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      • contestyear2013-01-01
      • nameAgroDrone
      • created2012-10-23 15:25:42
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      • emailagrodrone@mit.edu
      • inglobalchallenge1
      • pitch**Mission**: AgroDrone’s mission is to help farmers operate the best farm they can.
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      • rawlocationYerevan, Armenia
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      • whoweareAgroDrone's current team members include: Armen Mkrtchyan Marwan Hussein
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      • shortpitchHelp farmers improve farm yield and lower operating costs using unmanned aircrafts.
      • vote_count440
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      • contestyear2013-01-01
      • nameHope in Flight
      • created2013-02-27 22:27:47
      • modified2013-05-06 23:11:48
      • emailhopeinflight@mit.edu
      • inglobalchallenge1
      • pitch**Problem** According to a 2010 UN report, 80% of the waste generated in northern Ghanaian villages and towns consisted of organic waste -- most of which are not properly collected or disposed in a safe and healthy manner. One of these villages is Taha, our target community of about 600 people. Such accumulation of waste promote infectious diseases and the contamination of precious water supplies. **Solution** Hope in Flight utilizes a low-tech optimizing system that exploits the natural capabilities of the Black Soldier Fly (BSF), a species native to Ghana and other areas in Sub-Saharan Africa, to efficiently process organic waste. BSF larva turns every kilogram of organic waste into 29 US cents worth of protein meal! The collected BSF pre-pupae can be processed into profitable, safe, and nutritious animal feed. **Our Business Model** Using a rent-to-own model, Hope in Flight will lease the specialized waste bioconversion systems to entrepreneurs in northern Ghana, starting with the village of Taha. The entrepreneurs will use the systems to produce protein-rich BSF meal from organic waste, and earn a steady income by selling their farmed product to us for further processing. Hope in Flight will process and sell the BSF meal as high-quality animal feed to egg, poultry, and fish farmers. **We aim to resolve the massive sanitation problems facing many developing world communities while providing local entrepreneurs with a new and socially-beneficial revenue stream.**
      • intent
      • impactTo address the problem of waste and fecal accumulation in a village of 600 people.
      • rawlocationTamale, Ghana
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      • glocationTamale - Tolon Road, Tamale, Ghana
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      • whoweareWe can be reached at: hopeinflight@mit.edu **Coyin Oh** is a third year undergraduate from Malaysia in the Department of Biological Engineering. A member of iHouse, Coyin received the Legatum Center Seed Grant in her freshman year to teach local schoolchildren English, Science and Engineering in rural Mexico. That trip inspired her to use her engineering skills to tackle sanitation issues among underprivileged communities; she came back from Mexico and took the D-Lab Dissemination WASH class and got involved in Hope in Flight in Spring 2011. Coyin thinks that the idea of using Black Soldier Fly in waste management is not emphasized enough, and she hopes that through Hope in Flight, she will be able to offer an innovative engineering solution to the pressing sanitation issues that plagues developing countries. **Yiping Xing** is a second year undergraduate from Columbus, Ohio in the Department of Biology. As a member of iHouse, Yiping has long been interested in sustainable international development. After living in seven different places and being exposed to a wide range of qualities of waste management systems in different locations, she understands the importance of reducing organic waste in impoverished areas. Yiping has been involved with Hope in Flight for a year now and is currently taking D-Lab Dissemination WASH. She hopes to use simple, low tech, but high impact technologies to tackle on some of the world’s greatest waste problems. **Jillian Katz** is a freshman at MIT from Chicago. She is planning to major in Brain and Cognitive Sciences. She has always been concerned with the quality of nutrition and sanitation in developing countries, and is now in the D-Lab Dissemination WASH class because she wants to learn how to make an impact. She has experience fundraising for many clubs and causes during high school, including The Solar Cooker Project, and she is currently establishing a composting program for her dorm. Jillian enjoys learning about biological processes, such as those relevant to the black soldier fly's consumption of waste, and she has an interest in human factors psychology, which considers how to organize programs and tools for greatest ease in human usage. After working in a petting zoo for three months, she doesn't mind working with flies and larvae! Jillian is excited to see Hope in Flight take off. **Rachel Jiang** is a senior at Harvard University majoring in Economics. She has worked on projects for education in Zimbabwe, as well as nutrition education and mobile health clinic ventures in Uganda. A current student in Susan Murcott’s D-Lab Dissemination WASH class, she is excited about the prospect of using simple, biological, self-contained technologies to resolve tremendous sanitation problems while providing local entrepreneurs with new avenues of income generation.
      • urlhttps://www.facebook.com/pages/Hope-in-Flight/183631615012588
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      • shortpitchHope in Flight uses Black Soldier Fly larvae to efficiently process waste into economically-profitable animal feed.
