Pioneer Creative Activities and Research Day is a two-day event during which the Platteville community is invited into Ullsvik Hall to learn what students and faculty members are researching. PCARD showcases and celebrates the innovative, creative and scholarly activities that the students, faculty and staff are working on every day at University of Wisconsin-Platteville. This research is supported by the Student Research and Engagement Fund or SREF. PCARD had four events going on to showcase the research and activities going on around campus. 

The first research event was WiSys’ Quick Pitch on Tuesday, April 23. According to the university website, the quick pitch gives students a chance “to showcase their creative and entrepreneurial “spirit” by presenting their research” to a panel of judges from all professions. The Quick Pitch is a competition for a chance to win $250, and the opportunity to have their research and/or idea shown at WiSys annual Wisconsin Science and Technology Symposium in summer of 2019. The finalist also will be able to participate in the finals against other finalists from other UW campuses. 

The second event was the poster sessions on Wednesday, April 24 in Velzy Commons. The poster sessions composed of two different types of subjects. The morning poster session featured over 80 engineering senior design and class service-learning projects, all of which involved working with a business or other community partner that will benefit both of them. The afternoon poster session featured over 80 research projects in fields ranging from agriculture and zoology to software engineering and theater.

While the poster sessions took place in Nohr Gallery, there was a student art show where student art majors could showcase their work as well as a clay sale. The clay sale composed of pieces made by the ceramics professor and by the clay club members here on campus. 

The final event was a closed event and invitations were required. The event was the Prototype Hackathon. This event engaged the students to design innovated product prototypes and demonstrated their commercial relevance. The teams that participated, had two days to design and build a prototype. These prototypes were presented and judged based on functionality, market need and overall presentation.