Ho Chi Minh City, August 19, 2022 Vietnam – Today, USAID BUILD-IT Program and Dow Vietnam hosted their 4th annual investor-style pitch competition, Maker to Entrepreneur (MEP): Venture Demo Day under the framework of the USAID BUILD-IT and Dow Vietnam STEM Program, for over 100 engineering students and guests from across Vietnam. Young engineers gathered to compete for a total of $1,000 in start-up funding. The business savvy demonstrated by the students exemplified how engineers can use market forces to scale their innovative projects into in demand products.
The 14 student teams from top engineering technology universities in Vietnam developed their innovative projects during the EPICS program to provide engineering solutions for real world problems including supporting the vulnerable, sustainability, agricultural productivity and social welfare improvement. Carrying their innovations onto the Maker to Entrepreneur program, the teams advanced their EPICS projects into viable products and shared their early market traction at Venture Demo Day. The program brought opportunities for students to improve independence, creativity, determination, business savvy, and communication skills to take their idea from inception to complete the pitch deck and present to the judge panel.
During Venture Demo Day, a panel of industry judges from Dow Vietnam, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Business Startup Support Center (BSSC), Lead the Change, and Heramo scored the students on their product’s market demand. The students demonstrated how engineers can learn to use market forces to prove that their early-stage products have market demand. The judges were impressed by the customer feedback, evidence of demand, and students’ capacities and commitment to scale-up innovative solutions to make the world a more inclusive and sustainable place. Team from HCMC University of Technology (HCMUT) won the 1st prize for their project in stress-relieving tea products that not only reduce stress, and superior anti-insomnia but also helps customers "return to natural sleep", without causing side effects. Teams from HCMC University of Technology and Education (HCMUTE) and Danang University of Scince and Technology (DUT) took home the 2nd and 3rd prizes respectively for their projects in the heart rate monitoring device supporting heart patients with stroke and a project developing a jacket for autistic students.
For the fourth year in a row, the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Building University-Industry Learning and Development through Innovation and Technology (BUILD-IT) Alliance, implemented by Arizona State University, partnered with the Dow Vietnam STEM Program have joined forces to bring industry-linked applied projects in innovation, entrepreneurship, and research to undergraduates across Vietnam. Dow Vietnam has contributed fund project materials, industry mentoring, innovation prizes, and competition logistics. The year 2022 marks Dow 125th anniversary of relentless innovation, growth and evolution with the outlook of another 125 years of sustainable development ahead. With the sustainability targets to reduce carbon emission, stop the plastics waste and close the loop, Dow continues the partnership with BUILD-IT to inspire Vietnamese students with innovation and entrepreneurship. Applied projects not only develop technical know-how, but they also cultivate the 21st-century skills that graduates need to thrive in work and life. Mr. Nguyen Hoai Son, Dow Vietnam’s Vice President, shares, “At Dow, our approach to innovation starts with collaboration and the spirit of doing better to enhance sustainability, performance and productivity. With that in mind, we are very delighted to partner with USAID BUILD-IT Program and related stakeholders to implement STEM Program to inspire students with innovation and entrepreneurship by utilizing technical skills and innovative ideas to design, build and develop prototypes to address the community challenges. More importantly, the program also helps them gain the confidence and capacity to lead engineering and to commercialize their solutions to the potential customers.”
The USAID BUILD-IT Alliance is a public-private partnership founded to support world-class engineering programs for work-ready graduates in Vietnam. Implemented by Arizona State University, the Alliance has over 16 industry partners and 11 Vietnamese university partners. BUILD-IT has leveraged more than $7.6 million dollars in industry contributions to support its university partners in revamping their curricula, adopting new learning technologies and projects, further developing their teaching and leadership capacity, and achieving international accreditation. These transformations assure that Vietnamese graduates develop both the technical and soft skills needed to drive Vietnam’s growth for decades to come.
About MEP
MEP prepares EPICS teams to understand the basics of early-stage venture development, making a first sale or pre-sale with an initial customer, conducting customer interviews, and completing feedback-based prototype iterations. The program supported venture-based educational programs in BUILD-IT’s 6 strategic partners and introduced early-stage student entrepreneurs to Vietnam’s start-up ecosystem.
About the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
USAID leads international development and humanitarian efforts to save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance, and help people progress beyond assistance. USAID's work advances U.S. national security and economic prosperity, demonstrates American generosity, and promotes a path to recipient self-reliance and resilience. Please visit www.usaid.gov or follow https://www.facebook.com/USAID/ for more information.
About USAID BUILD-IT
By modernizing technology and engineering higher education in Vietnamese universities, the BUILD-IT Alliance is helping Vietnamese model universities produce graduates with the skills that Vietnam's increasingly sophisticated economy demands. BUILD-IT leverages diverse government, industry, and academic partners to directly link higher education to the needs of the private sector. The Alliance builds strategic leadership skills to help the university's own leaders advance university autonomy, improve program and instructional quality, and form lasting partnerships with the private sector. BUILD-IT supports women's participation in technology and engineering programs through leadership forums, academic initiatives, and scholarships.
For more information, visit: https://www.usaid.gov/vietnam/documents/fact-sheet-building-university-industry-learning-and-development-through-innovation
About Dow Vietnam
Dow has been present in Vietnam since 1995. The Company today counts around 110 employees at three main locations in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and its manufacturing site in Dong Nai Province, serving customers in the consumer care, infrastructure and packaging industries. Dow is a partner in Vietnam's economic growth by adding more value to the country's advanced manufacturing industries, providing more innovative and sustainable solutions to help Vietnam address the challenges and is a caring member of the Vietnamese community. For more information, please visit vn.dow.com
About Arizona State University
Arizona State University was rank #1 Most Innovative University in America by U.S. News & World Report for seven consecutive years by 2022. With over 100,000 students, ASU is a comprehensive public research university, measured not by whom it excludes, but rather by whom it includes and how they succeed; advancing research and discovery of public value; and assuming fundamental responsibility for the economic, social, cultural, and overall health of the communities it serves.