      • vote_count230
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      • id377
      • contestyear2013-01-01
      • nameLab-X
      • created2013-01-04 06:07:42
      • modified2013-05-06 23:11:03
      • emailsampriti@mit.edu
      • inglobalchallenge1
      • pitch**Problem** In India, there is a huge waste of talent pool due to the lack of resources and opportunities. For eg., less than .1% of ~1 million engineering students get world class education, hands on learning or cutting edge research exposure. There is a tremendous lack of entrepreneurial effort and R&D to build a robust high-tech environment. A structured program to create leaders, entrepreneurs and researcher to push the community forward is totally absent. **Context** Conventional path of directly going to the villages and doing charity to alleviate poverty have failed again and again. We believe in involving everyday people in giving back to the community and helping in building a sustainable economy. One of the problems we notice in countries like India, is the huge disparity in the living of the urban and the rural people. As engineers we wanted to use new strategies to alleviate poverty. We thought of programs that will not only help the students be leaders and innovators, but also connect them to the large majority of the population who they can help. **Solution** •Locate a rural area in India, and identify a problem with a viable technical solution •Design a competition to address the problem •Allow students from the smaller colleges to participate with a faculty mentor •Incentives in every stage for developing idea, prototype, and implementation •Students are supposed to work in the villages actively so as to make a product customized to their needs
      • intent
      • impactPromote hands on learning, creative thinking in smaller engineering schools. Atleast have 4 teams come up with low cost technology prototypes that can turn into successful start ups. Improve people's life in at least one rural community
      • rawlocationIndia
      • lat20.5937
      • lon78.9629
      • glocationMaharashtra State Highway 264, Maharashtra 442301, India
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      • whoweareA group of individuals from MIT and outside MIT who believe poverty is not an isolated problem. We promote socio-economic growth by what we call "strategic resource distribution" . We promote incentive based innovations among urban youths who go to small engineering schools and are eager for opportunities. We give them global exposure, entrepreneurship opportunities- with a condition: you need to give back to the community. Two of the founders having attended very small engineering schools recognize the huge talent waste and brain drain in developing countries. Lab-X Foundation came up with an intelligent strategy to promote socio-economic growth through different structured educational programs. Sampriti Bhattacharyya Sampriti is a PhD student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the department of Mechanical Engineering. Coming from a small school in Kolkata, India, Sampriti realized that the opportunities for engineering research and creativity were too limited, and that most engineering schools merely grant a degree. This led her to start the Lab-X Foundation to give opportunities to those with limited resources. Her internship at Fermilab Chicago as an undergrad had given her immense exposure to cutting-edge technology and research. Sampriti also interned at NASA Ames Research Center and has collaborated with various other national laboratories in US and India. Sampriti got a Masters in Aerospace Engineering and worked on an innovative nuclear reactor for radioactive waste transmutation. She plans to work for developing countries by using technology to solve pressing issues like poverty, healthcare and education. Ketan Dande Ketan completed his M.S. from The Ohio State University in Electrical Engineering and is presently a Controls Engineer at Robert Bosch Corporation, in Michigan. Ketan hails from a small town, Latur, India, and completed his bachelors in Engineering at University of Pune. His urge to give back to the community has brought him in touch with social organizations. He is the co-founder of a non-governmental organization promoting improvement of educational awareness in India. He is currently a member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) and is a member of the organization committee of TiECON, which is TiE’s premier annual event and is one of the largest convention in the world dedicated to entrepreneurs. Chris Garry Chris is a an undergraduate senior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst studying Computer Engineering. He was born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts, and was the first in his family to attend college. Coming from a minority background, he understands the difficulties underrepresented students face, which is why he’s part of Lab-X. He is passionate about helping others and has volunteered in several organizations on and off campus. Chris is actively involved in several areas of research. For the past year, he has worked as a Research Assistant in the Phonetics Lab at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In the past, he was an Undergraduate Research Intern at NASA Ames Research Center and Research Intern at MIT Lincoln Labs. Chris aspires to pursue a PhD in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. Stephanie Scott Stephanie is graduate student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her current research is focused on clean energy in the MIT Photovoltaic lab. At MIT, Stephanie has organized a panel for the MIT Energy Conference and currently serves as Vice President of the Graduate Association of Mechanical Engineers. Stephanie graduated from UC Berkeley with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. At Berkeley, she did research within the Community Assessment of Renewable Energy and Sustainability (CARES) Lab working with a multidisciplinary team of engineers, architects and environmental specialists. Her projects included solar energy modeling and projecting demand and implementation strategies for electric vehicle charging stations. Both projects included a challenging mix of technical and practical issues. At Berkeley, Stephanie completed the Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology certification. She served as an officer of multiple engineering student groups including the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), Engineering Student Council, and Mechanical Engineering Honor Society.
