IHME Innovation Competition challenged students to develop solutions for the future of housing
Urbanization, ecological reconstruction, and digitization are creating new expectations and desires for living. Housing must be energy-efficient, and in addition, enhancing people’s well-being and comfort as well as environmentally friendly living habits are pivotal. How do we tackle society’s collective but also increasingly individual needs of housing? What is the future of housing?
The first ever IHME Innovation Competition challenged interdisciplinary student teams to develop innovations in the theme of the future of housing. Six teams formed from 30 Metropolia students participated in the competition over ten days (4.9.-14.9.2023). The teams were introduced to the challenge with the collaboration platforms situated across various Metropolia campuses, such as the pre-incubator Turbiini, the urban farming space UrbanFarmLab, the robotics workshop RoboGarage, the smart home SmartLab, and the well-being and health services collaboration platform HyMy Village.
“As a multidisciplinary higher education institution, it is important for us to offer students the opportunity to get to know each other and develop new innovations together during their studies. The innovation competition is a great way to bring together people from different fields of study and promote networking with each other and the working life. Collaborative research, development and innovation is a great way to broaden students' understanding of the wide range of opportunities in the working life, while helping them to find their own path”, says Metropolia’s Innovation Director Anna-Stina Tähkävuori.
The teams presented their innovations to a panel of experts from different fields during the final of the innovation competition on September 14th, 2023, at Metropolia's Arabian campus. The competition awarded three winning teams with cash prizes of 5 000 euros, 2 000 euros and 1 000 euros from the Metropolia Fund. The winning teams will also have the opportunity to see their ideas come to life after the event.
The main partner of the competition was Sweco. In addition to experts from Metropolia, the jury included Juha Vihma and Anne Viisteensaari from Sweco, Miro Ristimäki from Skanska, Sami Lankiniemi from Sitowise, Sarah Osa from LEAD! Foundation, Olli Eklund from TCG Ltd and Startup evangelist Sami Kuusela.
The winner of the IHME Innovation Competition, based on the judges’ evaluation, was Moovi. The teams’ innovation reduces the harm caused by noise pollution to people's health and well-being by developing a wood plastic composite sound barrier. The judges’ reasons for the choice was the team's focus on the sound environment of living. The solution was clearly presented and the team worked well together. The team had a well-defined problem and a clear, simple solution. The presentation was clear and illustrative. The team members were Tiina Radmer (XR Design), Anne Vepsä (Industrial Design), Mette Bärling (Osteopathy) and Janne Iijalainen (Industrial Engineering)
CareConnects Innovators got second place in the competition with their innovation “Care Connect Hub" which redefines how residents interact with their living environment, bridging the gap between digital convenience and community engagement. The judges’ reasons for the choice was great team spirit, implementation of the background survey, advanced prototype, enthusiasm of the presentation and use of the business model, as well as the human-centric approach. The team members were Eunice Siene-Moono (Nursing), Thanh Tran (Information Technology) and Leo Huovinen (Information and Communication Technology, Nursing)
The third place went to Ecovators, whose innovation was about modular walls with integrated technologies and furniture. The team was praised for their inspiring presentation and good competitive spirit by paying attention to other teams. The team members were Konstantinos Chatzopoulos (Eletronics Engineering), Matej Stofko (European Business Administration), Aleksi Annola (XR Design), Roman Kuzero (Information Technology) and Siddarth Singoma (Information Technology).
(Photo credits: Emma Duah)
Innovation competition offers opportunities for learning and networking
An innovation contest is a competition of ideas to develop different solutions to given challenges. Also known as hackathons (from hacking and marathon), the combination reflects the nature of the event, where participants develop innovations within a tight schedule. The results of the competition are usually processable demos, prototypes or concepts. Students participating in the innovation competition have the opportunity to network with the participating teams, experts and mentors.
The IHME Innovation Competition was organised for the first time this year and the final was held in conjunction with MetGO, Metropolia's opening event of the academic year.
More information
Anna-Stina Tähkävuori
Innovation Director, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences
anna-stina.tahkavuori [at] metropolia.fi (anna-stina[dot]tahkavuori[at]metropolia[dot]fi)