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Application Deadline: Sustainable Invention Immersion Week

Friday, May 25, 2018

Online

Do you have an interest in entrepreneurship and sustainability? Then join us this summer for a FREE interdisciplinary bootcamp that will allow you to meet peers with shared interests, develop a sustainable product, and potentially win cash awards for further venture development.

This program is free and open to all students, from all majors (including undergraduates and graduate students), to participate. The program covers housing in Earl Hall for five nights, all materials, and two meals each day (breakfast and lunch). We require all participants to stay in the dormitory for the duration of the event to create a close cohort experience. Some readings and video tutorials will be assigned ahead of the start of the program so that students can make rapid progress through the intensive one-week boot camp.

  • Program website and application: http://www.sustainableinvention.com
  • For further information: contact Kate Harmon at kharmon2@uoregon.edu or Julie Haack at jhaack@uoregon.edu
  • Online application deadline: the application deadline is open through May 25. See program website for application.
  • Time commitment: the program will run from Saturday, July 7 until Thursday, July 12. 

This year's cohort challenge:

2018 - The Do More With Less Challenge:  The more materials, the bigger the impact. There are many strategies for reducing the use of materials to meet human needs. Examples include eliminating the need for a lawn mower by inventing grass that only grows two inches and does not need to be mowed, or eliminating a window washing system by inventing self-cleaning glass. These kinds of innovations disrupt existing solutions, requiring us to think in different ways. Your challenge will be to design a new solution to address a need that eliminates or significantly reduces the problems associated with materials. The solution should be economically viable, socially acceptable, and have a net positive environmental impact compared to existing products and processes.

Sustainable Invention Immersion Week is a collaborative program sponsored by the University of Oregon's Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship and Tyler Invention Greenhouse with partners from the School of Journalism and Communication, the Department of Product Design, the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and the Center for Sustainable Business Practices.