      • urllabxfoundation.org
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      • winner1
      • winnertypeCommunity Choice Winner
      • shortpitchPromoting socio-economic growth in developing countries through incentive based educational programs
      • vote_count1215
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    • Challenge
      • id36
      • description<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>2013 Muhammad Yunus Innovation Challenge </strong></span></p> <p><strong>Education: Solutions for Learning</strong></p> <p>Education is a vital tool for low-income countries to improve quality of life for its citizens. Good education systems have been shown to foster economic growth, improve health, increase agricultural productivity and yield many other important benefits. The challenge is not simply to put students in the classroom, but to make sure that students learn the skills that they need to succeed after they finish school. The 2013 Yunus Innovation Challenge calls for innovative and scalable education initiatives that produce a specific learning outcome focused on the youth in low-income countries. The solutions should complement the constraints of the local education system and involve both students and teachers in those communities.</p> <p><strong>Background</strong></p> <p>Nelson Mandela said that &ldquo;Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.&rdquo; Indeed, 192 countries have ratified a convention guaranteeing the right of children to education and promoting &ldquo;international cooperation in matters relating to education, in particular with a view to contributing to the elimination of ignorance and illiteracy throughout the world and facilitating access to scientific and technical knowledge and modern teaching methods.&rdquo; Skilled graduates add value to the labor market; they may increase their salary by 10% for each additional year of schooling that they complete, although that is dependent on the quality of education. Health improves as educated people are better able to avoid diseases through improved hygiene and educated mothers are more likely to vaccinate their children . Farmers with just four years of schooling have been shown to produce 8.7% more each year than their counterparts who never attended school. However, the World Bank highlights the challenges of this approach (emphasis added):</p> <blockquote> <p>&ldquo;The challenge in education is ensuring equitable access to schooling that results in not only diplomas but learning, and that ultimately helps children develop labor market-relevant skills. Yet learning levels in many countries are alarmingly low, especially among disadvantaged populations. More schooling has not resulted in more learning. Even when children complete school, they often do so without acquiring basic skills, which is particularly detrimental when unemployment is high and labor markets are demanding more skilled and agile workforces than ever before. Youth are leaving school and entering the workforce without competitive competencies, and there is a wide gulf in test scores among students from different income levels.&rdquo;</p> </blockquote> <p>MIT's motto, Mens et manus (mind and hand), highlights the importance of both creative thinking and hands-on activities in a well-rounded education. It drives students to place equal priority on the theoretical and practical components of their subjects. There is a great opportunity to share this philosophy with low-income communities and build capacity to deliver on local educational objectives. For example, teams can look at skills that will make the students more attractive on the job market, that will improve their knowledge of health, that promote environmental stewardship or that foster cultural awareness.</p> <p><strong>Target Areas</strong></p> <p>The 2013 Yunus challenge strongly encourages teams to pursue an intervention that addresses one or more of the following areas:</p> <p><em>Improving the efficacy of teaching strategies</em></p> <p>There is considerable scope for teams to develop effective teaching strategies for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education in a particular context. That can involve localizing materials to make them more relevant to the community, finding ways to make better use of the teachers' time, developing resources to reach students who have different learning styles and removing other barriers that currently impede learning. Some of these barriers include scarcity of education resources, class size, language, limited experience with alternate world-views and the non-existent assessment structure.</p> <p><em>New opportunities for learning</em></p> <p>Schools are an important place for creating new opportunities for the community as a whole. After-school programs and other non-academic parts of the day can also be used to promote skills such as entrepreneurship, environmental stewardship, health awareness, technology design and other locally relevant needs. The programs should connect with the existing curriculum and supplement the teachers' efforts.</p> <p><em>Incentivizing learning </em></p> <p>Education systems in low-income communities provide poorly aligned incentives which lead to undesired outcomes such as: subsidized tertiary education reaching only the richest and widening the gap between rich and poor families; teachers continuing to advance failing pupils because they do not want a failing student to blight their record; and students dropping out of school because they need to work to provide income for their family. Well-designed incentive structures can be an incredibly cost-effective method for improving educational outcomes. The most important feature of an incentive structure is that it must have benefits for everyone, if it contains negative consequences for a particular stakeholder, the whole system may fall apart.</p> <p><strong>Implementation </strong></p> <p>Projects will need to have a clear and well-thought out implementation plan: Projects must demonstrate a specific learning outcome and the support of students, teachers, school administrators and relevant local stakeholders. Projects should be focused on education challenges in low- or middle-income countries (education projects that target low-income communities in high-income countries are encouraged to apply to the IDEAS Global Challenge, but will not be considered for the Yunus Challenge). Teams should think creatively about how to improve the learning experience inside or outside of the classroom, however, they should pay close attention to national guidelines so as not to interfere with what is required for standardized exams. Projects must be supported by students, teachers, school administrators and relevant local stakeholders. It will be essential to engage these groups and understand their perspectives-which may sometimes be at odds with one another. Education projects are notoriously challenging to successfully implement because they are fundamentally about behavior change and new attitudes. Collaboration with other organizations in the same geographic area or on related challenges often increases the likelihood of success.