The SCET Student Innovation Fellows program is currently on hiatus and will return in Fall 2023.

START ANYTIME, ALWAYS OPEN CHALLENGES

Sign up to be a SCET Innovation Fellow

  • Register to start playing any time during the Fall 2022 semester!
  • Participate in immersive entrepreneurial experiences
  • Build genuine connections with community of SCET students, alumni and industry
  • Learn new skills to launch your career

Are Entrepreneurs Born or Made?

SCET founding director, Ikhlaq Sidhu, makes a guest appearance on the New Zealand cable morning show Breakfast, where he comments on whether entrepreneurs are born or made and explains Berkeley’s approach to developing entrepreneurs.

Group 37

Grow Your Entrepreneurial Mindset

SCET student innovation fellows will engage with the program over 12 weeks from Feb. - Apr. through a series of in-person and virtual tasks and opportunities. Upon successful completion of the program, fellows will be awarded a SCET Entrepreneurship and Technology Fellowship Title that can be added to your resume/CV. Students are allowed to join anytime during the 12 week period.

How to Play

The SCET Innovation Fellows program is structured as a game to encourage students to push themselves out of their comfort zone and grow by trying new entrepreneurial experiences.

Fall 2022 Challenges

  • New challenges will be posted here weekly starting with the first challenges launching on September 12, 2022.
  • Be sure to register as a player to be notified each week about new challenge opportunities.
  • By completing challenges, you will earn points that will count toward the SCET Innovation Fellows Certificate and have a chance to earn prizes.

New challenges will be released here every week during the Fall 2022 semester.

Week 1 Challenge

Challenge 1:  Your Relationship With Entrepreneurship Hosted by Professor Tarek Zohdi  ( 3 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:
  1. Write down your current relationship with entrepreneurship.
  2. Write down 2-3 goals of where you would like to be by the end of the semester.
  3. How do you want to grow your entrepreneurial skills and endeavors?
Challenge Begins: September 12, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Newton Lecture Series Archive

Challenge 2:  Carl Bass, CEO of Autodesk  ( 3 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:
  1. What is Bass’s perspective on innovation?
  2. How does he think technology should integrate with innovation?
  3. Does this change your thinking on how we should go about innovation
Challenge Begins: September 12, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Past Cohort Favorite Challenge

Challenge 3:  Attend a Class Not Associated With Your Major  ( 5 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:
  1. What class did you attend?
  2. Why did you pick that class?
  3. What did you learn or discover?
Challenge Begins: September 12, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Week 2 Challenge

Challenge 4:  Frustration List Hosted by Professor Frank Schultz  ( 3 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:

1) Jot down when someone around you gets frustrated/upset, and the root cause of their concern

2) Submit your list and ideas for potential solutions

Challenge Begins: September 19, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Newton Lecture Series Archive

Challenge 5:  Adam Cheyer – Co-founder of Siri, Change.org, Viv Labs, and Sentient  ( 3 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:

1) What does Adam articulate as the keys to a successful business?
2) How have you seen these aspects implemented as broader concepts in your own personal projects or career?

Challenge Begins: September 19, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Campus Innovation Event

Challenge 6:  Attend the Berkeley Lab Research Slam  ( 5 Points)


https://slam.lbl.gov/

What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:

1) Which presentation helped you understand the research the best? How?
2) Which presentation made you want to know more about the research? How?
3) Which research do you think has the most potential? Why?

Challenge Begins: September 19, 2022
Challenge Closes: September 25, 2022
Build Your Skills Challenge

Challenge 7:  Capture the Flag  ( 30 Points)


Calling all majors! Curious about the 150 billion cybersecurity Industry? This is your opportunity to learn what cybersecurity is and how you can protect yourself from cybersecurity attacks.  NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED.

Participants will get hands-on cyber security training open to all majors and levels of experience for anyone interested in breaking into the multibillion dollar cybersecurity industry. With our gamified capture the flag, we aim to teach students about a wide variety of cybersecurity and privacy topics. Those topics include phishing attacks, password hygiene and safety on social media.

Get ready to gain real skills that are needed in this growing field which are applicable across disciplines AND have the chance to win a pair of Apple Airpods.

How to Play

Welcome to the first ever Capture the Flag competition hosted by the SCET and Berke1337 (cyber security club). Below are step by step instructions that will help you get started.

