The selected groups in the 2nd call of Academic Working Capital program in 2016 participated in the Online Workshop, held on May 7th, 14th and 21st. The goal of the workshop was to prepare the students for the work that will be accomplished along the year, with the same content covered in the Workshop I, which took place between January 18th and 20th at the Polytechnic School at the University of São Paulo (Poli-USP).
The lectures and presentations were broadcasted live via YouTube by the professor of the Department of Mechatronics Engineering and Robotic Systems of Poli-USP and AWC executive coordinator, Marcos Barretto; by mechatronic engineer and content coordinator of the program, Diogo Dutra; and by the partner of the innovation and design consultancy CAOS Focado, Miguel Chaves. They guided the groups to develop a CSD Matrix and a business model Canvas, to identify and interview potential users to map their journey and to plan the cycles of the project and the functionalities of the product.
Along the workshop, the groups gathered in Hangouts rooms to discuss their ideas and exchange opinions on the projects. They were divided into three clusters, according to the specifications of the projects: sci tech, tech products and soft/apps. The coordinators of AWC and Miguel Chaves accompanied all activities and clarified doubts of students. Moreover, the discussions via Hangouts had the participation and support of the program monitors: André Dib, Gabriel Merici, Lili Sartori, Juliana Uechi, Maurício Carneiro and Kenzo Abiko.
At the end, clusters were mixed to present the value proposition of each product and receive feedback from other groups and from the AWC team. There are projects from the most different areas, such as a shopping cart with a motorized platform to help people with physical and motor difficulties; a nano plastic that preserves food and is made in a more economic way than conventional; and intelligent bandages that continuously monitor patients in hospitals and medical clinics.
Now, the groups will continue with the activities started in the workshop to validate their value proposition and will receive weekly monitoring of AWC monitors. The next workshop will be on-site and will happen on July 18th, 19th and 20th, with the participation of the 26 groups of the 1st and 2nd call and with focus on prototyping.
