College students compete in Google innovation contest

College students in Charleston are participating in a nationwide Google contest to turn a throwaway item into something new.

In the local competition, the Juicy Ideas Contest is challenging 37 teams from local colleges to create value from an item that could be considered trash: a small glass medicine bottle. The contest is meant to encourage innovation, collaboration and environmental responsibility.

Teams of three to five students each from Charleston Southern University, The Citadel, the College of Charleston and Trident Technical College have 10 days from the time of the reveal of the item — the local reveal was Tuesday — to work on their idea.

The Juicy Ideas Contest was created to encourage entrepreneurship and the role it plays in the economic growth of regions across the nation and around the world. Because Google is a sponsor of the contest, all areas with a Google data center were included in the contest.

Teams are competing for prizes and professional development opportunities and a chance at the grand prize — a day at Google headquarters in California. The winner from Charleston will face the winning teams from North Carolina, Oklahoma, Iowa and Oregon to compete for the trip to Google in January.

The three finalists will be announced Nov. 15, and Google will announce the national grand-prize winner in December.

Teams will chronicle their experiences on video and upload them to YouTube for judging by some of the region’s top technology entrepreneurs and educators. They will be evaluated in five areas: originality and creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation, environmental responsibility, critical thinking skills, and team building and leadership.

ThinkTEC, an initiative of the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, is leading the effort locally.

For more information visit creativejuicecompetition.com .