Faculty and Staff Innovation Pitch Competition

In general, any faculty of staff member at The University of Alabama is eligible to apply.

• ALL Faculty and staff can apply individually or as a team.  
• Presenting team members must be currently working at The University of Alabama.
• Previous winners who did not win the Alabama Power Foundation Innovative Technology Grand Prize and/or the Culverhouse College of Business Entrepreneurial Growth Award can compete again in another year ONLY if the business idea has evolved and changed (progressed), or they have a new business idea.  If unsure, please contact Dr. Welbourne at twelbourne@cba.ua.edu or Dr. Ying Qin at yqin@ua.edu.

Overall, the intellectual property practices at UA are a win/win for the inventor and the University. Because employees are pitching in this event, we want you to understand how the University’s intellectual property policy works.

Note that our policy is fundamentally no different from the practices of companies or other universities. The overall governing idea is if significant University resources are used, if your discovery results from a project where the costs were paid by the University, or if the discovery is in your field of work at the University, then the University owns the idea (this is a normal business practice).

As the inventor, you gain from the University’s expertise in evaluation, marketing, and ability to secure intellectual property rights while also benefiting from the University’s interest in recognizing your efforts and providing you with some share of any potential gain.

• There is no entry fee.
• The competition is open to UA faculty and staff.
• Ideas must be the original work of entrants (they can work with a team).
• Remember to keep your pitch concise and simple, encouraging judges to want to learn more.
• You will have 3 minutes to persuasively describe your idea in your recorded pitch video. A panel of judges will then review. The virtual ‘live’ session will focus on questions and answers with the judges.
• Judges may ask about the problem you are solving, your product or service, your market/customer, business management, and financials. Review the judging criteria for a more complete view of what judges will be seeking.
• Although you can be part of a team, only one UA faculty/staff member from the team should submit as the contestant and handle the Q&A session.
• By participating in this event, you grant the right and permission of UA staff to use photos, videos, and audio recordings in publicity, including Internet social media.

• 2024 Winners
• 2023 Winners
• 2022 Winners
• 2021 Winners
• 2020 Winners