InnoCentive > Challenges

Optical Effects to Hide Fabric Imperfections

Mon, 20 May 2013 20:23:13 GMT

Making fabrics (and the people wearing them) look good is all about vision, optics, light refraction, and reflection. We believe modern science, such as cutting edge optical physics, can be tapped to change the visual perception of apparel garments.

The Seeker is looking for ideas that use optical effects to hide fabric imperfections (wrinkles) in garments. These can be based on coatings, treatments, colors, patterns that use light to somehow hide fabric wrinkles and imperfections.

This is an Ideation Challenge with a guaranteed award for at least one submitted solution.

Challenge Reward: $5,000 USD Deadline: Jun 20, 2013

EIT - 2013 Rail Customer Experience Competition

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:42:12 GMT

Although the rail industry has managed to improve quality of services, there are still opportunities for further improvements to match customer experience with their expectations. Innovations that focus on improving customer experience will bring new possibilities to rail passengers and freight customers, enabling seamless end to end passenger information, better journey planning and modal interchange in both normal and disrupted modes. In addition, it will improve the rail experience to existing customers while increasing the number of passengers/journeys. Furthermore, innovations will not only bring value to the rail customers, but also drive economic growth.

The 2013 Rail Customer Experience Competition is not only an opportunity to innovators from various industries to access a total fund of £1,000,000. It is also an opportunity to showcase innovations, promote them in a growing industry, expose them to a wider audience, and benefit from involvement in a high profile Competition.

For more information and to enter this Competition please click here.

Challenge Reward: varies Deadline: Jul 14, 2013

Cleveland Clinic: Early Warning Indicator for Contamination or Fouling of a Central Venous Catheter

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:16:42 GMT

Design a biosensor or “early warning system” that reports when a central venous catheter has started to become contaminated and / or is at risk for dangerous complications such as thrombosis (i.e., blood clot formation).

This Challenge requires only a written proposal.

Challenge Reward: $20,000 USD Deadline: Jul 15, 2013

Quantifying Microbial Contamination of Hard Surfaces

Tue, 14 May 2013 21:13:20 GMT

The Seeker is looking for a collaboration partner to provide or develop a viable, and extremely easy to use method to assess the microbial (bacterial & fungal) cleanliness of hard surfaces.

This is an electronic Request-for-Partners (eRFP) Challenge; the Solver will only need to submit a written proposal to be evaluated by the Seeker with a goal of establishing a collaborative partnership.

Challenge Reward: varies Deadline: Jun 28, 2013

Big Ideas for Unlocking The Power of Big Data

Tue, 14 May 2013 20:30:58 GMT

The Seeker requires an overview of actionable concepts for leveraging big data in certain applications and also looks to identify potential partners that can help them develop of ‘big data’ opportunities in novel and creative ways.

This is an Ideation Challenge with a guaranteed award for at least one submitted solution.

Challenge Reward: $5,000 USD Deadline: Jun 15, 2013

SciBX and InnoCentive Challenge: Identifying Questions Surrounding the Endocytic Uptake of Therapeutics

Mon, 13 May 2013 13:05:59 GMT

SciBX: Science-Business eXchange, a joint publication from the makers of BioCentury^®and nature, in collaboration with InnoCentive, is requesting broad input from the scientific community to determine key questions, and to propose experiments for addressing these questions, that could progress understanding of how macrocycles and other large therapeutic molecules can effectively intercept and use the endocytosis process to achieve robust, class-wide cell permeability. This was identified as one of the key questions at the recent SciBX Summit on Innovation in Drug Discovery & Development in the field of Macrocycles and Constrained Peptides.

This is an Ideation Challenge with a guaranteed monetary award for one submitted solution. In addition to the monetary award, as many as five finalist Solvers may be selected and invited to participate in the 2013 SciBX Innovation Summit (see the Summary below for details).

Challenge Reward: $5,000 USD Deadline: Jul 15, 2013

New OLED Lighting Panel Applications

Fri, 10 May 2013 15:54:16 GMT

Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED) are used to create lighting panels that can be used in both functional and artistic lighting fixtures. They can be manufactured in many shapes, sizes, colors and other designs. This Challenge seeks to find other large market applications for these OLED lighting panels.

This is an Ideation Challenge with a guaranteed award for at least one submitted solution.

