The Grainger Computing Innovation Prize calls on Illinois Tech students to discover creative technology solutions to some of the most challenging problems facing the world today: health disparities, climate change, and the need for sustainable smart infrastructure.
Yes, you must be an Illinois Tech student pursuing a bachelor’s or master’s degree in order to participate.
If you're an individual looking to connect with other students to form a team, join the Grainger Prize Google Group.
If you have any difficulty joining the Google Group, you can use our form on the Registration page to subscribe for updates and note in the comment section that you'd like to be added to the Google Group.
Each project will be judged using a clear rubric to evaluate the following criteria:
- Effectiveness - does it solve the problem?
- Innovation - conceptual and technical novelty /creativity
- Implementation - scalability considering: how many people could be impacted, potential ease of implementation, simplicity of adoption by target stakeholders and minimizing barriers to access, and empowerment of target stakeholders—putting all people, including underrepresented communities, above technology and systems in terms of access, usefulness, and control
- Execution - craft, skill and refinement of the concept
- Quality - presentation quality and thoroughness
Yes, Illinois Tech will help provide mentors to support your innovation.
The Grainger Computing Innovation Prize is open to all Illinois Tech students enrolled in the current fall semester and pursuing a bachelor’s or master’s degree, but the project must include an element of computing.
Register using the form on the registration page to participate in the Grainger Computing Innovation Prize. You can register as a team (of up to five Illinois Tech students) or as an individual looking for a team.
You can email your questions to GraingerPrize@iit.edu.
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.
Subscribe for updates as dates and milestones are added.