Purpose The purpose of the Innovation Fair is three fold: 1. Motivate the technical genius and creativity of university and college innovators 2. To bring the innovator's dream closer to commercial reality 3. To promote technology-based innovation and entrepreneurship in Canada Structure of the Fair In this inaugural year, the fair will take place at the Accelerator in Waterloo , and in the following year it will take place at the McMaster Innovation Park .  The Innovation Fair is being scheduled for early October, 2007. It will consist of a poster presentation where professors and students meet and form teams, followed by an elevator pitch competition where winners will be awarded prize money. The Innovation Fair will take place over one day, from morning until evening. he conclusion of the fair, all projects that are deemed reasonable and commercially viable will share equally in prize money of $50,000, to be allocated to the professors' research accounts for proof-of-principle work, market research, patenting costs, professional services and other costs. Poster Presentation The day will start out with a poster presentation in the morning, where professors from participating schools will display their inventions that the students will peruse, as they bring their resumes along. The fair will operate as a rapid dating service to form the commercialization teams. Each team will consist of one professor and one student, but during the school year, students from the MBET and MEEI may be added if need be. Care will be taken prior to the selection of the projects to protect the "secret sauce" so that future patenting and IP protection is not jeopardized. Elevator Pitch Presentations After the poster presentations, the teams will have half a day to prepare an elevator pitch. In the evening they will present their pitches to an advisory panel of Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists. What is an elevator pitch? An elevator pitch is quick presentation on your business concept giving answers to the following questions: 1. What problem does your product or service solve, and why is this problem significant? 2. Who is your customer and what is your market? 3. How will you earn money from your idea? 4. What is your sustaining competitive advantage? 5. What are you looking for? i.e. investment capital, another meeting, a partner… You will have 4 minutes to present your elevator pitch. You can use any presentation format that suites you. Prizes At the conclusion of the fair, all projects that are deemed reasonable and commercially viable will share equally in prize money of $50,000, to be allocated to the professors' research accounts for proof-of-principle work, market research, patenting costs, professional services and other costs. What to Submit Professors are expected to prepare a poster that describes their invention or idea. Posters are expected to answer the following questions: 1 - What is the problem that the idea addresses? 2 - What is the solution to the problem? 3 - What technology is being used to create the solution? 4 - Who are the end-users of the solution? 5 - How will end users benefit from the solution? 6 - What is the current state of the solution and technology? Entrepreneurship students are expected to bring their resumes along with them to the fair and meet professors who present posters. Judging Criteria Judges will be looking for innovative inventions and ideas that solve real problems. A technology can take many different forms, but it is important that your idea is supported by a solid business concept and understanding of the issues you may face in going to market. The judging panel considers the following criteria when evaluating your ideas: Clarity of Opportunity Clarity of Product/Service Market Need and Scope Knowledge of Customer Competitive Landscape Technology Development Plan Intellectual Property Selection criteria will be ultimately based on the technologies deemed to possess commercial viability with the greatest potential for success.