

Lauren Innovations and Kent State University at Tuscarawas announce a call for participants for the Safety App Challenge, a new local competition that offers area students scholarships and cash prizes for creative mobile app ideas related to safety.

Students at Kent State University at Tuscarawas discuss
while studying at the campus. Lauren Innovations and
Kent State University at Tuscarawas have announced a
call for participants for the Safety App Challenge, a new
local competition that offers area students scholarships
and cash prizes for creative mobile app ideas related to
safety.

The Safety App Challenge is open to juniors and seniors from any Tuscarawas County high school, as well as registered Kent State Tuscarawas students. Interested participants submit conceptual ideas that could be developed into a potential application for use on mobile devices. All ideas must be safety-related or, in some way, improve safety for the potential app user.

Ideas will be reviewed by an acceptance committee, and a select few will be chosen. If selected, participants will design and develop their app concept, with the goal of getting it into a well-known app store.

“The idea for the Safety App Challenge – which we are going to co-host annually – came to fruition because we wanted to create a friendly and fun event for local students that would encourage innovation through the creative use of technology,” says Lauren Innovations President Jim Hummel. “There are various components to the app competition that really make it great. It encourages community involvement and networking, mentoring and continuing education, idea generation and creativity and, of course, the opportunity to win a scholarship or cash and develop a new and tangible innovation that has the potential to improve the safety of our society.”

Lauren Innovations and Kent State Tuscarawas staff will host a series of workshops, covering a variety of topics, at the state-of-the-art Tolloty Technology Incubator in New Philadelphia to assist students throughout the app development process. All needed hardware and software will be provided by Lauren Innovations and Kent State Tuscarawas.

Ideas for the Safety App Challenge must be submitted by Sept. 25. An application form is available on the challenge website at www.thesafetyappchallenge.com. Chosen participants will be announced Oct. 2.

Pictured is the Kent State University at Tuscarawas
campus. Registered Kent State Tuscarawas students can
participate in the Safety App Challenge,which offers area
students scholarships and cash prizes for creative mobile
app ideas related to safety. The competition also is open to
juniors and seniors from any Tuscarawas County high
school.

App development will conclude on Jan. 4, 2016, and the competition will culminate with an awards ceremony on Jan. 23, 2016. Awards will be given for first-, second- and third-place winners as outlined below.

• First place: A $2,500 scholarship to Kent State Tuscarawas (from Kent State Tuscarawas) and the option of either a $5,000 scholarship (to a college/university of choice) or $2,500 cash (from Lauren Innovations).
• Second place: A $1,500 scholarship to Kent State Tuscarawas (from Kent State Tuscarawas) and the option of either a $3,000 scholarship (to a college/university of choice) or $1,500 cash (from Lauren Innovations).
• Third place: A $1,000 scholarship to Kent State Tuscarawas (from Kent State Tuscarawas) and the option of either a $2,000 scholarship (to a college/university of choice) or $1,000 cash (from Lauren Innovations).
  

“We are excited to partner with Lauren Innovations for the app challenge,” says Brad Bielski, Ph.D., dean and chief administrative officer of Kent State Tuscarawas. “This competition enables students to combine imagination with computer and problem-solving skills to focus on designing and developing a meaningful project that will have beneficial results. It also enriches their educational experience, whether the students are high school or college students.”

For more details on the Safety App Challenge, visit www.thesafetyappchallenge.com.

For more information about Lauren Innovations or the Safety App Challenge, visit www.LaurenInnovations.com or call 866-861-7400.

For more information about Kent State University at Tuscarawas or the Safety App Challenge, visit www.kent.edu/tusc or call 330-339-3391.