Area Students ‘Thrown to the Wolves’ in Annual Innovators Competition

JONESBORO – Arkansas State University’s Delta Center for Economic Development (DCED) will host the fourth annual Thrown to the Wolves competition from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 25.

This year, a total of 10 teams will be made up of students from Cross County High School, East Poinsett County High School, Hoxie High School, the Academies of Jonesboro High School, and Academies of West Memphis. Some of the schools will have more than one team. 
 
“We invite the community to attend and show their support for the next generation of creators, problem-solvers, and leaders as they take their ideas to the next level,” said Andrea Allen, executive director of DCED.  
 
At this event, students will present their projects and inventions in a “Shark Tank” inspired competition.  

Two rounds of judging will take place at the one-day competition. The judges for round one will be Tim Hall, manager of client services at A-State; Lenore Trammell, chief compliance officer and general counsel at Big River Steel; and Dr. Rajesh Sharma, associate professor of renewable energy technology at A-State.

Judges for the second round will be Christy Valentine, manager of academic and philanthropic programs at Hytrol; Amanda Herget, co-owner of Gearhead Outfitters; and Manu Nair, CEO and founder of AceOne Technologies.  
 
The competition will take place in Centennial Hall of Reng Student Union, which is located at 101 N. Caraway Rd. Sponsors of the event are The Solutions Group, Jonesboro Unlimited, Wynne Economic Development Corporation and Entergy.