Interactive Media students competing for $10,000 prize

Jonathan Bucec G ’15 (left) and Matthew Eastman ’13 G’15 were named finalists for the 2015 SECU Prize for Innovation Fan Favorite Competition.[/caption]A team of Elon University Interactive Media students is competing for a shot at $10,000 for its startup idea as part of the SECU Institute for Emerging Ideas competition.

Matthew Eastman ’13 G’15 and Jonathan Bucec G ’15, who make up the “Simply Local: North Carolina” team, were nominated in the competition’s Fan Favorite category.

As Fan Favorite finalists, the duo will compete against three other student teams in a public vote, held between Monday, Jan. 26, and Friday, Jan. 30. To cast a vote, visit the SECU website. You may cast one vote per day per browser.

Through their “Simply Local: North Carolina” initiative, Eastman and Bucec created a mobile application prototype designed to help consumers quickly locate local food, and a website designed to advocate environmental responsibility and stimulate local entrepreneurship in North Carolina. Their objective was to “bring local food into the 21st century.”

“Simply Local” collaborated with the 10 Percent Campaign, a statewide local food initiative, to create strategy for the online platforms to make eating local more effective and more affordable.

The Elon team is competing against student nominees from Duke University, East Carolina University, North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The competition was open to undergraduate and graduate students attending North Carolina two- and four-year universities. This year’s contest received 31 applications from across the state.

The two teams with the most votes will each receive a $10,000 Fan Favorite award. Winners will be announced at the 30th annual Emerging Issues Forum, held at the Raleigh Convention Center, on Tuesday, Feb. 10. The Fan Favorite announcement will be live streamed at 1:15 p.m.