What Is the Challenge?
The annual Grainger Computing Innovation Prize calls on Illinois Tech students to develop creative technology solutions to the most challenging problems facing our society today. The “Computing with Data for Social Good” theme for the competition aims to tackle real-world problems in education, health, energy, public safety, transportation, economic development, sustainable smart infrastructure, and climate change.
Students are encouraged, through interdisciplinary teams, to leverage their skills in computing, big data, data science, and artificial intelligence toward creative and impactful uses of technology to improve the world. Entries must include some aspect of computing and demonstrate the work’s potential societal impact.
The competition will take place over the fall semester.
The Grainger Computing Innovation Prize was established through a generous endowed gift from The Grainger Foundation, an independent, private foundation based in Lake Forest, Illinois, that provides substantive support to a broad range of organizations, including educational, medical, cultural, and human services institutions.
Prizes
There is a total of $30,000 in prizes to be won.
- 1st Place team: $15,000
- 2nd Place team: $10,000
- 3rd Place team: $5,000
Eligibility
Interdisciplinary solutions and creative thinking are key, but all entries must involve an element of computing.
To compete in the Grainger Computing Innovation Prize, students must be pursuing an undergraduate or master’s degree and must be registered at Illinois Tech for the current fall semester. International students are eligible and welcomed to participate in this competition.
The Grainger Computing Innovation Prize is a team-based competition, with two to five students composing each team. The recommended team size is four or five students. At least one undergraduate student is required in each team. Doctoral students are not eligible for the prize but are encouraged to participate as mentors.
Students may register as a team or as an individual. We will try to help individual registrants form a team.
The Competition
The Grainger Computing Innovation Prize will go through three stages during the fall semester:
- Round 1 (mid-September): teams will submit Concept Notes describing their ideas. If a team’s submission is selected, they will move on to the next round.
- Round 2 (mid-October): teams will be invited to develop a detailed prototype of their idea. If a team’s presentation is selected, they will move on to the finals.
- Finals (mid-November): teams will present their ideas in front of a top-tier panel of judges.