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On Saturday October 23rd, nine teams of students from 13 schools and colleges on UT Austin’s campus came together to showcase their innovative solutions for small and rural communities of Texas. The teams grappled with ways for their selected community to integrate a preventative health care initiative that makes sense for the needs of the citizens. An expert judging panel consisting of Jim Rich, Executive Director at Southeast Texas Economic Development Foundation, Felipe Gonzalez, Principal Technologist at HEB, Jordan Scott, President of 512 Asset Management, and a grandson of George Kozmetsky, awarded three teams with cash prizes for the best answers to the challenge. Educational scholarships as rewards for going to the doctor, 5k races and community health fairs, and ways to encourage more outdoor exploration, were highlights in this year’s competition. The judging panel commented on the range of creative plans the students presented for how communities can increase the well-being of the towns.
Students enjoyed the opportunity to learn from students from other majors and to think holistically about community development issues, as well as the chance to research and interview community members, leading to a deeper understanding of the needs Texas towns. The IC² Institute congratulates the winning teams, and thanks all participants of this year’s challenge.
2021 Competition Winners
Team Alice: Aarti Aravapalli, Aditi Kalla, Conor Flood, Pearse Flood, Shanil Jasani
Team La Grange: Alison Rahman, Bill Tang, Kelsey Wingo, Madilyn Jarman, Mihir Bendre
Team Van Horn: David Cruz, Matthew Kojm, Karen Yao, Laura Souto
Finalist Teams
Team Midland: Siddharth Thakur, Michael Solomon, Aniruddh Thakur and Ben Breed
Team Amarillo: Andrew Norman, Ariana Rodriquez, Benjamin Stormer, Christian Hurd, Jonathan Sharpee
Team Boerne: Natalie Raper, Rakib Momin, Simmi Mani, Sweny Maredia
Team Brownsville: Antony Sutanto, Ayush Arya, Jack Zhao, Sing-Rong (Lucy) Chiu, Tyler Dang
Team Giddings: Deana Trautz, Jaxson Shealy, Mckenna Lucas, Sheena Delp
Team Jacksboro: Krista Gehlhausen, Jordan Cooley, Alexander Tang, Lawrence Robinson
Watch the presentations playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLI5O_MbupoLBU6ExpPojMEIPTN07KVcMi