</p> <p><strong>Key Considerations and Judging Criteria</strong></p> <p>Solutions should be designed for implementation in communities living at or below the poverty level, where infrastructure is limited. Innovation, feasibility and impact will be important criteria in judging. Proposed solutions should be new, focus on measurable change, and aim for a price point that makes intervention accessible to the poorest populations and allows for dissemination on a large scale. Specific aspects to address include, but should not necessarily be limited to: Consider what the proposed intervention is replacing and be sure to identify any desirable aspects of the current system to make sure that those benefits are not lost. Plan for how the project can continue at program sites after the team has left and how it can reach additional communities. Teams should develop a plan for measuring their solution's impact as well as monitoring and evaluating their solution to identify places for improvement. Teams must include a significant MIT presence including at least 1 full-time MIT student who has made a significant contribution to the innovation. Teams are encouraged to recruit stakeholders from the communities where they will be working to gain greater understanding of local constraints. Understanding the local context is essential. Credit will be given for supporting rationale regarding how the solution will directly address the issues faced. The needs of the poor are wide and varied and teams are not expected to address all issues surrounding quality of education; proposed solutions should address a particular need and fill it well. Participants are encouraged to work on solutions with a specific community or region in mind, as this can be helpful in identifying constraints and providing context.</p> <p>For more information on the 2013 Yunus Innovation Challenge, please contact <a href="mailto:idi@mit.edu">Daniel Mokrauer-Madden</a>.</p>
      • created2012-11-16 15:25:20
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      • user_id19050
      • title2013 Yunus Challenge - Education: Solutions for Learning
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  • 3
    • Team
      • id438
      • contestyear2013-01-01
      • nameBounce Imaging
      • created2013-04-02 19:30:34
      • modified2013-05-06 23:10:25
      • emaildavid.young@bounceimaging.com
      • inglobalchallenge1
      • pitchEvery day, police officers, firefighters, search and rescue workers, and first responders around the world must enter dangerous, unseen spaces in the performance of their duties. Their inability to see around corners or inside a space costs lives. At Bounce Imaging, we're developing low cost, fast, and easy to use imaging and sensor technologies that enable these professionals to preview what lies in these spaces without entering them. We're committed to delivering life-saving technology to where it's needed most - the front-line professionals who safeguard us all.
      • intent
      • impactHave our technology in the hands of first responders from ALL disciplines throughout the world - law enforcement, fire protection service, search & rescue, HAZMAT, & emergency medical professionals
      • rawlocation125 Western Ave, Allston, MA
      • lat42.3638
      • lon-71.1233
      • glocationBatten Way, Boston, MA 02163, USA
      • category_other
      • whoweareOur team is led by three current and former MIT students – Francisco Aguilar, who created the design while at MIT and guides development; David Young, who brings on-the-ground experience of dangerous situations as a former Army Ranger; and Aaron Kent, who has years of experience managing finances and internal systems at fast-paced startups. In addition, we have 7 engineers across a range of disciplines in Massachusetts and Costa Rica working on the implementation of the design.
      • urlhttp://bounceimaging.com/
      • blog
      • twitter@bounceimaging
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      • problem_id0
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      • winner1
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      • shortpitchRemote imaging and sensing technology for first responders
      • vote_count15
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  • 4
    • Team
      • id419
      • contestyear2013-01-01
      • namePolymerGreen
      • created2013-02-25 22:30:04
      • modified2013-05-06 23:09:54
      • emailyuehou@mit.edu
      • inglobalchallenge1
      • pitchOur team plans to convert waste plastics collected in Chengdu into green fuel. This solution reduces environmental pollution and produces fuel ready for industrial use.Instead of dumping waste plastics into landfill or recycle them into lower-quality plastics -- a process which causes air and water pollution, our project is zero-emission and much more environmental friendly than any other solution. Our project is not only reducing environmental pollution, but also produces fuels ready for industrial usage. We plan to tailor our solution to process local municipal waste plastic more efficiently and to set up a comprehensive operational plan, including to start a commercial plant in Chengdu to convert municipal waste plastics to green fuel. Resources: Local Partner: Green Earth http://www.lvsediqiu.com/
      • intent
      • impactConvert waste plastics in green oil in Chengdu,China
      • rawlocationJinjiang Chengdu
      • lat30.656
      • lon104.084
      • glocation2号 Shuyuan South Street, Jinjiang, Chengdu, Sichuan, China, 610000
      • category_other
      • whoweare**Yiming Wu** (Master of Engineering in Manufacturing, MIT) Yiming previously served at Applied Materials, a global leader in semiconductor equipment manufacturing, as an operational consultant to improve its multiple billion scale manufacturing operations. In 2009, Yiming founded Mechanical Innovation Team which created innovative mechatronics products, and this team has been granted 4 China Utility patents. Yiming personally is an investor for 6 patents including both U.S. and China patents, one of these patents has been awarded “Top 100 Excellent Chinese Patents of 2010”. **Hang Chen** (Ph.D. Student in Chemistry, MIT) Hang graduated from Chu Kochen Honors College in Zhejiang University with a B.S. in physics. He is also the co-president of MIT-CHIEF. He has working experiences in IBM China Research Laboratory and China Development Bank, a major state development bank in China. **Yue Hou** (Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science, MIT) Yue graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Grinnell College with double degrees in Economics and Mathematics. She also holds a concentration in global development studies. Yue has a strong academic and practical interest in economic development and social innovations. She has extensive experiences in development-related industries: she has formerly worked Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, the Chinese Academy of Social Science (CASS), the European Parliament in Brussels, and the Southern Weekly in Beijing. She is also an organizer of China Citizenship and Social Innovation Seed Camp at Harvard.