Challenge Reward: $10,000 USD Deadline: Jun 10, 2013

Seeking Cord / Cable Management Ideas for the Operating Room Environment

Tue, 07 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

In the operating room, it is quite common to use available and improvised objects to support, hold and manage cords, catheters and wires during a procedure. We are interested in a multitude of ideas on how to address the cord / cable management concerns in this environment.

Challenge Reward: $1,000 USD Deadline: Jun 06, 2013

Measuring Efficacy of Online Promotions

Thu, 02 May 2013 21:12:42 GMT

How can the Seeker track the influence of online promotions in achieving a pre-determined outcome ? The specific situation is disclosed within the detailed challenge description.

This is an Ideation Challenge with a guaranteed award for at least one submitted solution.

Challenge Reward: $5,000 USD Deadline: Jun 02, 2013

Expose Data Relationships Through Visualization of Thomson Reuters Web of Science Content

Thu, 02 May 2013 20:43:07 GMT

This challenge provides an opportunity for Solvers to build a web-based or mobile “app” to explore data relationships in scholarly content in a visual or intuitively engaging way. For this challenge, the Seeker will make available access to Thomson Reuters Web of Science content through Thomson Reuters Web of Knowledge API (application programming interface).

This challenge has unique terms, please read the challenge-specific agreement carefully. Submissions must include both a written proposal and a prototype implementation using the Web of Knowledge API.

Challenge Reward: varies Deadline: Jul 25, 2013

Self-Monitoring for Heart Failure Patients: Shortness of Breath and Fatigue Warrant Medical Attention

Thu, 02 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

The re-hospitalization rate for individuals with heart failure is significantly impacted by the inability to self-monitor and recognize the worsening symptoms of shortness of breath and fatigue, which require medical attention. The Seeker hopes to identify an effective, easy method for patients to recognize symptoms of worsening heart failure (when used daily) and to trigger the thought that medical attention should be sought sooner rather than later, before an emergency visit is required.

Challenge Reward: $1,000 USD Deadline: Jun 01, 2013

Global Women’s Leadership Alliance: 5 million women change agents improving our world in 5 years

Wed, 01 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

“Half the world’s population, half the world’s talent pool, half the world’s consumers, half the world’s innovators: women. And we need to find ways to give them opportunity to achieve their potential.”

Laura D’Andrea Tyson, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, USA; Chair, Global Agenda Council on Women’s Empowerment

There is a growing recognition that there can be no peace, security, or sustainable economic development without women’s equal participation in all spheres of society.

The Global Women's Leadership Network, the Global Fund for Women, the Global Leadership Advancement Center and the SJSU Salzburg Program at San Jose State University, Mills College, the Monterey Institute for International Studies, the Public Health Institute, and World Pulse seek fresh ideas to radically accelerate the development of leadership capacity in women and girls around the globe. This multi-year large-scale systemic change initiative is being developed to create a dramatically different future for women and girls worldwide.

Challenge Reward: $1,000 USD Deadline: May 31, 2013

Pseudoephedrine #2: Outsmarting Methamphetamine Producers

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:19:31 GMT

The Seeker desires a method for producing pseudoephedrine products in such a way that it will be extremely difficult for clandestine chemists to extract and use the pseudoephedrine in the production of the illegal drug methamphetamine. The Seeker may be interested in pursuing further collaboration with Solvers whose solutions they find promising. The Seeker may also allow Solvers additional time after the submission deadline to finalize experiments required for the full reduction-to-practice award.

This is a Reduction-to-Practice Challenge that requires a written proposal and experimental proof-of-concept data (and/or sample delivery). In the absence of a proven solution, however, the Seeker may make a partial award of up to $20,000 USD for a purely theoretical contribution. The Seeker may, at their sole discretion, attempt to reduce to practice a purely theoretical contribution. If this reduction-to-practice is successful, the Seeker will make a partial award of $40,000 to the winning Solver.

Challenge Reward: $100,000 USD Deadline: Jul 30, 2013

Colder Faster – Turbo Chilling Beverages in Containers

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:17:47 GMT

A technology is required that will enable faster chilling of beverages in their containers or also in secondary packaging- from room temperature to 4 degrees C or less in under 10 minutes!

This Challenge requires only a written proposal.

Challenge Reward: $15,000 USD Deadline: Jun 29, 2013

Ammonium Chloride Separation

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:48:41 GMT

The Seeker desires suggested process methods for the industrial scale separation and/or concentration of ammonium chloride from a mineral slurry, filter cake and/or powder.

This Challenge requires only a written proposal.

Challenge Reward: $10,000 USD Deadline: Jun 29, 2013

Chemical Approaches for the Degradation of a Pesticide in a Dilute Aqueous Solution

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:19:31 GMT

The Seeker for this Challenge desires proposals for chemical methods that could rapidly degrade a dilute aqueous solution of a pesticide to biologically inactive compound(s). The additional constraint on this problem is that the degradation method should proceed without causing damage to the containers (primarily made from stainless steel and polyethylene) that houses the solution. Furthermore, the method should utilize chemicals that are safe to handle and do not create any degradation products of toxicological concern.

This is an Ideation Challenge with a guaranteed award for at least one submitted solution.

Challenge Reward: $7,000 USD Deadline: Jun 29, 2013

Male/Female Differences in the Pathogenesis and Presentation of Alzheimer’s Disease in Pre-symptomatic, Early Symptomatic and Late Stages

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 21:02:03 GMT

The Geoffrey Beene Foundation Alzheimer’s Initiative (GBFAI) is launching the 2013 Geoffrey Beene Global NeuroDiscovery Challenge whose goal is to identify male/female differences in the pathogenesis and presentation of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in the pre-symptomatic, early symptomatic and late stages of AD. The objective of this Challenge is to generate novel hypotheses addressing the causes and consequences of such differences. The Solvers are also expected to provide a rationale supported by available data and a detailed research plan describing how to test the hypothesis. Of particular interest are hypotheses that can be validated in a secondary phase by mining existing AD databases for analysis of variables associated with biologic male/female differences in AD.

This Challenge requires only a written proposal.

Challenge Reward: $100,000 USD Deadline: Aug 31, 2013

Creating the future experience for home management and home solutions

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 04:00:00 GMT

How to use the data from a home (utilities, devices and sensors) to design and provide useful services and solutions?

Homes are becoming more and more connected and the things inside your home (thermostat, security system, appliances, windows/doors/lights) are getting smart (fitted with sensors, connected to the web, reacting to behavior patterns). Right now, all of these systems are handled independently by different providers and there is no unified experience.

Design a service that proactively uses the data generated by these devices to create a customer experience that is useful, proactive and enjoyable. The service can use algorithms to identify behavior patterns, provide predictive/proactive alerts, make recommendations and partner with outside maintenance/service providers.

Challenge Reward: $2,000 USD Deadline: May 25, 2013

Reduce Tobacco Consumption Worldwide (by Creating a Crowd Funded Project)

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Here is a short presentation that outlines this Brainstorm Challenge.

PRIZE:

$500 (and an opportunity to save millions of lives and billions in health care costs)

THE GOAL:

Reduce tobacco consumption worldwide. Create a crowd funded project.

It's an ambitious goal. Let's do it.

THE CHALLENGE:

Create an effective crowd funded project with the aim of discouraging tobacco consumption globally. This will be implemented in multiple countries, in multiple languages, simultaneously.

It must meet the requirements for submission on Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/help/guidelines

EXAMPLES:

Here are some examples of successful Kickstarter projects in different categories (including Art, Comics, Dance, Design, Fashion, Film & Video, Food, Games, Music, Photography, Publishing, Technology, Theater): http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/most-funded?ref=sidebar

Challenge Reward: $500 USD Deadline: May 24, 2013

What is the future for the Personal Computer?

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 04:00:00 GMT

The PC is evolving into new form factors and the computing experience has changed radically. The PC has traditionally been at the centre of a users digital life but we now live in a world where a user has multiple devices to chose from such as PCs, phones, tablets, game consoles... How do you think the traditional PC needs to change now and over the next 3-5yrs? What new capabilities, functions or experiences would you wish for or require to meet your future needs. All ideas welcome.

Challenge Reward: $2,000 USD Deadline: May 24, 2013

Join the InnoCentive Team! Innovation Program Manager in London, UK

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 22:39:05 GMT

InnoCentive is looking for an Innovation Program Manager (IPM) to join their European headquarters in London, UK. Candidates must have a Ph.D. in biochemistry, molecular biology, or a closely related field.

This is an electronic Request-for-Partners (eRFP) Challenge with a difference: we are looking for Solvers (or contacts of Solvers) who are interested in joining the InnoCentive team on a permanent basis. The Solver will need to submit a resume and cover letter outlining why they would be well suited to the role.