  1. Register for the CTF challenge by creating an account, https://scetctf.org/register
  2. FAQ’s about the challenge can be found here, https://scetctf.org/faq
  3. Learn more about cybersecurity and get a tutorial to find the first flag here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65z1TQAuPiw
  4. You will need to find 7 flags to complete the CTF.  Each flag is independent, but the difficulty increases with each number.
  5. You can ask for help at anytime by posting a question in the Fellow Slack #ctf-challenge or attending the CTF speaker series.
  6. Once you have found all the flags, take a screenshot and submit the picture for Challenge 7 in the SCET Fellow airtable.  You are then entered in the lottery to win a pair of airpods.
  7. In the submission form you can opt in to share your contact information with our sponsor, HackerOne, for more resources to continue your cybersecurity journey, including earning real cash hacking on bug bounty programs, https://www.hackerone.com/hackers

Speaker Series

As part of the Capture the Flag competition, SCET and Berke1337 will host a speaker series to help you learn more about cybersecurity and how you can join this exciting industry.

Guest Speaker:  Samantha Beaumont

Come to learn about how to get started hacking cars or even into banks, Samantha Beaumont will be sharing how she got started working on the latest BMWs to ensure their safety for consumers.

Register


Guest Speaker:  Christopher Kirk

Come learn about how to become a real life superhero. Christopher Kirk will be sharing his experience on the DART team at microsoft where he and his team ensure the largest corporations are safe from malicious hackers.

Register


Guest Speaker:  Ryen Macababbad

Join to learn from Ryen who is a leader in her industry, previously leading a team at microsoft to her new role as a Senior Manager at New Relic.

Register

What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:
Once you have found all the flags, you need to submit a screenshot of your dashboard that shows you’ve found all the flags. This can also be found https://scetctf.org/faq 
In the submission form you can opt in to share your contact information with our sponsor, HackerOne, for more resources to continue your cybersecurity journey, including earning real cash hacking on bug bounty programs, https://www.hackerone.com/hackers
Challenge Begins: September 19, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Week 3 Challenge

Challenge 8:  Evaluating Data Products Hosted by Professor Anna Zaitsev  ( 3 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:
  1. Think of a product that presents data: what 3 facts are crucial that the product showcases?
  2. How do they communicate the data well?
Challenge Begins: September 26, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Newton Lecture Series Archive

Challenge 9:  Kathleen Glaub – CEO, Afferent Pharmaceuticals  ( 3 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:

1) What roadblocks did Glaub articulate as impediments to pharmaceutical success?
2) How does she manage to work with/through them?
3) In what creative ways can you navigate potential roadblocks to also innovate successfully?

Challenge Begins: September 26, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Networking Challenge

Challenge 10:  Entrepreneur Coffee Chat  ( 5 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:

1) Submit a picture of you with the entrepreneur.
2) Submit a url to a blog or a YouTube video with a reflection on what you learned, what surprised you, what you could relate to, what you couldn’t, etc.. Include the name of the entrepreneur and a brief description of thetheir endeavors.

Challenge Begins: September 26, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Week 4 Challenge

Challenge 11:  Practicing Wellness with Adrienne Greer  ( 3 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:

1) How do you think and feel about health in your life?
2) Where do you see opportunities for building health into your everyday life?
3) A day in your life and think about where the path you are on leads to you healthy things and unhealthy things

Challenge Begins: October 3, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Newton Lecture Series Archive

Challenge 12:  Kevin Chou, Mike Li, Founders of Kabam, Rally, Forte and Super  ( 3 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:

1) What do Mike and Kevin teach us about career changes, expectations for after college, and navigating new fields?
2) How does this make you rethink your current stance towards your career?

Challenge Begins: October 3, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Networking Challenge

Challenge 13:  30/30/30 Building Your Network  ( 30 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:

Create a numbered list and tell us about the person you met on campus, their major, their job on campus, what are they interested in? what are their ambitions? What has been the most impactful experience for them at Cal? Did you find any commonalities? etc…

Challenge Begins: October 3, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Week 5 Challenge

Challenge 14:  Team Fantastic Hosted by Dallon Penney, CEO of Tesserol  ( 3 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:

Reflect on teams that you’ve been in that have gone fantastically, and teams where you’ve been frustrated with your team members.

  1. How do they differ in communication?
  2. How could you have changed your communication in the team you were frustrated with to make it the fantastic team?

