Born Global Foundation Competition for Innovation in Sustainability
The Boston University College of Engineering and Institute for Sustainable Energy are pleased to announce the third annual design competition for innovations to impact the global challenge of sustainability. The competition is open to Boston University undergraduates and masters students. Teams must be interdisciplinary.
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Prizes
First Place $5,000
Second place $2,500
Third place $1,500
Teams will take an interdisciplinary approach in creating a newly formulated solution to a real world sustainability problem with a focus in one of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Each group must include engineering students and students from non-engineering majors, housed in college like the Questrom School of Business, College of Arts and Science, School of Public Health or College of Fine Arts.
Projects will be judged on the efficacy of technical innovation and the business model for how such an innovation might be economically and ecologically feasible compared to current methods.
The competition is made possible by a generous gift from the Born Global Foundation headed by Dr. Kimberly Samaha, an alum of BU College of Engineering.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Resources
Registration & Join Email List for Important Announcements
UN Sustainable Development Goals
Kickoff Meeting Recording | Password: BGC2021!
Born Global Competition Slack Channel
Biomimicry: definition & examples (explained with drawings) — YouTube
The fascinating world of biomimicry — YouTube
Information Session — Feb. 15th recording (access passcode: BGC2022!)
Schedule
Town Hall Kickoff Meeting
Monday, November 1, 2021 | 5-6PM | Photonics Center (8 Saint Mary’s Street) Room 211
Event details to be announced. Guest Talk by Dr. Samaha.
Virtual Office Hours
Thursday, December 2, 2021 | 8-9PM
Informal conversations about the competition on topics like creating a team, requirements and past winners. Zoom details: https://bostonu.zoom.us/j/91843195103?pwd=a3RMZlZIZEl3RUo4SlNXc21EdFJsdz09
Meeting ID: 918 4319 5103 | Passcode: 962132
Team Formation Proposal
Sunday, February 27, 2022
A list of team members including name, email, and college/department should be sent to Professor Emily Ryan (ryanem@bu.edu).
Project Proposal Submission
Friday, March 4, 2022
1-page project overview to explain the challenge addressed, team members and faculty mentor.
Proposals should be e-mailed to Professor Emily Ryan (ryanem@bu.edu) in PDF format.
Draft Final Report
Monday, March 21, 2022
Final Submission of Written Report
Monday, April 4, 2022
Oral Presentations
Week of April 11th, 2022
Winners Announced
Early May 2022
To Register & Join the Email List
Enter your team to express interest in competing, and to receive important email announcements. Please consider this form a ‘notice of interest,’ rather than a formal registration.
Hosted in partnership with the BU Institute for Sustainable Energy