Step 1: Determine the facts in the situation – obtain all of the unbiased facts possible. Clearly state the ethical issue.

Facts: 

• Jack is American and works in Kenya. 
• Jack works with children. 
• A staff member at the youth center picked up all the gifts. 
• Four kids did not receive a gift.
• The youth center staff members do not see a problem with the situation
• Jack feels awkward about the situation
• Kids who did not receive a present were given a hat
• Jack may or may not have disposable income

Issue:

• Jack is an outsider, so he may not feel right to get too involved 
• The youth center may get upset if they feel like Jack is undermining their authority or making them look bad if he then buys the kids presents
• Children were left out causing them to potentially feel ostracized 
• Creates tension between the children at the center

Step 2: Define the Stakeholders – those with a vested interest in the outcome 

• Jack
• Children at youth center who did not receive a gift
• Youth center staff

Step 3: Assess the motivations of the Stakeholders

• Jack thinks that there is a problem: the four children didn’t receive gifts. Jack has the motivation to fix the problem or mend it in some way to ensure there is no issue with how he had acted.
• Children who did not receive a gift. They do not have the motivation to fix the problem but they may be struggling with feeling left out or not appreciated.
• Children who received a gift: may feel bad for the kids who did not receive gifts if they are friends
• The youth center staff are in charge of distributing the gifts: They have the motivation from paying parents to keep the kids happy but it seems as though they are disregarding this motivation

Step 4: Formulate at least three alternative solutions – based on information available, using basic ethical core values as guide

1. Hold another ceremony for the four kids who did not receive gifts originally and they receive cooler gifts for being so patient.
   1. Ethical Principle: the children feel happy and not left out anymore. 
   2. Pro: The children do not feel left out anymore.
   3. Con: The other children may feel worse because they ended up receiving worse gifts than those four children and may not feel as special, Jack will have to pay for the gifts
2. Apologize sincerely to the children for not having a gift for them. 
   1. Ethical Principle: It is not clear if children will accept this apology and move on or if they will continue to be upset that they did not receive a gift
   2. Pro: Children will know that it was nothing that they did, and was just because they ran out of gifts
   3. Con: the children are still upset because they did not receive a gift.
3. Take all of the gifts back, get gifts for everyone, and do the ceremony again.
   1. Ethical Principle: Keeping the outliers from being made fun of or bullied due to not having a gift. Having all the kids have equal privilege.
   2. Pro: Everyone (along with the kids that don’t get the gifts) feels “special” and receives gifts.
   3. Con: some of the other kids might complain about having their gifts taken away, the staff of the children’s center would have to redo the ceremony, the kids who have their gifts taken may blame it on the kids who did not receive present at first
4. Jack wears a black hat to school the next day and compliments all of the kids who wear their hat/encourage them to wear it
   1. Ethical Principle: Helps the kids who did not receive hats feel included because they are praised for wearing the hat, will not feel forgotten
   2. Pros: Solution does not cost money because no new gifts are bought, the kids who did not receive a gift will feel included now, does not put jacks reputation with his coworkers at risk 
   3. Cons: Kids who did not receive the hat may feel left out now that jack is saying it is cool to wear the hat, Kids may care more about just getting a cool gift than feeling included

Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate – engineering codes of ethics, previous cases, peers, reliance on personal experience, inner reflection

 

• Funding sources to purchase more gifts
• Donors for the youth center
• School psychologist to understand how this would affect the children
• Children’s parents to get their input 

Step 6: Select the best course of action – that which satisfies the highest core ethical values. Explain reasoning and justify. Discuss your stance vis-a-vis other approaches discussed in the class.

