MIT students have the ambition, the energy, and the skills to make the world a better place. MIT alumni have the experience, the connections, and the depth of understanding to help make that dream happen. The MIT Global Challenge will bring those two groups together to impact the world.

- Brian L. Hinman, EE 1984

PropositionThe world-wide MIT community – 120,000 alumni across 130 countries – is uniquely positioned to inform, instruct, and invest in today’s young problem solvers. The Global Challenge offers an opportunity to foster and feed those connections.

BackgroundIt is estimated that 25,800 companies founded by MIT alumni employ about 3.3 million people and generate annual world revenues of $2 trillion, producing the equivalent of the eleventh-largest economy in the world.

Imagine if we applied that kind of entrepreneurial talent to today’s urgent humanitarian challenges.

MissionThe Global Challenge will contribute to real improvements in human well-being by helping MIT students and their collaborators design and pilot innovative products and services in partnership with the people who need them.

ApproachConnect and reward teams of innovators through an annual competition that provides up to $25,000 in implementation grants to teams demonstrating the greatest innovation, feasibility, and impact.

Features• Iterative proposal development process• Development grants for prototyping• Juried and community choice awards• Winners’ planning retreat• One year of implementation support

Inspiration• IDEAS Competition track record

Awards and implementation support since 2001• Growth of “design for development” at MIT

Courses, student groups, labs, competitions• MIT150

Celebrating 150 years of service to the world

IDEAS Profile• Nearly 10 years of practice

60 teams awarded $264,000 since 2001• International collaborations

25% of teams are international students; projects in 28 countries• Leveraged results

$3.2 million raised by teams in follow-on funding

Get Involved• Invest in “invention as public service”• Volunteer to mentor a team• Review and provide feedback on

proposals• Identify and define innovation challenges• Nominate yourself to be a judge• Connect us with community partners

Targets• Directly engage > 400 students, ~ 80

teams• Review > 60 initial proposals• Judge > 50 final proposals• Award > 12 teams• Support delivery of benefits > 12

communities

Timeline• September – March

Initial proposals reviewed monthly• April

Final proposal submission and judging• May

Awards celebration• June – May

Year of implementation

Your generation wears its commitment to the greater good quite lightly. You use your skills to help repair a broken world, however, you see nothing remarkable about it; you simply expect it of each other, and of yourselves.

- President Susan Hockfield

Commencement Address to the Class of 2010