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Fast Forward Syracuse

Winning Fast Forward projects include Otto the Orange structure, overhead bench covers

Syracuse University has announced the winners of this year’s Fast Forward student competition.

The four winners of the competition presented their projects in Bird Library on Tuesday. The winning projects included ideas such as an Otto the Orange structure and overhead covers for campus benches.

For the Fast Forward competition, SU students submit their ideas via video and winners are selected based on the idea’s relevance and plan for execution, according to an SU release. The winners are then awarded $1,000 to complete their projects.

Kevin Belbey, a second-year law student, developed the idea of an “Otto Drop” that would help build a structure in the shape of Otto the Orange where the university community can drop off clothing and other items to help others keep warm.

Carly Halpin, also a second-year law student, came up with the idea of “Hill Trails” that would create marked running routes along campus and local neighborhoods, “enabling students to get exercise while they discover the area surrounding campus.”



Wyatt Bourdeau, a sophomore in the School of Information Studies, Dylan Gans, a freshman in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, and Robert Caldwell, also a freshman in Whitman, proposed the idea of creating signs around campus that would give directions to key buildings.

The fourth winning project is overhead covers for benches on the Quad. Jesse Krim, a sophomore in the iSchool, developed the idea, which aims at allowing SU students to “enjoy the outdoors year-round,” according to the release.





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