The best solution is where Jack wears a black hat to school to help the children feel included who did not receive a gift. He may need to buy a black hat if he does not have one already, but this is a lot less expensive than if he were to buy all the children gifts again. He would then compliment all the kids who wore it, and encourage those who are not wearing it to put their hat on. Assuming that Jack has a good reputation amongst the children, then his approval will help to make the kids who did not receive a gift feel more included. One issue with this plan would be if the children do not look up to Jack. In this case, him wearing the hat would not mean anything. But still if he compliments the children who are wearing the hat, it is inevitable that this will make them feel at least a little bit appreciated just because they are kind words. In the long run this will also teach the children to make the best of whatever situation they are given. If the children acted upset and then got a whole new ceremony to receive gifts, that might reinforce the idea that if they act upset then they will get their way. The proposed solution is a more subtle way of making sure that the children do not feel left out, while also not rewarding bad behavior. An additional long-term benefit of this approach is that it saves Jack’s reputation with his coworkers. They will not care if he just wears a black hat to school, and compliments the kids who are wearing it. On the other hand, if Jack were to go out and buy the kids new cooler gifts the other employees may feel that Jack overstepped. This solution provides a balance of saving Jack’s reputation with the children and his co-workers. 

Step 7: (If applicable) What are the implications of your solution on the venture. Explain the impact of your proposed solution on the venture’s technology, economic, social and environmental aspects.

Technology: There is no technology involved with this solution.

Economics: The proposed solution will cost less compared to others because the only expense is a hat. The other solutions involved purchasing many new gifts or even the production of an entire ceremony.

Social: This solution helps the kids who only received a hat to feel more included, and not like an outsider. It also does not jeopardize Jack’s relationship with his coworkers. The other co-workers may feel like it makes them look bad if Jack buys all of the kids gifts. 

Environmental: This solution is more environmentally friendly because Jack only needs to buy one hat, as opposed to if he bought all the kids new gifts and put on a ceremony. This would create a lot more waste.  

Step 1: Determine the facts in the situation – obtain all of the unbiased facts possible. Clearly state the ethical issue.

Facts:

• The research group is traveling throughout Lesotho to determine locations and methods for storing water
• Researching a specific pathogen that is only found in this region in Lesotho
• Several publications will be published
• Will not pay participants who show their drinking water

Issue:

• • Not reimbursing community members for their time
  • No game plan for improvement of life quality in Lesotho (how will this benefit people)
  • Since the researchers are only there for 10 days, they would be unable to determine the long-term effects of the pathogen
  • The water conditions may change each season
  • Will you bring more and more researchers into this community in the future? How does this impact their community in terms of environment, culture, expectations…
  • Not paying community members leaves a bad reputation for future research teams coming in
  • Is this water problem the root problem or is it caused by something else? Will they find out and treat the root problem?
  • How accessible would these chemicals be? If they are free how are we sustaining production of this project? Will they be manufactured locally = creating more employment for community members?

• • Do the citizens of Lesotho understand the health severity of the exposure to these pathogens?

• • Are recommendations being provided to the people of Lesotho to combat the pathogen (boiling, gravity filtration)? What do they do in the meantime?

We have concluded that this study is not ethical on the basis that there is not enough of a plan for the research and its intended outcomes and benefits for the community. It is not justifiable to intervene in the village’s life, without having a more set idea of the information the researchers hope to obtain and how it will end up benefiting the community. 

Step 2: Define the Stakeholders – those with a vested interest in the outcome 

• The public 
• Any current water treatment facilities 
• The Government of Lesotho (More specifically water/health-related ministries)
• Academic institutions, bio specific (new strain, new data, sequencing, and biological interaction with other living things)
• Diseases advocacy groups 
• Government of South Africa 
• NSF & NIH

Step 3: Assess the motivations of the Stakeholders

• The public – may be given better access to clean drinking water
• Any current Water Treatment Facilities – If a solution is found to limit pathogens in water then these facilities will want to produce clean drinking water in Lesotho
• Gov of Lesotho: want solution for water problems, raising awareness for other problems of their country (poverty, other pollutants), getting re-elected (by improving quality of living)
• Academic Institutions: Will be interested in the new information uncovered about the pathogen
• Diseases advocacy groups: Interested in raising quality of life
• Government of South Africa: Watershed of Lesotho impacts regions of South Africa as well — they have been buying Lesotho water
• NSF & NIH – Founded this research and are interested in improving drinking water quality

