The American Association for the Advancement of Science, with funding from the National Science Foundation, will support students and faculty from Historically Black Colleges and Universities to participate in the Making & Innovation Showcase. The showcase will coincide with the Emerging Researchers Network Conference (ERN) and take place on February 22-24, 2018 at the Marriott Wardman Park hotel in Washington, D.C. The showcase is designed to provide an opportunity for students to showcase the talent and innovation at their institution.
Participants will receive a travel award that covers the ERN conference registration fee, housing, airfare, and ground transportation.
Students will design and implement prototypes using hardware and software to address one of the seventeen United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Structure: Student teams (3-5 students and a faculty, staff, or administrator) will be tasked with identifying a problem in their local community that addresses one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The challenge will have 2 phases, ideation and implementation. All team members must register for the competition by Dec 22, 2017. Teams will be notified of acceptance by December 29, 2017.
Sign Up: Dec 1 – Dec 22. Teams interested in participating will complete the online registration. One team member should upload a 2-page PDF or Power Point presentation. The project idea document should describe the project and the team members. Details should include who the team is, what the project does, who the project is for, and how the project addresses one of the Sustainable Development Goals. Projects can be new designs or ones developed in the previous academic year. Teams will be notified of acceptance by December 29, 2017.
Complete Registration: Dec 29 – Jan 12. Accepted team members will be required to complete the ERN registration process.
Implementation: Jan 12 – Feb 9. Teams submit a 2-minute pitch video. The entire team should appear on camera to deliver the presentation. The presentation should include details about the problem identified, the solution design, the team members, and show the prototyped solution. Teams may also submit an updated project idea document (described above).
Making & Innovation Showcase: February 22 – 24, 2018. Teams who complete the registration and submit their video will be invited to participate in the Making & Innovation Showcase. The judges, using pre-set criteria, will judge presented projects. Students will also participate in workshops to gain fundraising, intellectual property, and marketing skills to further the development of their projects.
Learn more and register with the American Association for the Advancement of Science.