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      • shortpitchConvert waste plastics into green oil in Chengdu,China
      • vote_count11
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  • 5
    • Team
      • id414
      • contestyear2013-01-01
      • nameIncreasing Rural Farmers Income
      • created2013-02-25 16:04:30
      • modified2013-05-06 23:09:09
      • emailirfi@mit.edu
      • inglobalchallenge1
      • pitchMost rural farmers in Nepal do not have the means to process their paddy and to transport it the commercial centers. Although rice is sold at high retail price compared to the cost of production in the urban centers, farmers have to forgo most of the profit from the sale of rice. They are forced to sell their paddy (seeds of rice) to the middlemen at a very low price of Rs.18-20/ kg. The middlemen collect the paddy from the farmers and sell it to commercial processing mills. The mills then process the paddy and package it. The processing, packaging and transportation to Kathmandu bring up the price of rice to Rs.38.8/ kg. The wholesale price of rice is Rs.70/ kg in Kathmandu. Therefore, the middlemen and the processing mills make around 31.2 rupees per kg for something the farmers only get Rs.18-20/ kg. I want to improve the quality of life of rural paddy farmers by providing them 40-46% more than what they are getting paid right now. As paddy is the only source of income for about 80% of these farmers, increasing the price of their produce by 40-46% makes a significant difference in their lives.
      • intent
      • impactIncrease in the only source of income of the farmers will uplift their living standard.
      • rawlocationDumraha-3, Sunsari Nepal
      • lat26.6717
      • lon87.1418
      • glocationEast-West Hway, Laukahi 56713, Nepal
      • category_other
      • whoweareShambhu Babu Koirala: Shambhu Babu Koirala is a junior in MIT Sloan School of Management. He has a keen interest in social entrepreneurship and agribusiness in rural areas. He believes the life of people with less opportunity can significantly be improved if the people with opportunity want and work towards achieving it. He has an experience of working and managing the logistics of another IDEAS Global Challenge award winning project ( http://globalchallenge.mit.edu/teams/view/213 ). He is a team leader and the project is based in his village. He plans to return back to Nepal after graduation and work in agribusiness in rural parts of the country. Aashish Tripathee: He will be joining MIT next year (Class of 2017). He is based in Kathmandu and has an experience of establishing and running an IT company. He will be helping by building and maintaining a website for the project. If feasible, he will also be building a system to allow online ordering of rice by retailers in Kathmandu. He will also help with his extensive network of friends and families in marketing. The team will benefit with his experience of running a successful business (though in an entirely different field). Manish Bhatt: He is based in Kathmandu, and is a Microsoft and Cisco Certified Professional and a Coder, and will be helping out with the website. He also has good idea about marketing products, owing to his father, who has been in the marketing business for the past 30 years. He will be gathering data from retailers about the existing practices in selling of rice in Kathmandu. He will also be doing research about the customer preferences in packaging and from esthetic point of view and storage point of view (storage for both customers and for the sellers). He will be determining the cost and capacity of the mill by talking with other mill owners in the suburbs of Kathmandu. With his extensive network of friends and families, the team will benefit quite much in marketing and finding very initial customers.
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      • shortpitchIncreasing the earnings of rural paddy farmers by 40% by paying more for their produce.
      • vote_count67
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        • created2010-03-08 10:40:17
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  • 6
    • Team
      • id406
      • contestyear2013-01-01
      • nameThe Universe and More
      • created2013-02-19 22:22:44
      • modified2013-05-06 23:08:43
      • emailjledvina@mit.edu
      • inglobalchallenge1
      • pitchThe U.S. is ranked 17th amongst nations for science education. Less than 6% of college degrees are in the sciences and engineering, and the repercussions are felt resoundingly in the job market. Most people are intimidated by science during their primary education, and avoid it like the plague when they get to college. The problem starts in the education community. Good science teachers are hard to come by. Most high school teachers that teach science are not directly qualified or have any specialized knowledge of these abstract subjects like physics and chemistry. Only 1/3 of all physics teachers have degrees in physics or physics education. Our solution is to make fun, addicting, and downright educational science software games. Teachers will use them in the classroom, and parents can get them for their kids to help them learn and improve their grades. We've already launched one Adobe Flash (TM) game to massive teacher acclaim and viral adoption (1.6 million hits on our website to date). It's a physics game that teaches kinematics in a fun and interactive way. http://www.nms.org/Education/TheSTEMCrisis.aspx http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/reports/hsteachers.pdf
      • intent
      • impactImprove science scores of users by one letter grade.
