Columbia Students Named Finalists for the Young Globals Competition
Two teams from Columbia were selected as finalists for the 2019 Young Globals Students Competition and Internship Award. Young Globals is an international advertising competition that provides internship opportunities to students from the winning team. This year’s competition is supported by AbelsonTaylor and The Bloc. Each team was required to submit a creative campaign that communicates the social, physical, and psychological effects of too much screen time on a device.
The first team features Columbia students Benjamin Sundwall and Hannah McCoy for their app, Screenhealth, which is described as an “integrated app that intends to educate on the health concerns with screens, and encourage families to go offline together.”
The second team includes Columbia students Martin Brablec and Edgar Reynaga for their project The Unplug Challenge, a “youth-focused, app-based tool which both raises awareness and helps combat smartphone addiction. Smartphone addiction is rooted in the easy, accessible dopamine rushes it provides via games and social media; that is why the focus of The Unplug Challenge is to provide an alternative, ‘unplugged’ source of dopamine through gamification with prize-based competitions and positive reinforcement.”
Young Globals judges will interview the four finalists to determine which team will receive a paid summer internship. Last year, two Columbia teams were selected as finalists for their campaigns, “End the Opioid Trend” and “Lethal Madness,” which were created in Communication Associate Professor Laurence Minsky’s Portfolio Development course.