Tasked with sharing ideas on how to make the university they call home a better place, more than 120 Campbell students took part in President William M. Downs’ first Presidential Innovation Challenge on Nov. 13.
The students combined for 77 total team and solo submissions, representing four colleges and schools. Mark Biggins, a transfer student from Cal-Poly studying trust and wealth management and former running back for the Camels’ football team, took first place for the creation of an artificial intelligence copilot called Vinco that can help students and new graduates eliminate cold outreach when applying for jobs. Biggins created the program with the help of a former Cal-Poly classmate and football teammate.
“Vinco will find your warm connections that you have in your industry of interest and will give you and edge on the competition when applying,” said Biggins, also a former running back for the Camels’ football team. “We’re transforming job hunting from a numbers game to a relationship game.”
Biggins said taking part in the Challenge (and winning it) gave him confidence to become more of a creator and to believe more in his ideas.
Kelly Cannady, a senior management and marketing major, also turned to AI for her innovation and took third place in the Challenge. Cannady’s idea was to create a Blackboard AI Hub where Campbell students can access “ethical guidelines and AI policy” in addition to tutorials and course-specific links or chatbots. Doing so, she says, will give Campbel more consistent policies on AI usage.
“The competition helped with my presentation skills and problem-solving skills as I brought this idea to life,” Cannady said. “I want to continue to push myself to try new things and advocate for ideas that I believe in.”
Second place among the 77 submissions went to Jocelyn Alpizar, a sophomore double majoring in environmental science and marketing. Alpizar created Honey Hollow Garden, a student-led restoration of an unused plot of land on campus (an extension of her research with biology professor Dr. Michael Larsen).
“I started when I saw how much potential Campbell had for better biodiversity and environmental stewardship,” Alpizar said. “From this experience, I gained community, resilience and the joy of watching something come back to life. I want to show people how easy it is to make an impact and how in nurturing creation we honor the one who made it.”
Janjay Gardea, a senior 4+1 student studying international business and management, submitted his project, MOSAIC, a “self-discovery tool platform that helps people understand themselves and others more holistically.” Gardea said the project was created to enhance “student belonging and connections” on campus.
“I gained experience in presenting, developing and pitching an idea, thinking of dynamic ways to interact and present to the audience, as well as varying viewpoints of how and where to help the campus grow,” he said.