      • rawlocationUnited States
      • lat0
      • lon0
      • glocation
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      • whoweareJordan Ledvina: has a B.A. in math and physics from Rutgers University. He has edited a general relativity textbook designed for students with a rudimentary calculus background. He is doing web and business development and helps with conceptual design of games. He is currently studying entrepreneurship and finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Matthew Blackman: has a B.A. in physics, and a M.A. in Physics Education from Rutgers University. He's been teaching high school physics for four years and has taught himself to design and program games. He is the highest ranked physics teacher in the state of New Jersey. He is the primary programmer and game developer for The Universe and More.
      • urlwww.theuniverseandmore.com
      • blog
      • twitter@universeandmore
      • twitter_import1
      • facebook FB.init("www.facebook.com/universeandmore");
      • problem_id0
      • challenge_id0
      • winner1
      • winnertype
      • shortpitchWhat Harry Potter did for literacy, we're doing for science education.
      • vote_count4
      • active1
      • facebook_page_id
      • follower_count2
      • comment_count0
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        • nameEducation and Training
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        • nameMobile Devices and Communications
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  • 7
    • Team
      • id402
      • contestyear2013-01-01
      • nameBioBatts
      • created2013-02-06 08:34:38
      • modified2013-05-06 23:08:14
      • emailbiobatts@mit.edu
      • inglobalchallenge1
      • pitchBioBatts is a development venture that is developing microbial power generators for small-scale lighting/phone charging applications in off-grid villages. The technology consists of genetically modified bacteria reducing iron and sulfur to produce current. The portable device can be recharged by adding a sugar/nutrient broth. Our products will be significantly cheaper, cleaner, and more effective than existing solutions (kerosene lamps and solar lanterns/chargers). The business model involves a village entrepreneur who sells our devices and has a supply of the sugar/nutrient broth, so that customers will go to him/her every few days to recharge their devices for a small fee. We will have a loan agreement with a local bank, whereby the bank pays us for a monthly supply of devices, and the entrepreneur pays off the loan every month using sales. This summer, we will be testing our prototypes in off-grid villages outside of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. We will be receiving support from Luminous Water Technologies, a company under the SAR Group in India, which delivers water purifiers to off-grid villages. We will travel with employees of Luminous to various villages, banks, and other distribution avenues to gather valuable product and customer information to eventually set-up our business.
      • intent
      • impactDevelopment of sustainable businesses in five villages in Uttar Pradesh, India that sell our products.
      • rawlocationUttar Pradesh, India
      • lat26.4312
      • lon80.3101
      • glocationBarra Bypass Road, Barra, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh 208027, India
      • category_other
      • whoweareAkshar Wunnava is an undergraduate junior at MIT, majoring in Chemical Engineering and Economics. He has research experience in chemical engineering, and business experience, having interned at Goldman Sachs in their Natural Resources Investment Banking Division. At MIT, Akshar is the president of the Sloan Business Club and has helped organize the MIT Energy Conference for the past three years, most recently organizing a panel on Energy Innovation for Development. Over the past three years, Akshar has developed a network of mentors including faculty, venture capitalists, and other entrepreneurs that consistently provide valuable guidance. Akshar is fluent in both Hindi and Telugu, the languages spoken in the areas of interest for BioBatts. He was born in India and lived in Mumbai for six years. Arvind Thiagarajan is currently completing his fourth year as an undergraduate at MIT in Biological Engineering and Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (EECS), while also in the middle of a masters degree in EECS from MIT. Combining these with interests in Math and Physics, he has spent the last four years conducting research with lead investigators in the interdisciplinary field of Systems and Synthetic Biology. Systems Biology focuses on studying complex control systems mediated by protein levels in naturally occurring bacteria. Synthetic Biology focuses on applying the principles discovered in nature to build customized control systems for various desired tasks. Armed with different approaches to these two fields, Arvind is able to bring biological system design to bear on the problems underlying BioBatts technology. The co-founders have known each other for the past seven years, and attended high school together. For BioBatts, Akshar does more of the business model/strategy work, while Arvind specializes in working with our genetically modified bacteria. However, both partners collaborate on almost all tasks so decisions made will take both business and technical viewpoints into account.
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      • shortpitchBioBatts is a development venture that is creating microbial power generators for small-scale lighting/phone-charging applications for off-grid villagers in the developing world.
      • vote_count5
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  • 8
    • Team
      • id401
      • contestyear2013-01-01
      • nameAasadeep Projects
      • created2013-02-03 07:25:29
      • modified2013-05-06 23:07:58
      • emailbolla@mit.edu
      • inglobalchallenge1
      • pitchaasadeep projects is established to solve the huge unemployment problem among the 50 million people with disabilities. currently India consists of more than 50 million disabled population who does not have employment due to lack of: formal education, work skills, expertise and support systems in corporate/ governmental companies, accessible transportation and infrastructure, awareness about the assistive technologies, and main stream opportunities. in addition to above problems, societal barriers and discrimination plays a key role in stopping the growth and potential of disabled people. most severely disabled people cannot working the main stream companies hence the employment is limited for them. these are just a few among many barriers that are hindering the growth of challenged people. so we a team of successful challenged people, visionary social entrepreneurs, experienced special educators and dedicated leaders wishing to make an impact are here to unleash the hidden potential among people with disabilities by providing employment opportunities for uneducated, educated and those people who cannot get employment in the main stream companies due to their physical and mental disability irrespective of their education through our eco product manufacturing industry and employability skill training program. Aasadeep evolved as the manufacturer of eco-friendly paper products to not only provide employment but also contribute for greener India.
