The Venture College, in partnership with the College of Engineering, invites students from any college (including graduate students) to participate in “48 Hours to Change the World,” an Invent for the Planet event Feb. 15-17 at the Boise State College of Innovation and Design (on the second floor of the library).
Organizers describe the event as an intensive design experience where student teams at universities around the world work simultaneously to solve high-impact, global problems over the course of a single weekend.
“I strongly encourage students to get involved with Invent for the Planet. This is a unique opportunity to be immersed in the design process and gain valuable experience tackling global problems and working on teams to develop ideas without having to commit a whole semester to taking a course,” said Ann Delaney, SAGE Scholars Program director in the College of Engineering. Delaney was a coach for the 2018 event.
Boise State students will choose teams on Feb. 15, then work together on design challenges chosen by event organizers. A panel of judges will choose the winners at the end of the challenge.
“This is a great example of the opportunities we are interested in providing our students,” said JoAnn Lighty, dean of the College of Engineering. “It affords them the opportunity to push their creativity, innovation, team building and communication skills in an inclusive, fun and globally impactful way. I am particularly enthusiastic about students from all academic disciplines being involved.”
The 2019 event will mark Boise State’s second participation in the challenge. Last year, Boise State students competed virtually with institutions from around the world, including the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, The University of Cape Town in Cape Town, South Africa, Swansea University in Swansea, Wales, Texas A and M, Qatar in Doha, Qatar, Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand, and several others.
Boise State’s top finisher was a team called Spark that won a $2,500 prize for developing a portable study light for use in places without reliable electricity. The second place team, Day L’s, also worked on the night light challenge and won $1,000. The third place team, Safe and Sound, worked on a drone-enabled spraying system to kill mosquito larvae and help curb mosquito-borne disease. They won a $500 prize. Other participants received gift cards.
Gordon Jones, dean of the College of Innovation and Design, invites faculty and staff members from across campus to get involved with the student-centered event.
“This great collaboration illustrates the Venture College’s potential as a campus wide aggregator of interdisciplinary resources that deliver impactful student experiences. We’re eager to get started and also excited to see how far, together, we can grow the program,” he said.