Our freshman got a sweet surprise today! 🎉 We hosted our First Year Innovation and Research Experience (FIRE) Grand Challenge Reveal, unveiling this year's project themes based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Today, the entire first-year class simultaneously bit into a cupcake to discover what challenge topic they'd be tackling (revealed by the colored frosting inside). We also announced our Ignitors – representatives for each FIRE team selected by their Peer Advisor – and current individual and team leads within FIRE's game component. The first step in FIRE's Grand Challenge is research. Each team will now break into smaller groups to tackle four different aspects of researching these issues: social, political, environmental, and scientific/technological. Come spring, the teams will apply their research to develop and present a business plan, which is ultimately presented at one of the largest undergraduate research conferences in the country: UNH's Undergraduate Research Conference. The resulting business plans and presentations will be judged by a panel of faculty, peers, and alumni. Winning URC groups bring home BIG point values for their FIRE team. It's not long after that we'll announce the overall winning FIRE team based on points accumulated over the entire year – and each member of that team will receive a $500 academic achievement prize! Our teams are ready to kick off the competition. We’re looking forward to seeing how they solve their sustainability problems! 📆 Join us at the Undergraduate Research Conference this spring to see how these ambitious projects unfold. #paulpride #unh #businessschool #businessinnovation #undergraduateresearch