 

Challenge Begins: October 10, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Newton Lecture Series Archive

Challenge 15:  Aaron Levie, CEO of Box  ( 3 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:

1) What does Aaron teach us about being a good leader?
2) What does Aaron teach us about starting a successful company?
3) How can we incorporate these lessons into our broader lives?

Challenge Begins: October 10, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Week 6 Challenge

Challenge 16:  Startup Ideation Hosted by Matthew Milford, Cal Alum & Founder at Foresight  ( Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:
  1. Write down 4 start-up ideas per day for a week (28 total)
  2. Pick top 3; reflect on why you’re most drawn to those ideas, and how you came up with them.
  3. Would you pursue these ideas?
Challenge Begins: October 17, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Newton Lecture Series Archive

Challenge 17:  William Bao Bean, General Partner SOSV, Chinaaccelerator and MOX  ( 3 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:

1) What is William’s experience with failure, and his perspective towards it?
2) How can we use his experience to build our own paths of perseverance during difficult times?

Challenge Begins: October 17, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Build Your Skills Challenge

Challenge 18:  Climate Challenge, SCET Fellows x Berkeley Changemaker®  ( 30 Points)


SCET is proud to announce The Climate Change Challenge  in partnership with Berkeley Changemaker®Registration is now open for all Berkeley students. 

Everyone can make a difference! You don’t need any skills or qualifications to join this year’s Climate Challenge. If you have an idea that you’re passionate about, don’t hesitate to sign up! for the Challenge, and we will follow up with more details. Learn more about the Challenge.

What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:

For this challenge, students will automatically receive points after attending the final presentation. 

To qualify:

Each competing individual will need to present a slide deck (roughly 5-8 slides) with:

  1. The name and description of the issue they are focusing on

    • The issue needs to be specific as well as have the name of the affected country/locale they are focusing on

      • Example: ‘lack of fresh water supply in Saudi Arabia’, not ‘water’

    • Description must include how the issue affects the population, and why is it a problem

  2. The solution, including basic scientific background and financial information, and how the solution will work

    • This can be basic (ballpark numbers for cost, source of funds etc)

    • Science needs to be reasonable but not too high level if the candidate does not have a scientific background

  3. Potential problems and how to overcome them

The slide deck should also have an introductory slide with the individual/team members’ photos, names and short descriptions (including major), similar to a business pitch.

Challenge Begins: October 17, 2022
Challenge Closes: November 30, 2022
Week 7 Challenge

Challenge 19:  Math and Music Hosted by Professor Carmine Cella  ( 3 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:

1) Submit a document with links to sounds that define your story, whether that be songs, recorded sounds, or sounds taken online (ex: did you go camping as a kid? submit sounds of fire crackling!)

Challenge Begins: October 24, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Newton Lecture Series Archive

Challenge 20:  Gurbaksh Chalal – Founder & CEO, Radium One  ( 3 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:

1) What piece of advice that Gurbaksh gave resonates with you the most?
2) How will you apply it in your everyday life to reach your goals?

Challenge Begins: October 24, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Student Survey

Challenge 21:  Share Your Opinions!  ( 5 Points)


Earn points and help us improve for future cohorts by providing feedback on challenges you’ve participated in so far.

What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:
  1. Rate the tasks you have participated in on a scale of 1 to 5 (mark N/A if you have not participated in that task)
  2. Which of the tasks you have participated in have been your favorite and why? (free response)
  3. What would you change about the game (if anything) and why?
Challenge Begins: October 24, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Week 8 Challenge

Challenge 22:  Extending Your Hobbies Hosted by Philip Brook, Founder @ Voiceform  ( 3 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:

1) Write down 4 start-up ideas per day for a week (28 total) 2) Pick top 3; reflect on why you’re most drawn to those ideas, and how you came up with them. 3) Would you pursue these ideas?

Challenge Begins: October 31, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Newton Lecture Series Archive

Challenge 23:  Dr. Mary Lou Jepsen, Founder & CEO of Openwater  ( 3 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:

1) What is Dr. Jepsen’s perspective on getting people to use new technologies? 2) What can we learn from Dr. Jepsen about convincing consumers to adopt new innovations?

