24-HOUR
DESIGN SPRINT 2026

HACK THE JOB MARKET

FEBRUARY 6 & 7

Feb 6, 3:00PM - Midnight

Feb 7, 9:00AM - 3:00PM

@ the FSU Innovation Hub
on Landis Green

EVENT INFORMATION

Students will work in interdisciplinary teams to leverage AI and Amazon Cloud Services to expand Career Center services!

No prior coding experience required!

Up to $2,000 in prizes!

Three meals included!

Free AWS BLING & giveaways for all participants!

A great opportunity to make new connections, gain marketable skills, and make a difference in the world!!

EVENT FULL!!

SPONSORED BY:

Boots on the Ground

Mentors, and support staff on hand, helping students, making this event possible!

Innovation Hub Team

  • Ken Baldauf

  • Ahmed Negm

  • Rienne Saludo

  • Colby Jacobs

AWS Team

  • Gabriel Brackman

  • Mary Strain

  • Owen Williams

  • Marissa Halluska

  • Ramji Sreenivasan

  • Henry Jia

  • Michael Curry

Career Center Team

  • Brittney Pieper

  • Tori Andrews

  • Christy Mantzanas

  • Samantha Hightower

  • Jelani James

  • Heather Lazar

Tentative Agenda

FRIDAY, Feb 6

Teaming, Planning, Ideation

3:00 PM Check-in

3:30 PM Welcome, Introductions, Overview - Ken Baldauf

3:45 PM Background Information

  • Expert Presentation - Mary Strain: Workforce Readiness

  • AWS Design Methods Presentation: Owen - Working Backwards

  • AWS Kiro and Agentic AI Presentation - Gabriel

  • Challenge Presentation - Career Center

6:00 PM Sprint begins with Pizza and Teaming

6:00 - 10:00 PM Empathy Research & Reframing

Access to Experts

10:00 - Midnight Team Ideation “GOAL: Press Release/FAQ”

12:00 AM (midnight) Hub Closes

Teams may work on their own at the Hub until midnight, or work elsewhere. Take some time to sleep so that you feel sharp and rested on Saturday.

SATURDAY, Feb 7

Ideation, Prototyping, and Pitching

8:30 AM Check-in / Breakfast / Orientation

9:00 - 11:30 AM Prototyping, Pitch Prep

Access to Experts

12:00 PM Working Lunch

1:00 PM Submit your Pitch Deck as a link to a Google Slides presentation to ken@innovation.fsu.edu

1:30 - 2:45 Presentations

Pitches will be 3 minutes, 6 slides with two minutes of Q&A

2:45 Judge Deliberation

3:00 Awards and Group photos

The Challenge

Given the complexity of connecting FSU students with valuable internships,

How Might We leverage AI technologies to develop a system that connects students with ideal internships in a convenient manner for both students and businesses so that both can experience the maximum benefits of internships.

Team Resources

AWS RESOURCES ONLINE: https://dr39tsracr2q1.cloudfront.net/

Also

PartyRock: https://partyrock.aws/

AWS Builder: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/signin/latest/userguide/create-builder-id.html

Kiro IDE: https://kiro.dev/

NoleNetwork: https://career.fsu.edu/nolenetwork

Innovation Hub: htpps://innovation.fsu.edu

Your Mission

Harness Your Creativity!

Working in an interdisciplinary team of five, you will implement Amazon’s unique “Working Backwards” approach to innovation to develop an AI-driven solution to a Career Center challenge!

  • You will learn all the skills you need at the Design Sprint

  • The challenge will be revealed at the Design Sprint

Test your solution with specialists and stakeholders at the event. Feel free to test it on others remotely. Gather valuable feedback to improve your solution!”

Develop a Simple Prototype

Visually illustrate your solution by creating a prototype as a visual aid to your presentation. Prototypes vary depending on the type of solution your developed. They include:

  • A storyboard

  • App drawings or screenshots (see www.proto.io) that illustrate a users experience

  • A product flyer or website (see www.wix.com)

  • Acting out the solution

  • A combination of any of the above

Pitch Your Solution

Develop a 3-minute presentation and slide deck (no more than 6 slides) to pitch your idea to the judges. Include your prototype to show how your solution is utilized. The 3-minute pitch will be followed by 2 minutes of Q&A.

Check out this video on the elevator pitch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-iETptU7JY

Consider the judging criteria and how your pitch will earn you points in the eight areas.

  • Tell a compelling story.

  • Provide statistics to show you did your research!

  • Show that there are no other effective solutions on the market.

  • Demonstrate your solution with a prototype.

  • Include stakeholder feedback - grandma or grandpa!

  • Practice, practice, practice!!!

REGISTER NOW!

Pitch Slide Decks

Team 1 No.Cap
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MtIdqmF6nn6aov74pKuHiIFrRdlXOdHhaETCfptQsgE/edit?usp=sharing

Team 2 Aligne https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1DH2GKsmznKFazWTCfn4fr53vIGqFoZUuL815S5uanT0/edit?usp=sharing

Team 3 appliRL [3RD PLACE WINNER]
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1G-tAVpOmjlDis4vAaCujqFUkWT7vZUrTQ0kLncu84HU/edit?usp=sharing

Team 4 NolePath
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oiJMcdzgLZEiRV3L4UpfxKTLefXgh35xUDxBSw15-uY/edit?usp=sharing

Team 5 Trajectory
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/14T786QHJAd5hNbZvZkUqtTv_224XbPb0c8VIm4MOTCg/edit?usp=sharing

Team 6 Nolequest https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Q4O0BXLh3I7sbU4WXcDsAQDq7oLWRYAajGpagII9wMc/edit?usp=sharing

Team 7 CareerMatch https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1DsZrz08iHQrc_5nqzpqHBbXAiFLvoI9E_cBwd2pQIiw/edit?usp=sharing

Team 8 Nole Path [2ND PLACE WINNER]
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1wdC0wZl_BB7IkrGwp5vzSV0dTWI-SGy_RD9rjEnkE6A/edit?usp=sharing

Team 9 Network.me
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1a0TJcmDdtRJLDvfUxm6NqEz74O1Rc6Pz5weKdBAa7E4/edit?usp=sharing

Team 10 Spear Career AI [1ST PLACE WINNER]
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1dHJmREpCb4GtDQDt6cnXlndrNd_3qeN0YKLt5cvUr_M/edit?usp=sharing

Judging Criteria

Innovative Creativity - 25 points

How creative is this idea? Is it something anyone could have thought of? A low score indicates someone probably already did this. A high score is earned by a NEW highly imaginative and creative solution.

Impact - 25 points
How useful will the solution be at addressing the challenge? A low score indicates that, even though the idea may be innovative, it probably won't have much effect on the problem. A high score is earned by a solution that fully addresses a problem.

Feasibility - 25 points

Will your solution be easy to implement? Or will it be costly and require a lot of effort? A low score indicates that, no matter how innovative and impactful the solution, it will be impossible to implement. A high score is earned by a solution that can be implemented with little to no effort.

Prototype and Pitch - 25 points

How effective was the prototype and presentation in selling the solution? Did it illustrate the use of Thinking Backwards? A low score indicates that the prototype was not compelling, and/or there were significant problems with the presentation. A high score is earned by a very persuasive presentation that engages the audience, tells a compelling story, and efffectively demonstrates the effectiveness of the solution.

Final Tasks

Name Tag Contest: Vote for your top three favorite name tags by “liking” them with a heart!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/1dsojWpP1Gmc7gmQA

Planners