RADFORD -- Radford University’s College of Business and Economics (COBE) announced that registration is now open for the 2009 Global Innovation Tournament (GIT), an international apprentice-style competition between student teams to promote innovation and problem-solving.

A key part of the annual Global Entrepreneurship Week, coordinated by the Stanford University’s Technology Ventures Program, GIT is open to any RU student or student in the New River and Roanoke Valleys. COBE, with local sponsor SunTrust, is a registered local partner and will be hosting a team of judges composed of RU faculty, civic leaders and alumni to review local entries in the prestigious competition.

“COBE is eager to partner with SunTrust and Stanford Technology for this highly-relevant, experiential learning opportunity,” said Dean Faye W. Gilbert, dean. “that complements the COBE vision of innovative thinking, global perspectives and entrepreneurial action.”

The GIT challenge begins when a common global problem is announced for the international contestants who will then be challenged to develop solutions with as much value as possible and present their solutions in a three-minute self-produced video that will be published on YouTube for judging locally and review globally. Registration and participation are both free and a registration form is available at the COBE website or can be requested by email from Sue Westbrook at sjwestbro@radford.edu. The registration packet includes instructions about the mandatory online registration.

“The GIT will provide area business students a unique and valuable platform upon which to display their creativity and problem-solving mind-set,” said Dr. Iain Clelland, associate professor of management and planning and member of the GIT planning committee. “Student organizations and ad hoc teams can win global recognition and awards for their innovative thinking in this challenging competition.”

Submission deadline is Nov. 13 and local winners will be announces on Nov. 18. The Stanford University Announcement and Showcase of Global Tournament winners will be on Dec. 3. Prior the grand announcement of the global issue on Nov. 4, COBE will be hosting global problem-solving and video editing workshops to prepare teams for the contest. The global problem solving workshops will be Oct. 13 and 15 in Heth 44 from 4-5 p.m. The video editing workshops for Windows Movie Maker will be Oct. 27 and 28 in Walker 279 from 3:30-5 p.m. and the workshop for editing in Mac iMovie will be on Oct. 29 in Walker 279 from 3:30-5 p.m.

For further information, contact Dr. Iain Clelland at ijclellan@radford.edu or Mary Weeks at mweeks@radford.edu.