Challenge Begins: October 31, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Campus Innovation Event

Challenge 24:  Blockchain Xcelerator Demo Day @ Crypto Economics Security Conference, hosted by Berkeley Center for Responsible Decentralized Intelligence  ( 5 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:

1) Which company/companies had the most compelling case for solving a demonstrated problem? 2) Which company/companies described their product and customer the best? What are they building and for whom? 3) Which company/companies demonstrated the best market opportunity and the most traction?

Challenge Begins: November 1, 2022
Challenge Closes: November 1, 2022
Week 9 Challenge

Challenge 25:  Finding the Right Fit with Cat Li  ( 3 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:
  1. Do you have an idea that you’re set on? Or are you open to exploring new ideas?
  2. How much time a week can you dedicate to working on a startup? How much do you need your potential co-founder to dedicate?
  3. What areas of a startup (product, engineering, design, sales & marketing, operations) are you willing to take responsibility for? What do you need your co-founder to be responsible for?
  4. What topics and industries are you interested in?
  5. Is location of your co-founder important to you? How often would you like to work together IRL?
Challenge Begins: November 7, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Newton Lecture Series Archive

Challenge 26:  Mitchell Baker, Chairwoman of Mozilla  ( 3 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:
  1. What do we learn about bridging corporate interest and public good from Mitchell?
  2. How can companies serve the public good while still innovating?
Challenge Begins: November 7, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Week 10 Challenge

Challenge 27:  Being an Accelerator Partner with Health Engine  ( 3 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:

Look through the companies Health Engine has worked with worked with

  1. Pick one you like, and describe 2 potential challenges you think it might face in growing as a company in the healthcare industry
  2. Describe any thoughts you have on how they could overcome the issue
Challenge Begins: November 14, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Newton Lecture Series Archive

Challenge 28:  Olivia Wang, Founder of ZhenFund  ( 3 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:
  1. What does Olivia teach us about innovating very common ideas and structures, and adapting them to fit another market?
  2. How has this changed the way you view innovation?
Challenge Begins: November 14, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Week 11 Challenge

Challenge 29:  The Future of Technology hosted by Luke Kowalski  ( 3 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:
  1. How do you predict we will interface with technology in five years? How about 10? What about 50?
  2. What lessons from previous technologies can we apply to future innovations?
Challenge Begins: November 21, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Newton Lecture Series Archive

Challenge 30:  Heather Franzese, Director, Good World Solutions  ( 3 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:
  1. What does Heather teach us about good data and incentives?
  2. How can good data work well with helping people?
Challenge Begins: November 21, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Week 12 Challenge

Challenge 31:  Find Your Co-Founder hosted by Cat Li, Lead Startup School @ Y Combinator  ( Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:
  1. How do you predict we will interface with technology in five years? How about 10? What about 50?
  2. What lessons from previous technologies can we apply to future innovations?
Challenge Begins: November 28, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Newton Lecture Series Archive

Challenge 32:  Dr. Jennifer Doudna, co-inventor of CRISPR, Nobel Laureate, UC Berkeley Professor of Chemistry and Founder of 5 companies  ( 3 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:
  1. What does Dr. Doudna teach us about persistence and combatting strife?
  2. How can we adapt these lessons to our personal lives?
Challenge Begins: November 28, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022
Student Survey

Challenge 33:  Tell Us About Your Experience  ( 5 Points)


What to Submit
Use the submission form to answer the following questions:

1) Which of the tasks you participated in have been your favorite and why?
2) What would you change about the game (if anything) and why?
3) Do you feel you gained exposure to opportunities in entrepreneurship and innovation? (yes/no)
4) Did your experience in the Fellow program change your perspective of entrepreneurship? If so, how?
5) Have you increased your network with meaningful connections?
6) What advice would you give future SCET Innovation Fellows?
7) Would you participate in this program again?
8) What content/events/activities would you want to see for future programs?
9) How would you rate your overall experience? (rating from 1-5)
10) Describe your interest level in taking a SCET class in the future (rating from 1-5?)

Challenge Begins: November 28, 2022
Challenge Closes: December 11, 2022

Fall 2022 Leaderboard

Certificate and Prizes

The SCET Student Innovation Fellows program offers the SCET Innovation Fellow Certificate for students that participate in the program. In order to receive the badge, you must qualify by completing one of the tier criteria below.

Certificate Tiers

Gold Tier Innovation Fellow ....................................
Silver Tier Innovation Fellow ..................................
Bronze Tier Innovation Fellow ...............................
Cybersecurity Challenge Winner ..........................
Climate Challenge Winner .......................................

