‘We did a lot of research into what would make students more involved in the LSC,’ says Sevim Aktas, the UT student coordinating the new scope of the programme. ‘We realised we needed to make it easier for them. We will therefore divide the big LSC projects into smaller ones, which will correspond with Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis projects that UT students can apply for. Students should be able to do so by the end of this academic year.’
Living Smart Campus
The Living Smart Campus programme aims to facilitate a collaboration between companies, UT staff and students. All these parties are encouraged to use the UT campus as a testing ground for projects focused on innovation and its societal problems.
Creathon
Before such thesis projects can be defined, the larger Living Smart Campus projects need to be devised and selected. That is what will happen at the Creathon, held on the 25th of April in DesignLab. ‘It’s a one day event open to everyone – students, UT staff, companies -, who would like to co-create project proposals that can be part of the Living Smart Campus Program. All ideas will be evaluated and the best ones will be implemented in our living lab – the UT campus,’ explains Aktas.
All innovative ideas are welcome at the Creathon, but they all need to relate to the topic 'Internet of Things', specifically to the themes of Digital Society, Resilience or Health Technology, all inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals. Participants of the event will be working in teams and presenting their proposals at the end of the day. ‘The best part is that there will be public and jury voting for the best project,’ adds Aktas. ‘The winner will receive a trip, designed specifically for them and their project.’
Motivation Letter
If you’d like to be a part of the Creathon, you need to apply and submit a motivation letter. Selected participants will then be divided into groups, that should all represent a diverse mixture of backgrounds and ideally include a student, a researcher and a representative of one of the companies involved in the event.
