Two researchers win the Pitch Your Impact competition
At the forefront: Bahar Haghighat and Margaux Molinas. © Gregory Eaves
A workshop called Pitch Your Impact on Society in 120sec, run by the InnoSeed ENAC Program, ended Tuesday night with a competition that drew an audience of over 70 people.
Eight workshop participants captivated the audience Tuesday night with their creativity and persuasive skills – and a hint of self-derision. They had just 120 seconds to describe the benefits of their research to society in layman’s terms. Participants had previously been coached by a communications agency on how to develop an elevator pitch to persuade key people to invest in a project. While everyone who took the mic proved to be a good public speaker, it was Bahar Haghighat from the DISAL Laboratory and Margaux Molinas from the EML Laboratory who took home the people’s choice award and the judges’ award, respectively.
The workshop, put together by InnoSeed ENAC, was designed to help ENAC researchers take a fresh look at themselves and their research. It involved carefully considering and then explaining how their work fits in with society’s needs. The workshop facilitators – from the communications agency Paperboy and the Venture Kick program – gave the participants tools that can help them in their academic, professional and entrepreneurial endeavors as well as in their own personal development.
The workshop tackled issues like how to make a good impression while explaining complicated concepts to the uninitiated. One way is to make analogies with things we are all familiar with and that people can relate to, tying the science directly to an everyday need.
The InnoSeed ENAC Program, introduced in January 2017, aims to provide ENAC researchers with the support they need to turn a particular invention, discovery or finding into a product or service that is useful for our society.
Due to the high level of interest in the workshop, Antoine Guillemin and Melany Gilis – the InnoSeed ENAC Program Head and Program Coordinator – have announced plans to hold it again next year.