      • intent
      • impactprovided employment opportunities to 15 people in the manufacturing industry and placed 6 people in other companies through employability skill training program, reduced 15 tons of plastic usage and substituted with paper and natural leaf products
      • rawlocationhyderabad, India
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      • shortpitchProviding employment opportunities for both uneducated and educated challenged people through eco friendly paper product manufacturing Industry and employability skill training program.
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      • description<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>2013 Muhammad Yunus Innovation Challenge </strong></span></p> <p><strong>Education: Solutions for Learning</strong></p> <p>Education is a vital tool for low-income countries to improve quality of life for its citizens. Good education systems have been shown to foster economic growth, improve health, increase agricultural productivity and yield many other important benefits. The challenge is not simply to put students in the classroom, but to make sure that students learn the skills that they need to succeed after they finish school. The 2013 Yunus Innovation Challenge calls for innovative and scalable education initiatives that produce a specific learning outcome focused on the youth in low-income countries. The solutions should complement the constraints of the local education system and involve both students and teachers in those communities.</p> <p><strong>Background</strong></p> <p>Nelson Mandela said that &ldquo;Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.&rdquo; Indeed, 192 countries have ratified a convention guaranteeing the right of children to education and promoting &ldquo;international cooperation in matters relating to education, in particular with a view to contributing to the elimination of ignorance and illiteracy throughout the world and facilitating access to scientific and technical knowledge and modern teaching methods.&rdquo; Skilled graduates add value to the labor market; they may increase their salary by 10% for each additional year of schooling that they complete, although that is dependent on the quality of education. Health improves as educated people are better able to avoid diseases through improved hygiene and educated mothers are more likely to vaccinate their children . Farmers with just four years of schooling have been shown to produce 8.7% more each year than their counterparts who never attended school. However, the World Bank highlights the challenges of this approach (emphasis added):</p> <blockquote> <p>&ldquo;The challenge in education is ensuring equitable access to schooling that results in not only diplomas but learning, and that ultimately helps children develop labor market-relevant skills. Yet learning levels in many countries are alarmingly low, especially among disadvantaged populations. More schooling has not resulted in more learning. Even when children complete school, they often do so without acquiring basic skills, which is particularly detrimental when unemployment is high and labor markets are demanding more skilled and agile workforces than ever before. Youth are leaving school and entering the workforce without competitive competencies, and there is a wide gulf in test scores among students from different income levels.&rdquo;</p> </blockquote> <p>MIT's motto, Mens et manus (mind and hand), highlights the importance of both creative thinking and hands-on activities in a well-rounded education. It drives students to place equal priority on the theoretical and practical components of their subjects. There is a great opportunity to share this philosophy with low-income communities and build capacity to deliver on local educational objectives. For example, teams can look at skills that will make the students more attractive on the job market, that will improve their knowledge of health, that promote environmental stewardship or that foster cultural awareness.</p> <p><strong>Target Areas</strong></p> <p>The 2013 Yunus challenge strongly encourages teams to pursue an intervention that addresses one or more of the following areas:</p> <p><em>Improving the efficacy of teaching strategies</em></p> <p>There is considerable scope for teams to develop effective teaching strategies for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education in a particular context. That can involve localizing materials to make them more relevant to the community, finding ways to make better use of the teachers' time, developing resources to reach students who have different learning styles and removing other barriers that currently impede learning. Some of these barriers include scarcity of education resources, class size, language, limited experience with alternate world-views and the non-existent assessment structure.</p> <p><em>New opportunities for learning</em></p> <p>Schools are an important place for creating new opportunities for the community as a whole. After-school programs and other non-academic parts of the day can also be used to promote skills such as entrepreneurship, environmental stewardship, health awareness, technology design and other locally relevant needs. The programs should connect with the existing curriculum and supplement the teachers' efforts.</p> <p><em>Incentivizing learning </em></p> <p>Education systems in low-income communities provide poorly aligned incentives which lead to undesired outcomes such as: subsidized tertiary education reaching only the richest and widening the gap between rich and poor families; teachers continuing to advance failing pupils because they do not want a failing student to blight their record; and students dropping out of school because they need to work to provide income for their family. Well-designed incentive structures can be an incredibly cost-effective method for improving educational outcomes. The most important feature of an incentive structure is that it must have benefits for everyone, if it contains negative consequences for a particular stakeholder, the whole system may fall apart.