Step 4: Formulate at least three alternative solutions – based on information available, using basic ethical core values as guide

1. Research the impact of storage conditions on pathogen plus ways to possibly filter and work to make recommendations for storing with the help of a hired local guide
   1. Ethical Principle and code
      1. Guide will be compensated
      2. Clear goal for how researchers will give back to the community
      3. Education involved
   2. Pros
      1. Better understand pathogen
      2. Local guide so will be able to connect with individuals
      3. Specific focus for research
      4. Combines research and education 
   3. Cons
      1. Guide will cost money
      2. Not guaranteed that solution will be found
      3. Need to make filter cost low enough that it will be accessible to everyone
2. Education on proper sanitation methods and hygienic processes
   1. Ethical Principle and code
      1. Must make sure that assistance is wanted
   2. Pros
      1. Community can learn how to help limit the growth of pathogens in the lake with safer sanitary and agricultural practices
      2. Locals will be involved and impacted by the research
   3. Cons
      1. Will not solve problem, only limit its severity
      2. Residents may not be able to implement safer practices if they do not have proper access to resources
3. Import filtered water from South Africa
   1. Ethical Principle and code
      1. This solution does not proportionally advantage everyone
      2. Only those who can afford imported water will be able to buy it
   2. Pros
      1. No research involved so it would save time and money on lab supplies
      2. Increases South Africa’s profits
   3. Cons
      1. Only solves issue for the rich
      2. Not sustainable solution because supplies of imported water is not guaranteed
      3. Extra cost to import water including transportation
      4. Water needs to be stored properly so that it is sanitary 

Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate – engineering codes of ethics, previous cases, peers, reliance on personal experience, inner reflection

 

• Additional Assistance Available in the Following Sources
  • Principles of bioethics 
  • Engineering ethical codes
  • Previous water quality research that dealt with harmful pathogens
  • Companies that work with water treatment

Step 6: Select the best course of action – that which satisfies the highest core ethical values. Explain reasoning and justify. Discuss your stance vis-a-vis other approaches discussed in the class.

The best solution my group came up with is to research how storage methods affect the pathogens growth, and possible ways to filter the water while it is being stored. This will be accomplished with a paid local guide that will handle all interactions with community members. The end goal is to implement a storage system that simultaneously protects the water from pathogen growth while also filtering it. The storage method will be introduced to the town. We chose this solution because it best follows the ethical guidelines while also upholding the stakeholders interests of improving quality of life and learning more about the pathogens in water. This solution maximizes gain for everyone because it ends with a clear goal of how clean drinking water will be provided. This will benefit all of the people of Lesotho. It is hoped that the price for the drinking water will not be too expensive because the storage and filtration processes are combined. Therefore it will be available to more of the population. Additionally because of the research required it will provide helpful insights for other research institutions. One path discussed in class did not involve paying those who helped under the reasoning that they were not doing any manual work, just having a conversation. Our solution better handles this because we just pay one guide. This guide then will speak with community members. People will be more open and accepting to talk with someone who they already know and respect. 

Step 7: (If applicable) What are the implications of your solution on the venture. Explain the impact of your proposed solution on the venture’s technology, economic, social and environmental aspects.

• Technology
  • Since this solution is heavily research based, it will require a lot more equipment and resources 
  • Multiple trials of the filtered storage box needed to be run
• Economic
  • More research will cost more money
  • Tour guide adds expenses
• Social
  • Education component of project will benefit the community 
• Environmental 
  • Depending on how large the storage units are, land may need to be cleared
  • Ultimately will lead to less contaminated water

1. What specific challenges might arise when navigating legal and regulatory frameworks for your project, and how might you proactively address these challenges while staying compliant with the laws?

One legal issue that we might face is getting our product approved because it comes in contact with food. We need to work with the FDA Philippines to make sure that our packaging and the process for making it is safe. Another legal area we will need to navigate is hiring employees. We will need to make sure that all working conditions and wages pass Philippine regulations.