 

180-217 points
142-179 points
92-141 points
Win the Cybersecurity Challenge
Win the Climate Challenge

Certificate Tiers

Frame

Prizes

*Students who receive Bronze, Silver and Gold Tiers are eligible for the following prizes.

  • Play video games with entrepreneurs Mike Li and Kevin Chou
  • Lunch with Rich Lyons, Chief Innovation Officer at UC Berkeley
  • Caviar gift certificates
  • Cal Athletics Tickets
  • Prototyping session with Olivia Wong (1 hour), Senior Partner of Prototype Thinking Labs
  • SCET Mentor Studio Session (30 minutes)-career coaching or start up mentoring
  • Aura Coffee and Tea Products
  • iFly session with a Cal entrepreneur
Group 38

Program Details

Who is Eligible?

Any UC Berkeley student interested in Entrepreneurship and Technology

When can I sign up?

The application deadline is ongoing. Students are welcome to join at anytime throughout the semester!

Other Questions?

Slack @JenniferNice or email jennifernice@berkeley.edu for questions about the program.

More FAQs

SCET Headshot (2)

"The SCET Innovation Fellow Program is, by far, the most enriching and fun activity I pursued during my undergrad years. The various challenges gave me the incentive to expand my network with students and entrepreneurs, learn about blockchain, attend classes I never thought of going to, and listen to the teachings of SCET entrepreneurial guest speakers. The program is also a wonderful self-discovery process. By facilitating methodical exercises for me to become aware of/shape my growth mentality, problem-solving style, and technology interests, I'm keen on making mindful decisions to impact in the ever-growing world of innovative changes."

Lilian Wang, SCET Innovation Fellow, Spring 2022, Gold Tier Winner

"Having been involved in the technology and entrepreneurship scene on campus, the SCET Innovation Fellows Program served as the perfect opportunity to build genuine connections whilst reflecting on my experiences, developing new skills, and gaining domain knowledge in areas I had not explored previously. The challenges were quite varied in nature: small group panels with successful startup founders, innovative consumer analysis and customer discovery exercises, a machine learning competition to predict traffic collision injuries in partnership with the UC Berkeley Disaster Lab, and even an NFT creator challenge that featured MBA students. The gamified nature of each activity made the program more enjoyable, and kept fellows engaged throughout its duration. I feel as though being an innovation fellow has made me more aware of my strengths and passions, and I look forward to witnessing how the program evolves over time, continuing to enable students to have a meaningful impact on the campus community."

Akhil Venkatesh, SCET Innovation Fellow, Spring 2022, Gold Tier Winner

Akhil (2)

Challenge Archive

Resources

Books

Tools

  • Pitchbook - UC Berkeley students can access Pitchbook for free through the library to research startups, entrepreneurs, deals, and industry trends.

Challenges & Competitions

Videos

NFT Creator Challenge Workshops

Workshop #1
The basics of blockchain and NFTs

Workshop #2
How to create and mint an NFT

Cybersecurity Capture the Flag (CTF) Challenge Speaker Series

Samantha Beaumont
Principal Offensive Cyber Security Consultant, IOActive

Christopher Kirk
Principal Cybersecurity Consultant, Microsoft

Kate Kuehn
SVP, vArmour

Renee Guttmann
Fortune 50 Chief InfoSec Officer & Startup Advisor

Samantha Beaumont
Principal Offensive, Cybersecurity Consultant, IOActive

Christopher Kirk
Principal Cybersecurity Consultant, Microsoft

Ryen Macababbad
Senior Manager, Product Security, Customer Trust, Engineering, New Relic

Climate Challenge Speaker Series

Marcus Lehmann
CEO of CalWave Power Technologies Inc.

Alireza TayebNama
Founder and CEO of Marli Technology Solutions Inc.

Trista Bridges
Principal and Co-Founder, Read the Air

A special thank you to Professor Robert L. "Bob" Powell for his generous and insightful contribution to the gaming point system. Bob shared his domain expertise in game theory to develop the individual components in the point system and game tiers. Bob expressed immense excitement for the opportunities provided by the SCET Innovation Fellowship.

Sponsors

Cal-Founded

Prime Roots logo
download (2)
Aura logo
download (1)
Caviar_Orange-01

Corporate

lululemon-athletica-logo-vector