</p> <p><strong>Implementation </strong></p> <p>Projects will need to have a clear and well-thought out implementation plan: Projects must demonstrate a specific learning outcome and the support of students, teachers, school administrators and relevant local stakeholders. Projects should be focused on education challenges in low- or middle-income countries (education projects that target low-income communities in high-income countries are encouraged to apply to the IDEAS Global Challenge, but will not be considered for the Yunus Challenge). Teams should think creatively about how to improve the learning experience inside or outside of the classroom, however, they should pay close attention to national guidelines so as not to interfere with what is required for standardized exams. Projects must be supported by students, teachers, school administrators and relevant local stakeholders. It will be essential to engage these groups and understand their perspectives-which may sometimes be at odds with one another. Education projects are notoriously challenging to successfully implement because they are fundamentally about behavior change and new attitudes. Collaboration with other organizations in the same geographic area or on related challenges often increases the likelihood of success.</p> <p><strong>Key Considerations and Judging Criteria</strong></p> <p>Solutions should be designed for implementation in communities living at or below the poverty level, where infrastructure is limited. Innovation, feasibility and impact will be important criteria in judging. Proposed solutions should be new, focus on measurable change, and aim for a price point that makes intervention accessible to the poorest populations and allows for dissemination on a large scale. Specific aspects to address include, but should not necessarily be limited to: Consider what the proposed intervention is replacing and be sure to identify any desirable aspects of the current system to make sure that those benefits are not lost. Plan for how the project can continue at program sites after the team has left and how it can reach additional communities. Teams should develop a plan for measuring their solution's impact as well as monitoring and evaluating their solution to identify places for improvement. Teams must include a significant MIT presence including at least 1 full-time MIT student who has made a significant contribution to the innovation. Teams are encouraged to recruit stakeholders from the communities where they will be working to gain greater understanding of local constraints. Understanding the local context is essential. Credit will be given for supporting rationale regarding how the solution will directly address the issues faced. The needs of the poor are wide and varied and teams are not expected to address all issues surrounding quality of education; proposed solutions should address a particular need and fill it well. Participants are encouraged to work on solutions with a specific community or region in mind, as this can be helpful in identifying constraints and providing context.</p> <p>For more information on the 2013 Yunus Innovation Challenge, please contact <a href="mailto:idi@mit.edu">Daniel Mokrauer-Madden</a>.</p>
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      • contestyear2013-01-01
      • nameAugmented Infant Resuscitator (AIR)
      • created2013-01-29 14:26:33
      • modified2013-05-06 23:07:30
      • emailkcedrone@mit.edu
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      • pitchAsphyxia and breathing trouble after birth cause more than 1.8 million infant deaths per year, most in low and middle income countries (LMIC). Properly trained and equipped health care professionals can significantly reduce infant mortality due to asphyxia. Current issues include an acute shortage of trained birth attendants, the high cost of training, the difficulty and logistics of training, and currently, one in five trained health care professionals fail to perform resuscitation correctly. There is no available data on the root cause of these failures. Our team has designed an Augmented Infant Resuscitator (AIR). AIR is an inexpensive add-on device for existing emergency ventilation equipment that monitors and records resuscitation performance. It provides real-time feedback to trainers and users to both shorten training times, and improve resuscitation quality and technique. On-board data logging permits clinician desk review to pinpoint and remedy common problems with resuscitation training and equipment. A working proof-of-concept prototype has already been built. The prototype is being miniaturized and ruggedized with support from an IDEAS Global Challenge Development Grant. This grant application will support further technology development and deployment to Uganda for trials of usability and technology acceptance at Mbarara University of Science and Technology.
      • intent
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      • whoweare**Kevin Cedrone**, PhD Candidate: Mr. Cedrone is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Mechanical engineering at MIT. His research focus is emissions and efficiency of advanced gasoline engines. He has experience designing and building experiments that include extensive instrumentation of pressure, temperature and flow systems. He also co-founded EverSight Systems a startup that developed low-cost, low-power sensing and automation tools for distributed power generation systems. **Craig Mielcarz**: Mr. Mielcarz is an independent consultant with nearly 10 years experience providing hands-on electrical and systems engineering leadership for new product development. His background producing low-cost, portable, battery-operated devices for medical and biotech applications is particularly relevant to the development of AIR. Mr. Mielcarz also maintains an extensive network of both domestic and overseas manufacturers and suppliers, and has experience managing the transition from early stage prototyping through to eventual high-volume production. Mr. Mielcarz holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT. **Dr. Santorino Data, MD**: Dr. Data is a Pediatrician, lecturer and researcher at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST). He is a national trainer, and implementer of the HBB program in Uganda and he is also the Uganda Country Manager for CAMTech. His desire to objectively assess and monitor the quality of neonatal resuscitation led to the development of AIR. **Dr. Kristian Olson, MD**: Dr Olson is a seasoned innovator, clinician and researcher at the Massachussets General Hospital. He is the Medical Director for the Consortium for Affordable Medical Technologies (CAMTech) housed at MGH. His previous innovations include the Cool Comply device for maintaining a cold chain in poor resource settings; A low cost car-parts incubator among others. Dr. Olson is an international trainer, implementer and evaluator of the Helping Babies Breath (HBB) program. He will be the principle investigator on this project.
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      • shortpitchSave infant lives through better training and instant feedback on resuscitation technique
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