 

2. How might you strike a balance between complying with local laws and regulations and upholding high ethical standards, especially when faced with situations where the two may come into conflict? Give specific examples.

In our case it seems like the legal and ethical standards work together. Laws and regulations will make sure that our product is safe to come into contact with food. Additionally, there are rules in place to make sure that we will treat our employees properly. An example of how governmental laws may conflict with our project is that not all regular plastics are banned. The government may even give subsidies to plastic producing companies. We will get around this by looking for funding from other sources to carry out our project.

 

3. As you reflect on the Ethical Decision-Making discussions and insights gained, what specific actions or adjustments will you make in your stakeholder engagement and decision-making processes to align more closely with ethical principles and legal requirements?

The main thing we will do is to validate that our project is actually wanted. We will communicate with our stakeholders and partners to understand what they want out of the partnership, and if they even are interested in our project. We will align our decisions to best fit what those we are working with want. Additionally, we will not move forward in the process of implementing any part of our project without the consent of those who it affects. 

4. Write 3 elevator speeches about your project:

• For a professor/advisor: Agriwrap aims to limit plastic pollution by incorporating a circular economy. This involves buying agricultural waste from farmers in the Philippines and using this to manufacture a biodegradable plastic pellet. That bio pellet is then sold to a company that produces goods such as utensils and to-go containers which are distributed to restaurants. Customers can throw away their packaging after they eat at this restaurant, which will eventually decompose back into the soil and restart the cycle by fostering agricultural growth.  
• For an interviewer for a summer internship: This past semester I was a part of a team working to develop a biodegradable plastic pellet out of agricultural waste. This involved a lot of time spent in the lab working on developing a prototype, and reaching out to potential partners. Additionally, we worked on publishing a research paper on creating bioplastics in low resource contexts. 
• For a roommate asking about your project: Our project involves making food packaging, such as to-go containers, out of corn husks, so that it is biodegradable. This is important because plastic pollution is a major issue right now world wide. 

1. Identify two SPECIFIC funding sources for the design phase of your project and two SPECIFIC funding sources for the dissemination (implementation / distribution / commercialization) phase of your project. For each funding source, explain why this is a good fit for your project, and what SPECIFIC aspect of your project might the funding source support.

 

Design Phase – 

• P3 Student Design Competition Grant – This is a grant for college students that are working on a project that deals with ensuring clean air and water. It is a good fit for us because only small groups of college students can apply. This may slightly increase our chances of getting the grant because we will not be competing against those who have been established in the field for years. Additionally, they award a grant to a project that positively contributes to clean air or water. Our project hopes to improve water quality, by limiting the amount of plastic pollution that ends up in oceans. This grant will be used to purchase the various ingredients, such as plasticizer, corn starch, corn husks, baking soda, and other lab supplies we will need when developing our bio pellet. 
• Environmental Research and Education Foundation Grant – The Environmental Research and Education Foundation focuses on alleviating the impacts of climate change. They believe that the best way to do this is by creating a circular economy. Our project fits this description because we are using agricultural waste to create packaging that will eventually decompose. This grant will support the costs of testing our prototype. For example, we will need to figure out under what conditions our packaging will decompose. 

Dissemination Phase –

• Plastic Solutions Fund – The Plastic Solutions Fund gives grants to various projects that focus on limiting plastic production. One of these projects is a sustainable food pantry that set up a bag collection system to reduce their amount of waste. People could take a reusable bag home with them and would either reuse it when they went back or return it. Our project focuses on the same issue: reducing plastic production. Our project is similar to the others that were funded by the Plastic Solutions Fund. We would use the grant to create more partnerships so that our bio plastics could be used on a larger scale. 
• United States Agency of International Development – The United States Agency of International Development offers a grant to projects working on reducing plastic pollution. They are looking for a venture that has a clear and direct plan of how they will impact plastic production. Our project provides a clear plan of how we will do this. Our goal is to encourage the use of biodegradable packaging instead of regular plastics. We would use this grant to set up the facility we will need in the Philippines to create our bio pellets. 

