The 2013 Dell Social Innovation Challenge Finalists are now known.
For those who unfamiliar, the 2013 Dell Social Innovation
Challenge is an annual contest which aims to reward a diverse group
of students working to address the world’s most pressing social issues.
The 2013 challenge will award for example more than $350,000 in prizes and than
2,600 ideas were submitted and narrowed to 260 semi-finalist teams.
Here are the five finalist projects.
- Citizen Power / Sunriding seeks to build a peer-to-peer online social platform for community-sourced solar installations, especially in high-density urban areas. The website will help plan, finance, build & maintain installations.
- Foot Soldiers sells affordable shoes for the 48 million Bangladeshi who cannot afford proper footwear and are thus at risk for various diseases associated with bare feet. The project will use rubber tires that are currently thrown away or burnt as Bangladesh’s car population rises.
- Good-Benefits.com creates a “401k for charity” by helping people make payroll contributions to tax-exempt “micro-foundation” accounts, from which they can give funds over time to nonprofits. The project will help companies run simple, engaging workplace giving campaigns.
- Semka Biomedical Technologies is developing a device capable of performing non-invasive tumor biopsies through blood extraction, specifically targeting metastatic cells that give rise to new tumors in the body and increase chances of death.
- Solar Conduction Dryer (SCD) aims to address the 20-30 percent food spoilage rate for poor rural Indian farmers, via cost-effective dehydrators powered by solar conduction. Farmers will keep more of their crop and can sell dehydrated fruits and vegetables as another income source.
May 2013 the five finalists will travel to Austin to pitch their plans in front of Dell judge’s panel, and the grand prize winner will be announced in May 14, 2013.
