Identify FIVE specific things in your slides that you could have done differently.

1. Update the developments slide to specify corn/cassava raw materials + explain what we have learned about using one versus the other
2. Include our who we met slide in the presentation (we had time, and this would more clearly show what we accomplished during fieldwork)
3. Add a slide to explain the agricultural waste plan better (we did a lot of research on this last semester → can include a slide in post presentation slides, including these graphics)
4. Have a more clear timeline for future developments and explain quickly what was done previously to set the scene for where our project is currently at
5. Lots of questions were about the prototype we provided for the judges, including things such as material properties and safety. We hope to test some of these properties this semester. Our final presentation should include a slide of the properties that we have tested AND outline the tests/safety certifications that we hope future teams will test, so that we can demonstrate that we have thought about that and are planning on this for the next step of our development (could be presented in tandem with the future developments slide)

 

Identify FIVE specific ways that you could have delivered your presentation better.

1. We could have spaced out along the whiteboard so we were not all behind the monitor 
2. Using less pause words like “um” and “like” 
3. Work to all talk at the same pace and volume 
4. Make eye contact with the audience and referees
5. Practice the presentation together before (we did not have a time we could all meet), so that we know we have extra time and can go into more detail on other aspects 

 

Identify FIVE specific ways you could have built your credibility further.

1. We were asked about our plan for sourcing agricultural waste. We explained our generic plan – find a stream of waste and gather our material from there – but it lacked clarity and specificity. Our venture would seem more concrete if real if we had a specific plan, and had identified waste streams with contacts related to each one.
2. Our business plan was full of estimates and approximations. They naturally are this way, but we could have used more specificity in terms of what exact equipment we would need, where the factory would be located, etc. Again making our plan more concrete, and thus the venture more credible.
3. We should have included specific numbers. Things like prices of current wraps from the people we spoke to and not just researched values.
4. We should have included the expressed support from Kirk, our photo with the gentleman from the DOST, and others showing that we have some support from the local community.
5. Our main goal is to use the bioplastic as a food wrapper, and yet we still haven’t wrapped it around a burger to see what the results are. We need to do this so we know how it worked in our predicted use case, and can answer questions about this better. 

 

Identify FIVE specific questions that you could have answered better. What were the questions, how did you respond, and how should you have responded to each?

1. “ have you considered also testing for safety, you want it to be somewhat certified so the market knows its okay to use it”

 

We said: that is down the line and safety is one of our concerns since the film touches the food. We definitely intend to get the certification 

 

Could have said: there many different uses for a plastic film so we are going to test to make sure that it is safe for food since it will be wrapping it. We also have other applications where it has different needs such as wrapping flowers so those certifications would be different but they’re definitely something we will be looking into more once we have a more developed product 

 

1. “Did you test out food wrapping with actual food yet”

 

We said: That we didn’t test with actual food, but we performed tensile strength testing and preliminary oil resistance testing.

 

Could have said: We could have also mentioned that when we spoke to restaurants in the Philippines they said that some of the properties that they are looking for are grease resistance, water resistance, transparency, and the ability to write on the wrap. We will develop our product keeping these specific properties in mind.

 

1. Do you know how long the bioplastic lasts

 

We said: These were our first prototype so we weren’t able to determine how long they last yet:

 

Could have said: Other bioplastics made of corn typically last around a few months to a few years. Bioplastics made from cassava do not last quite as long typically ranging from a few months to a year. We expect our products to fall into a similar range, but will need to do more testing to find specific numbers. 

 

1. “You should look at the type of ink being used because you product is biodegradable, but adding ink may make in non-biodegradable or toxic”

 

We said: We didn’t really have any comments on this.

 

Could have said: We will use vegetable or soy based ink, similar to what is used at Oikos. These types of ink are non-toxic, and easily deinked for composting. 

 

1. This is not a specific question to improve on, but a general recommendation is that not everyone answered questions. We would have looked more prepared and knowledgeable as a team if everyone answered a more equal amount of questions. The presentation would also have a better flow to it.