 

2. Identify five specific partnerships that you need to forge to advance your project forward with the ultimate goal of positively        impacting at least one million people. Describe exactly how that partnership might help you achieve scale and why that entity might be willing to work with you.

1. 1. Packaging Manufacturer – We will sell our bio pellets to a packaging manufacturer that will make them into utensils, to-go containers etc. We need this partner in the steps of production because they will turn our bio pellets into a useful product. We hope that they will have incentive to work with us because our bio pellets will be made locally by working with farmers in the Philippines. 
   2. Farming Business – We plan to purchase agricultural waste in the form of corn husks. This is a key ingredient in the production of our bio pellets. We hope that we will be able to form this partnership if we pay a competitive price for the agricultural waste that would offset the other potential uses of the waste such as fertilizer or livestock feed. 
   3. Restaurants/ Street Vendor – We want to find restaurants and street vendors that would be interested in using biodegradable packaging. We would set them up with the packaging manufacturer from which they could buy their food containers and utensils. We hope that these restaurants and street vendors will be willing to work with us because of the environmental benefits of our packaging.
   4.  DTI Bureau of Product Standards – This is the department in the Philippines that sets the standards for food and packaging. We will need to make sure our product fits their standards before putting it on the market. The DTI Bureau of Product Standards will hopefully have motivation to work with us because of the environmental benefits of our product. 
   5. Production Employee – We will need to hire someone who will produce the bio pellets. This is a crucial step because we need bio pellets to deliver to the packaging manufacturer. The incentives from someone to work for us are the salary and that it can just be a part time gig. 

 

3. Complete working through the 14-page question document, with all questions identified as green (and answered), yellow (with how you could answer), or red (with how you will answer). Your red questions will serve as the nucleus for conversations during our class next week.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GOqhuUSsawKDqYk4gdTOhfMAmhM_CCZjB48KMN1FnNg/edit 

1. Develop a budget that captures all the non-recurring (one-time / capital) expenses to get your venture up and running.

Many of these costs will be recurring, but are also necessary when initially starting out the business. The major non-recurring expense is a food processor.

 

      2. Develop pessimistic, optimistic, and realistic sales projections for your venture over three years (at six month intervals).

The values represent how many 1 kg bags of bio pellets will be sold.

3. Develop a detailed income statement for your venture for three years (at six month intervals). Explicitly state the assumptions that underlie your financial model.

This model assumes that we will not have our business up and running until the middle or end of 2025. We are also assuming that we will be able to sell the bio pellets in batches of 1 kg. We do not yet know what quantity of bio pellets our customers will want to purchase. It may be difficult to make more income if we have to sell them in batches of less than 1 kg because we will need to make more sales just to meet the same revenue. The main factor that adds variability here is that we do not have an exact formula for our bio pellet yet. We had to just estimate how much of each ingredient is added. Our final income statement will end up being a lot different based on what our bio pellet consists of.

 

4. If you are a B2B venture, develop realistic sales projections and an income statement for your customers. Determine the ROI period and the net profit.

This is the sales projection of a restaurant that sells about 5 dollar dishes using our biodegradable packaging. 

The net profit of a restaurant using our biodegradable packaging after 3 years is $8,800. This means that there is an 8.54% return on investment.

Business Model #1

 

Business Model #2:

Business Model #3:

 

Comparison Table:

