GIX Innovation Competition 2022

Advancing technology at home to improve health, wellness, and the environment while competing for $15,000 in cash and prizes!

The Challenge

You’re invited to create an innovative technological or robotic solution for the home that helps address a problem related to health and wellness or the environment. Your solution can leverage a broad range of technologies including the internet of things, intelligent hardware, low-cost sensors, drones, robotics, computer vision and machine learning algorithms, and cloud computing. For example:

• Health and wellness solutions might improve people’s ability to make informed healthcare decisions or quality of life
• Environmental monitoring solutions might provide actionable insight into energy or consumable usage

Initial proposals are due on December 17. Judges will select teams to progress to the finals. Each team of finalists will be paired with an academic or industry mentor who will meet weekly with the team to provide feedback and advice in preparation for the final presentation before judges on February 16.

Contact us if you have any questions.

Past examples from the MSTI program:

Environmental monitoring: SnapSort (pictured top), an ML-powered camera system, analyzes waste and suggests to the user whether it should be composted, recycled, or put in their home trash.

Health and wellness: Garbo (pictured right), a smart, mobile trashcan, reduces the need for people with limited mobility to physically transport their waste to the street.

Competition Details

Competition Overview

• You may compete in the competition virtually
• Teams may have 2-5 members. To be eligible to compete, participants must 1) be a current undergraduate student or 2) have graduated from an undergraduate degree-granting institution in May of 2020 or more recently.
• Your team must register between October 13 and December 17, 2021.
  
• Teams will be judged by an international team of experts from academia and industry
• Each team of finalists will be paired with an academic or industry mentor who will meet weekly with the team to provide feedback and advice in preparation for the final presentation before judges on February 16.

Competition Phases

• Preliminary round: All competing teams must submit a 5-7 minute video presentation of their solution. Prototypes are encouraged but not required. See project submission for additional requirements.  
• Final round: Finalists will be selected to give a live virtual presentation + Q&A with judges.

Timeline

• Registration opens: October 13
• Registration closes: December 17
• Announce finalists: January 3
• Assign mentors: January 3
• Presentation to judges: February 16

Video Submission Requirements & Evaluation Criteria

• Problem and proposed solution are both clearly defined. Explanation addresses whether the solution is original or is a novel application of an existing product, service, or algorithm.
  
• Scope of the opportunity is addressed, with a focus on need, affordability of solution, and global impact.
• Solution fits the problem, and the rough cost of the solution fits the impact of the problem, considers user needs and perspectives, and is appropriate/feasible for target users. If applicable, model created is accurate and optimized/computationally efficient.
• Include an estimated timeline for full development or implementation of the solution, and 6-week project plan
• Quality of presentation (simulation, prototype/proof of concept, video).
• All submissions must be in English.

Prizes

Current prize pool is $15,000 USD and growing.

Project Submission

Contact us if you have any questions.