Challenge Reward: varies Deadline: Jun 02, 2013

Automated & Real-Time Probe Guidance Technology

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:19:19 GMT

The Seeker is looking for a collaboration partner to propose concepts for an automatable technology to signal accurate placement of a small (mm-scale) probe within a complex organic matrix.

Challenge Reward: varies Deadline: Jun 03, 2013

Innovative and/or Disruptive Products and Technologies

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 21:06:05 GMT

Procter & Gamble is looking for new products and technologies that can grow sales in traditional or emerging retail channels. Please submit your non-confidential information on new products and/or technologies that we may evaluate against our needs for potential collaborations with you.

This is an electronic Request-for-Partners (eRFP) Challenge; the Solver will only need to submit a written proposal to be evaluated by Procter & Gamble with a goal of establishing a collaborative partnership.

Challenge Reward: varies Deadline: May 27, 2013

Cathode Ray Challenge #2: New Uses for Recycled Glass

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 16:26:34 GMT

The Consumer Electronics Association®(CEA), in conjunction with the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), seeks to identify financially viable, environmentally conscious proposals for utilizing recycled Cathode-Ray-Tube (CRT) glass from used televisions and computer monitors. Key considerations for this Challenge are the fact that the CRT glass contains a significant concentration of lead, and that CEA is particularly interested in receiving submissions proposing uses for this lead-containing glass, as this may lead to the most financially viable solutions.

The Seeker may be interested in pursuing further collaboration with Solvers whose solutions they find promising.

This Challenge requires only a written proposal.

Challenge Reward: $10,000 USD Deadline: Jul 01, 2013

More Accurate Clamp-On Ultrasound Flow Meter

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 10:37:54 GMT

The Seeker requires a design for a more accurate clamp-on ultrasound flow meter. Currently available versions of this technology can achieve accuracy of +/- 3%. The Seeker is looking for a design accompanied by supporting data that will significantly improve this accuracy while maintaining the ease of use of the clamp-on format.

This Challenge requires only a written proposal.

Challenge Reward: $20,000 USD Deadline: May 26, 2013

Visualizing the Impact of Significant Increases in Post-Secondary Education

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 23:06:32 GMT

Lumina Foundation, the Seeker for this Challenge, has issued Goal 2025 – to increase the number of adults in the United States obtaining high-quality, documented, post-secondary education from roughly 44% to more than 60%. A key aspect to increasing awareness of, stressing the importance of, and motivating action toward Goal 2025 is finding a compelling way to present existing information on the effects of meeting (or not meeting) this goal. Accordingly, Lumina Foundation desires Solvers create compelling visual presentations of the impact of significantly increasing post-secondary education by taking advantage of the wealth of information and studies published in this area.

This is an Ideation Challenge with a guaranteed award for at least one submitted solution.

Challenge Reward: $10,000 USD Deadline: May 25, 2013

Increase the Uptake of Lysosomal Storage Enzymes

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:54:52 GMT

This Challenge seeks protein sequence modifications or other modifications (i.e., post-translational) to lysosomal acid hydrolases to increase cellular uptake and transport into the lysosomal compartment in tissues such as skeletal muscle or kidney.

This Theoretical Challenge requires only a written proposal.

Challenge Reward: $20,000 USD Deadline: May 21, 2013

Identify Organisms from a Stream of DNA Sequences

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 18:42:03 GMT

This is a Reduction-to-Practice Challenge that requires written documentation and delivery of source code implementing an algorithm that solves the problem. A real-time online scoring utility and leaderboard will be available for this Challenge beginning 13-Feb.

Challenge Reward: $1,000,000 USD Deadline: Jun 30, 2013

NEW: AWARDS For Uploading Your Compound Libraries!

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 21:10:31 GMT

NEW: We are now offering, for a limited time, an award to offset the effort of preparing a database of your compounds!

As part of our improved Novel Molecules Challenge (NMC) procedure, you may now upload to InnoCentive your entire compound library through this special Challenge. InnoCentive will add the structures to our secure database, and we will notify you whenever an NMC is posted that fits any of the molecules in your library based on our sub-structure search. You will then have the option, but not be required, to submit your molecular structure(s) to that specific NMC. We will not share any information about your molecular structures with the Seeker until after you submit it for the specific NMC.

Challenge Reward: See details Deadline: Jan 31, 2014