College Launches Competition to Generate Sustainability Innovations
By Liz Sheeley
Although there has been a steady increase in the amount of research and innovation focused on renewable energy solutions, many of the new ideas can be difficult to implement in a practical and economical way.
A new, year-long competition hosted by the College of Engineering and funded by Kimberly Samaha, chief executive officer of Born Global, aims to change the way students are thinking about these types of innovations. Born Global is a technology commercialization program for innovation in the bioeconomy, focused on economic, process and product innovation at the intersection of waste energy and food.
Assistant Professor Emily Ryan (ME, MSE), whose research focuses on understanding renewable energy storage systems, is heading up the contest.
“We want students to think about sustainability from all aspects,” says Ryan. “They can iterate on an old process to make it more efficient, or add to the conversation through innovation, but we want each project to have a business plan attached to it.”
Each team participating in the competition must be interdisciplinary, comprised of students from multiple backgrounds, such as engineering and business. To make this easier, students can fill out a Google form to find other students interested in the competition.
Ryan hopes that by extending the contest throughout the academic year that students will have the opportunity to slowly build their idea outside of their school work.
“We’re hoping that students find and use a faculty mentor to help them,” says Ryan. “If they’re not sure who to ask, I can help them navigate that process and pair them with the best faculty member for their team.”
The first place team will receive $5,000, second $2,500 and third, $1,500. The judging will be done by a panel of academics and industry experts, who Ryan and Samaha will assemble. They’re also hoping that this competition will help students make more connections both within and outside of academia to help bring their ideas to fruition.