	BMC 1	BMC 2	BMC 3
Revenue Model	Two forms of revenue: direct sales + advertising from companies.	One revenue stream: selling the pellets	Revenue streams include direct sales and grants.
Cost Structure	Cost of printing on packaging, transportation, and employee salary is unknown.	There are many costs that go into it but if we simplify the process it can be profitable.	Similar to BMC however it is specifically targeting schools/education-focused packaging
Clearer Path to Next Steps	Learn how to best print on the packaging in the Philippines. Then work with partners who want their brand on our product	Has clear next steps: solidify the lab process, then either partner with a manufacturer or have our own firm in the Philippines	Print on packaging and find partners
Clear First Customer	For ads: any company, companies focused on sustainability might be best.	We would be the only bioplastic pellet manufacturer in the Philippines so bioplastic companies, such as Econest, are good customers	Either schools or companies focused on sustainability education (ex: small shops).
Risk Profile	Depends on several factors so higher risk than other BMC’s.	If we are able to finalize the lab process and get a factory set up in the Philippines then risk is not very bad.	Since it depends on many factors, risk is high.
Partnerships	Sustainability-focused companies.	Bioplastic manufacturer such as Econest	Schools, local shops, sustainability conferences.
Ability to Execute	If we are able to get partners interested and print on the packaging at a competitive price, it is very possible.	Possible, dependent on lab process at the moment.	If we get partners, are able to sell at a good price, and people are interested in packaging with our print on it, it is possible.

1. From the social enterprises we reviewed today, or others you have studied, identify ten extremely specific strategies that you can leverage for your project. The strategies can be about the technology, the business model, access to capital, customer education, messaging, thought leadership, etc.
   1. EnviroFit has a partnership with the EPA. It would be very helpful if we could work with a governmental organization in the Philippines.
   2. Entocycle models and advertises their business as a circular system. Our project also works as a circular system, so we can use this as a way of promoting our model.  
   3. Greyston Bakery gets a lot of their income from a major deal with Ben & Jerry’s. It was a lot easier for them to sign a major contract with one company as opposed to selling that same value of desserts to thousands of individuals. In the long run of our project, it would be so helpful if we could one day sell our products to a major restaurant or company. 
   4. No means no worldwide first created outreach programs for just girls, but then started inviting boys when they realized they should also hear these messages. AgriWrap should approach our challenge with the same amount of flexibility, and willingness to pivot ideas as we learn more.
   5. No means no worldwide hopes that the children will share what they learned which can serve as a form of advertising. If we sell our biodegradable products to schools, this could provide the same benefit. 
   6. Entocycle’s value proposition states that they are promoting sustainability and giving value to waste. Since our project is very similar to this we can base our value proposition off of these ideas. 
   7. Entocycle lists their cost structure as research, production, distribution, and marketing. As of right now we only have production and distributions listed in our cost structure, but we should consider if there will be marketing and research costs. 
   8. Entocycle received governmental grants. We should look into and apply for grants. They do not have to be as large-scale as governmental grants.
   9. Kartemquin Films uses social media to advertise their product. We could also do this by posting about our product on social media, and just general information on the plastic issue. 
   10. Headspace has one main source of income which comes from its users. Our model can have a similar set up because the majority of our profits will come from vendors buying our bioplastics. 
2. Create a first draft of your business model using the business model canvas.
3. Create a set of 2-4 slides to articulate your business model in a presentation.
   https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1jJ0AeZiXwD7DwvbHVYM03tXNHQ0aOTUe-JXNm2S6EUc/edit#slide=id.g2ca1d1f6e6d_0_3

Purpose:

• Restore the natural world
• Create more sustainable process for food production

Value Proposition:

• Revolutionize the usage of insects and technology to accelerate a global transition to sustainable protein

Primary Customer Segments and Value Propositions:

• Insect companies
  Increase precision, ensure reliability, improve efficiency, & boost profits.
• Entrepreneurial farmers
  Give value to waste, reduce environmental footprint, diversify revenue, & improve animal welfare
• Food companies
  Reduce food waste, create new revenue, secure supply chains
• Waste management
  Create food circularity, generate new revenue, enhance food security, meet net 0 targets

Business Model:

What are some practical things you can learn from this venture’s strategy?

