FoodFactory-4-Us 2022 - Project evaluation, awards and certificates

Project Topic:

• In the application, teams should outline their project by
  • i) identifying a specific problem or challenge in modernization of a traditional food, and they are working with and
  • ii) giving an outline of the solution you plan to develop.
• In this edition of the competition, team projects must be focused on strategies and actions aimed at Modernizing a traditional food for contributing to your regional food value chain. Projects dealing with innovative production, processing or packaging; eco-preservation; innovations in distribution, logistics, and marketing are some examples.
• During the competition, teams design and develop a project consisting of ideas, tools, and actions to solve this real, industry-based problem with a solution that is doable and of interest to their food industry mentor. 
• Teams may have a mentor from academia or from industry if they desire, though this is not required. If a team has a mentor, that person works with the team members on their project and will also be invited to the online sessions. Mentors do not have any official responsibilities during the competition.
• The project does not require practical work in a lab and should instead be focused on finding the best solution to meet food company expectations in terms of health and safety risks, improvement of economic value, quality enhancement of products, improved sustainability, etc.
• Teams have a maximum 4 pages to describe their project (incl. references, graphics etc.), to be submitted by 5 December 2022 at 23H59 CET by email to ssc@iseki-food.net. Teams have a maximum 10 minutes to present their project at the FoodFactory4Us Final Virtual Conference week of 12 December 2022. Instructions for presentations can be found under Important Dates.   

Team evaluation:

The course facilitators and the Advisory Board will evaluate the teams and their projects and find the winning team based on:

1. The Written Report (30% of final score): The match of the project to the competition topic. The originality, innovativeness, and potential exploitability of the project (application to industry and social, economic, and environmental impact). The clarity and overall quality of the written report. The project report template can soon be downloaded.
2. The Presentation (30% of final score): The clarity and overall quality of the oral presentation at the FoodFactory4Us Final Virtual Conference. All presentations must begin with a 1-minute summary (elevator pitch). Responses to questions by all team members. 
3. Student Reflection Document (20% of final score).
4. Participation (20% of final score): complete “learner evaluation begin” and “learner evaluation end”, attend online trainings (the more team members at each online training, the more points for your team), complete assignments.

Why participate:

• Each team of students will work on a real, food industry-based problem in sustainability and therefore improve specific knowledge and competences.
• All students will improve group cooperation skills and awareness of the importance and benefits of teamwork in a competitive environment.
• Project evaluation will be ‘real’, that is carried out by food industry and/or food associations who, in collaboration with academics, will evaluate the projects based on the best professional abilities in problem-solving and teamwork.
• All students will participate in an action-oriented, participatory learning experience in which they will share knowledge and improve skills in a virtual environment.
• If accepted by the home university, students can earn university credit for their participation in the Competition Game.

Awards and certificates

The Winning Team of the FoodFactory-4-Us Edition 2022 will receive:

• An award of EUR 300 sponsored by the ISEKI-Food Association.
• Participation and accommodation for 3 members of the winning team at the Swedish Food Hack of autumn 2023, sponsered by RISE.

Back to Edition 2022 homepage