The Winter 2024 Innovation Showcase held at Launchbox began at 10:00 am Friday, March 22^nd. Students participating in Project Connect gave a brief presentation on their experience in their placement this semester. They shared highlights, learnings, and key takeaways.  

Project Connect is an initiative that Acadia Career Services and the Acadia Launchbox have partnered to create a new part-time work experience program to benefit students at Acadia and local businesses. Project Connect brings together short-duration high-value projects from local businesses and skilled students in relevant fields. Students work on a project provided by the business and can help launch or create a new product, conduct market research, work on technical aspects and more. Projects average in length of about 8-10 weeks with 5-10 hours/week of student work. Project Connect provides students access to individualized coaching, skill development workshops, and financial support.  

This semester students were partnered with a variety of local businesses. Our first presentation of the day was by Taylor Thomas, a 4^th year BBA student. She continued her work with CaseNet and Dr. Conor Vibert. She assisted in filming, interviewing, uploading and video editing for interviews Dr. Vibert conducted globally.  

Jaswinder Singh Jattana, 1^st year Computer Science student specializing in data processing, spent the semester working with The Acadia Laboratory for Agri-Food and Beverage (ALAB) and supervisor Hayley Craig-Barnes. ALab is an analytical lab that provides state of the art research and analytical services to the wine, craft beverage and food industries. Jaswinder’s role was to determine macro rules, better automate their current data processing system, and organize data from the lab.  

Two students were working with Common Good Solutions this semester. Ahmad Chowdhury, a 1^st year Computer Science major, and Celine Gibson, a 4^th year Kinesiology student. Common Good Solutions is a social impact organization based in Halifax that supports and strengthens communities by converting purpose into action. Both working under Lisa Lowthers, Ahmed was working on upgrading the website, applying their current branding kit to the platform. Celine conducted secondary research on various topics, wrote business reports and proposals in response to client's needs, and developed and conducted surveys.  

Grace Larkin, a 2^nd year Law & Society student, was working as a social media marketing aid at Janes Again Wolfville. She worked closely with the founder, Jani MacDonald, to develop a marketing plan and content calendar, and tutored staff on how to effectively use Tiktok and Instagram to target their large demographic of customers.  

Working with a student Startup, Collared Connections, was Kristin Alex a 3^rd year Computer Science major. Collared Connections is contractor-rating platform similar to TripAdvisor created by Acadia Student, Ben Tompkins, allowing contractors to advertise their services and clients to evaluate the performance of contractors. Kristin’s role was to develop a website for the business to bring it one step closer to launching.  

Another student business founded by Brandon Snyder, Wolfville E-Scooters, had two students involved this semester. Noah Wilkie, a 5^th year BBA Marketing student created an Instagram and Facebook account for the business and helped create content for the initial marketing campaign. Jc Henrie, 1^st year BBA student interested in finance was tasked with developing a projected income statement and balance sheet for next 3-5 years.  

Kayla Moorcroft, a 2^nd year double major Computer Science and Engineering student was paired with supervisor Peter Hickey, founder of Active Risk Mitigation Service (ARMS). ARMS is about managing industrial projects by providing client solutions for four services: Safety, Emergency response, Security, and Medical; all through one contract. Kayla helped with web development to make a more attractive and user-friendly website.  

Lastly, Dawson McCulloch, a 2^nd year BBA-Entrepreneurship & Innovation student was paired with Alex Dulay in building the Enactus Cafe. Alex’s goal is to create a cafe for students at Patterson Hall to enjoy and empower local businesses to sell their products. Dawson used his past experience in carpentry to build a cafe cart. During his presentation the audience was brought down into the lobby of Patterson to see the cart.  

The presentations delivered by all Project Connect students during the Innovation Showcase demonstrated their significant contributions to supporting local businesses. Through their dedication and hard work, these students have not only enhanced their own learning experiences but have also contributed significantly to the achievement of our partnering businesses' goals.  

Students have had the opportunity to showcase their capabilities, network with industry professionals, and position themselves as valuable assets within the workforce. The relationships forged during Project Connect serve as a springboard for future career opportunities, underscoring the program's role in bridging the gap between education and employment.  

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