The fourth-annual student research competition put on by The Creative Coast Alliance (TCCa) drew an impressive caliber of student work in the fields of technology and design last Friday, April 18. First-Place winners, SCAD Architecture students Matt Kohne and Anthony Cissell, took top prize at this year’s TechFest with a conceptual design for a hypothetical Gulfstream Aerospace headquarters building at one of Savannah’s most historic locations, Trustee’s Garden.

“We did this project ………………for one of our classes, but were prompted to submit it for TechFest when we found out about it. We saw it as the perfect blend of technology, design and innovation,” Kohne explained as he accepted the award.

The pair’s concept, along with the other projects, was judged on the basis of intellectual merit, use of technology and innovation, applicability and the student presenter’s professionalism. Area business leaders in the technology fields serve as judges during the half-day event that was held this year on the campus of South University. Mixing the students with leaders in their respective fields not only offers a chance for networking, but also inspiration.

“It is refreshing to see student work on this level. After being in the professional world for some time, it’s eye-opening to be reminded of the creativity and freedom we all started with – and to meet the students – it was all excellent,” Ryan Woolley, Vice-President, Anderson Interactive.

Third-place winner, Akshay Shinde, a graduate student in Industrial Design at SCAD was grateful for the opportunities for networking and appreciated the feedback he received, “The questions that people ask, the conversations – they give designers an opportunity to learn and understand people and design better which is a crucial step when we are talking about design education.”

Shinde’s winning project was a redesign of the basic office/bulletin board pushpin. Judges were impressed by the simplicity of his design that allowed for improved functionality and ease of use. Many even noted that it is already a marketable product.

This year’s competition hosted students from each of Savannah’s four-year colleges – Savannah State University (SSU), Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Armstrong Atlantic State University (AASU), Georgia Tech’s Savannah campus and South University – representing fields from Architecture and Industrial Design to Computer Science and Information Technology.

Winners of the second-place award, Ivan Sopin and Carlos Sanchez, both Computer Science students from AASU, won over judges with their program to develop web-based virtual laboratories for engineering students. “The program addresses the ongoing challenge of maintaining a high level of interest, enthusiasm and information retention among students by introducing Virtual Interactive Engineering on the Web, or VIEW,” Sopin explained.

South University’s Director of Career Services, Don Holland, and chair of the IT Department, Dr. Theodor Richardson were thrilled to see TechFest come to fruition on their campus this year. (The event rotates campuses each year.) Dr. Richardson said he enjoyed offering an innovative option to the typical career fair to his students. He also loved seeing what other local students were doing in their fields. “I was really excited to see how much the students enjoyed networking, not only with the professionals, but with each other, as well!”

At this year’s event there were over 20 students who showed work as individuals or in groups, while over 25 professionals representing 15 local knowledge-based businesses participated, representing both the technology and design fields. Some came to recruit for positions that are immediately available, while others just wanted to ensure they remain connected and aware of the steady stream of able graduates in various sectors of advancing technologies.

City of Savannah’s IT Department; Nicasio Design & Development; Gulfstream Aerospace; CityTrex, LLC; Entre Solutions; Morris Technology; Music Intelligence Solutions; Anderson Interactive; and City Comber were just a few of the businesses represented at Friday’s TechFest. Several of the students’ professors even dropped in throughout the day to see how their students fared and to pull for their favorite.

“This year’s TechFest was a success all the way around,” said Leigh Lawless of the Creative Coast Alliance. “Introducing high tech students to high tech businesses is the purpose of this event and we were thrilled to see the connections that came from it this year.”