1. Revolutionizes insects
2. Creates a circular economy
3. Improved technology as the venture goes on
4. Did not need to invent something new and revolutionary, just created a more sustainable system

1. What are the common personal goals within the members of your team, and how can you leverage those goals to build collaboration?
   1. I want to make this project sustain itself once we finish it at the end of this year and get published -George
   2. Get stuff done -Nick
   3. Do cool lab stuff and make an impact -jing
   4. Get started with lab work and make some progress – Maeve
   5. We all want to work on the project and we all share the same project goals
2. What are the common project goals within the members of your team, and how can you leverage those goals to make progress?
   1. Make a bioplastic prototype
   2. Finish a research paper draft
   3. Form partnerships in the Philippines
   4. Manufacture bioplastic in the Philippines
   5. Go to conferences and improve our 
3. What are some biases that might become a barrier to your project goals?
   1. We are all engineers so we may not be as well-equipped when it comes to the business side of our model
   2. People believe that we should reach for something more achievable.
4. What type of decision-making system will you use and why?
   1. Team decision making: We are a small team so it is still effective for us all to make decisions together, and we can include everyone in our consensus.
   2. As a team of engineers and people from varying backgrounds, we may see things differently, such as different ways to solve a problem or different levels of knowledge on certain things.

1. Identify FIVE specific things in your slides that you could have done differently.
   1. We should have had a slide on the micro problem our project is trying to solve. This could be a specific person’s story and how plastic pollution in the Philippines affects them.
   2. We should have been more in depth on our research publications we are working on. We mentioned that we are working on one publication currently and plan to have 3 done by the end of the year however we didn’t mention that our first publication is building on the one from our previous semester, so we are well-along in our first draft for it. 
   3. We should have shown how some people have already made biodegradable packaging. Some of our referees mentioned that our project is ambitious so we could have shown that we are not making a brand new lab process, we’re just building on previous knowledge and applying it to an important field.
   4.  We should have shown what companies are out there and how our approach is different. One referee commented that there are big companies working on our project and asked what makes us different.
   5. We should have been more in depth of our business cycle and less in depth of our lab process, because referees cared more about details of our business cycle rather than our lab process. 
2. Identify FIVE specific ways that you could have delivered your presentation better.
   1. We could have included a story or hypothetical scenario that would make the presentation more personal, and also likely keep the judges attention better.
   2. We could have focused more on the work that we have already completed like going more into depth with the research and papers so that the judges could have seen that we are making progress towards our goals. They may have been less likely to say that our project was too ambitious this way.
   3. We could have also talked more about the micro problems because we skipped over that part more quickly. 
   4. For the questions, we could have better broken up who specifically was going to address each type of question. Also next time we can prepare what to do if we get comments instead of questions.
   5. We could have given a very brief description of what our project is working on at the beginning, so that while we are explaining the background information the judges would have more context for why the information is relevant, and not just guessing what we are working on. 
3. Identify FIVE specific ways you could have built your credibility further.
   1. More detailed plan and what we’ve already done to set up how we plan to achieve our goals in our timeline
   2. We could have built our credibility further if we explained more of the work that we already accomplished. Specifically, if we talked about our research, the judges would know that we were knowledgeable in what we were presenting on.
   3. Could have expanded more on our partnerships and potential partners to show that we are working with other groups and building on their credibility as well as our own.
   4. We could have included more pictures of us actually working to show what we have accomplished. This may be more applicable for the next presentation.
   5. We could have mentioned more that we are working with Professor Pearson in the lab because he is a trusted faculty member on campus. 
4. 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. Not a question, but a comment: addressing whether our goals are achievable
   2. A question that was brought up was if we were “trying to reinvent the wheel,” to which we responded no because things have been done before similar to our product which were found in literature review. We could have expanded more on this and should have further explained how our product fit into the bigger picture.
   3. A question came up about the bigger companies being our competitors. We should have answered that we don’t necessarily need to be competing with larger companies doing the same things, and we can even work with them. A lot of what’s occurring in the Philippines in terms of biodegradable products are outsourced, so we are trying to make it so it can be done locally.
   4. Could’ve explained better how our product would be different: sourced locally, transparent about the process and ingredients used, affordable and would feed into the local economy.
   5. Many of our questions were asking how our project was not too ambitious. We should have clarified that we are not trying to solve all of the plastic pollution issue, but instead are trying to start efforts in the right direction.