March 20, 2014 --

Wayne State University hopes $5,000 in prizes will spur some creative thinking and create a mobile app that also will benefit the school.

The competition, which is open to teams of four, is aimed at creating an app for iOS or Android devices.

"We're reaching out to the campus community for innovative ideas that can transform the Wayne State University experience, go viral and get noticed by some of Detroit's accomplished tech entrepreneurs and investors ," said Jeri Stroupe, senior project administrator at Wayne State University's Office of Economic Development.

The top three entries will receive cash prizes of $2,500, $1,500 and $1,000, courtesy of Detroit Labs, Detroit Technology Exchange and the Front Door.

To be eligible, teams must register online by April 4 at www.mobileapp.wayne.edu.

Teams must include at least one WSU student. The app can cover any topic and geographic area in Detroit, but must be useful to the university. The deadline to submit entries is May 30. Winners will be announced June 13. Participants may not compete on more than one team.

Contest judges are Dave Anderson, chief marketing officer of Backstitch, co-founder of Bamboo Detroit; Adrian Fortino, tech entrepreneur, Invest Detroit; Nick DeNardis, web director at WSU; Trish Nguyen, WSU student and Blackstone Launchpad staff; Dan Kerbel, founder of Guidesmob, and Nathan Hughes, co-founder of Detroit Labs.