INTB3060 The Acara Challenge: Transformation through Sustainable Development (includes voluntary India trip)

“Take the challenge for sustainable development:  A UC Forward experience in Global Social Entrepreneurship”

The class is run as an innovation studio in a multidisciplinary learning environment, includes virtual field experience, with lectures, guidance from the professors and industry experts. Students listen to lectures from professors in the other six participating US universities on a range of topics such as design thinking, value proposition, emerging markets, developing a business plan etc while formulating the design of their solution and business plan.

In this course students develop solutions in high-performing teams to pressing global issues in order to create transformative social change, applying their knowledge of design thinking and ethnographic research and business acumen. The course is built around the University of Minnesota’s Acara Challenge.

Acara Challenge’s education goals:

• Educate and inspire the next generation of leaders
• Bringing the classroom into real global challenges, whose solutions require students touse all their academic skills plus teamwork, customer research, multi-culturalunderstanding and real world deliverables.
• Partner with universities and university funders
  

Acara Challenge’s impact goals:

• Implement the best ideas that emerge from competitive student teams
• Partner with funders, NGOs, incubators, investors in emerging economies for implementation of the solutions

In Fall 2012, undergrad students from the UC Forward course "Take the challenge for sustainable development" (Dr Kamath & Dr Apana) came back from the Acara Challenge, winning a gold and silver award. They competed with graduate and undergraduate students from Cornell and Minnesota.

Senior Evan Gilbert (LCOB) delivered an amazing presentation of their idea and venture plan "The humble commode" an ingenious closed loop system  that could help millions at the base of the pyramid have access to much needed toilets and fertilizer. His presentation won his group the gold award. He was joined by Bojan Lazic (LCOB ). Other team members were Zubin Sadri  LCOB and Carrie Lierl (Design).

Watch the 2 minute pitch made by UC students.

Freshman Mathew Davenport (bio medical engineering) delivered  a very impressive presentation of his groups' venture plan "CincyVeil" presenting an ingenious way of converting toxic chromium waste in tanneries into a non toxic form  using agricultural waste. He was joined by freshman Alex Hernandez (LCOB) and Josh Haner also from LCOB. Other group members include Abe Zbornick  (LCOB).

2 minute pitch: