X PRIZE Foundation

The X PRIZE Foundation is a non-profit organization that designs and manages public competitions intended to encourage technological development that could benefit mankind.

From Wikipedia: "It's mission is to bring about “radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity” through incentivized competition. It fosters high-profile competitions that motivate individuals, companies and organizations across all disciplines to develop innovative ideas and technologies that help solve the grand challenges that restrict humanity’s progress."

I first heard of the X PRIZE several years ago and was completely fascinated with their competitions. They have four main categories for competition:

1. Energy and Environment Prize Group
The goal of the Energy & Environment Prize Group is to generate breakthroughs in clean energy, climate change, energy distribution/storage, energy efficiency/use, and water resource management. Advances in these fields will lead to greater sustainability and efficiency, while reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.

2. Exploration Prize Grou
The goal of the Exploration Prize Group is to expand the use of space, the ocean and other unexplored frontiers in order to improve life on Earth and extend life beyond the confines of land. We believe we can achieve these objectives by researching space and Earth's oceans, accessing and conserving their resources, catalyzing private, non-governmental activity, and tapping into our innate wonder about the Earth, the Universe and our place within each.

3. Education and Global Development Prize Group (my favorite!)
The goal of the Education and Global Development Prize Group is to develop new and innovative ways to address major challenges in agriculture, capital, education, health and water. The competitions seek to highlight the most scalable enterprises that create wealth and uplift entire populations from poverty.

4. Life Science Prize Group 
The goal of the Life Sciences Prize Group is to stimulate innovative breakthroughs in molecular biology, stem cell research, bionics, organogenesis, synthetic biology, and artificial intelligence in order to improve health care and extend healthy living. The X PRIZE Foundation looks to accelerate the real-world impact of science, technology, and information related to the worldwide optimization of health and the elimination of illness and disease.

You can read about what projects are in development and what projects are currently under consideration. My favorites include a global literacy project, a girls education project, a clean water initiative, and the organogenesis and rare disease projects. 

For more information, or to read more about these projects, check out their website: 
X PRIZE FOUNDATION 

Clearly, the X PRIZE Foundation is an amazing organization and they've had much success over the years. I love that they are trying to tackle the world's greatest problems by creating and managing large-scale, high-profile, incentivized prize competitions that stimulate investment in research and development.  They really are motivating and inspiring brilliant innovators from all disciplines to leverage their intellectual and financial capital.

However, I think we can do more. How come the X PRIZE isn't a household name? Why don't high school students know about it? I feel that right now, only a small percentage of the population knows about the X PRIZE and that is a weakness. Why isn't X PRIZE marketed the way APPLE or NIKE is advertised? Think of the potential talent they could attract if more people were aware of the projects and competitions and the prize money! I just believe that if we are truly trying to solve the world's problems with innovative thinking and breakthrough technology, we need everyone who might be interested in pursuing that goal on board. At the very least, we need them to be aware of organizations like this, so that they can make contact, get inspired, start their projects and contribute. At the very least, they would be working towards a noble goal and that is a beautiful thing.

21 Winners of The Facebook/Gates Foundation Education App Contest!

Back in September, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched a contest that aimed to challenge entrepreneurs and app developers to build awesome, innovative education apps on Facebook’s platform. The so-called College Knowledge Challenge kicked off with an EdTech hackathon co-hosted by the Gates Foundation and Facebook, located at the social network’s headquarters in Menlo Park.

As Josh Constine has noted, "The contest called on developers of all ages to create apps that “build pathways to college, build peer groups for in-coming college students and assist with college admission and securing financial aid.”

Some of my favorites from the winners list are listed below with a brief description. A link to the full article is at the end of this post.

Favorites:


1. "I'm First by The Center for Student Opportunity"
Center for Student Opportunity (CSO) is a national nonprofit empowering first-generation college students on the path to and through college. The organization’s project aims to collect pledges and stories from first-generation college graduates to inspire the next generation of students who will be first. The I’m First web app features tools and resources to help aspiring first-generation college students and their supporters take the steps necessary to pursue and succeed in college.


2. "What's Your Road by Roadtrip Nation"
Roadtrip Nation started in 2001 when a group of friends took a Roadtrip with this simple idea: Talk to people who do what they love, and you’ll get a better understanding of how to build a life you love. What started as a Roadtrip sparked a documentary series, live campus events, a video archive of hundreds of interviews and, most recently, curricula and resources to help at-risk students in disadvantaged communities gain access and exposure to life pathways. Roadtrip Nation’s latest endeavor, “What’s Your Road?” is a virtual roadtrip experience (in Facebook) where youth explore pathways aligned with their aspirations and connect with mentors in those fields.


3. "Applyful"- 
Currently in private beta, Applyful is a collaborative college selection platform, designed for college applicants to collect and share information with one another on the road to choosing a college. As applicants use Applyful to manage research during the application process, Applyful surfaces trends and insights to encourage more informed decision-making, while developing peer groups to offer support and interaction.


Read more about the contest and the other winners here:

Techcrunch- 21 Winners of the Gates Foundation/Facebook Education App Contest

NuVu: Where High School Students Are Taught Creativity And Innovation

The MIT media lab is one of the most innovative, original, risk taking labs out there today.
I check into their website at least every 2 weeks to see their latest research and findings
and am always impressed.

Also at MIT is something amazing called NuVu. It's basically an innovation center for middle and high school students. They have classes and projects entitled "Futuristic Musical Instruments," "Brainwave Art and Music," "Interactive Storybook," and "Drawing Robots."

The link to the official site is below:
NuVu- MIT


A brief description is below:
NuVu is a full-time magnet innovation center for middle and high school students and a professional development program for teachers and educators. NuVu’s pedagogy is based on the architectural studio model and geared around multi-disciplinary, collaborative projects. Established in the Fall of 2010 in Cambridge, MA, NuVu provides students the opportunity to work collaboratively with experts, PhDs and alumni from MIT and Harvard as well as working professionals, to solve real-world problems in an intensive and fun studio environment. For teachers and educators, NuVu provides training on how to bring innovative practices to students’ learning using project-based methods. NuVu nurtures creative problem solving, team collaboration across networks, communication and presentation skills, systems thinking, adaptability, risk-taking and imagination, all critical for student success.

AND some awesome articles describing what exactly happens at NuVu are below:
NuVu Article 1

and
NuVu Article 2

Google Science Fair!

Growing up, I was an avid fan of science and participated in numerous science fairs, winning first place at a few of them and competing in the Intel Science Talent Search competition.

I first heard about the Google Science Fair after reading an article on the official Google Blog and became intrigued. I then spent several hours reading about the innovative research and projects that current high school students were conducting and was simply blown away.

Students today are combining science and technology to come up with creative and effective solutions to some of the world's most pressing problems and it's incredibly inspiring.

I encourage you to read about Birttany Wenger's research that resulted in her developing an app to help doctors diagnose breast cancer. (Brittany Wenger, a 17 year old, was the Grand Prize winner in 2012). 

Global Neural Network Cloud Service for Breast Cancer

And for more information about the 2013 Google Science Fair, check out the link below:

Google Science Fair 2013

Khan Academy

The Khan Academy is a website that everyone should visit at least once.

Khan Academy is a non profit educational website created in 2006 by Salman Khan, a graduate of MIT and Harvard Business School. In 2010, Khan Academy received significant grants from Google (2 million) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (1.5 million) and has really expanded upon their site, showing vast improvements in the last year alone.

While I don't personally think online education can replace classroom learning, Khan Academy certainly enhances traditional classroom learning and allows students to keep learning outside the classroom. What I love about this video-based learning site is that the learner can go at his or her own pace, re-watch videos or pause them to think through an idea. Khan Academy also keeps the actual videos frills-free and the material approachable. If you are a student, parent, or just a life-long learner, I'm confident that Khan Academy has something to offer you.

Khan Academy

Links to Open Courseware Sites From Top US Universities

One of my greatest accomplishments is attending Northwestern University and taking challenging, interesting, amazing classes taught by first class professors. I'll be honest, I learned as much outside of the classroom as I did in the classroom, but attending college was the first time I really felt intellectually stimulated and challenged. (High school was great, I studied hard and I learned a lot but I also felt as if I wasn't necessarily being challenged enough despite taking all honors and AP classes and graduating in the top 10% of my class).

A few years ago, I discovered Open Courseware sites. I think I was reading an article that had a link to the Yale Open Courseware site and I was intrigued. I logged on and took an "Introduction to Psychology" class and thoroughly enjoyed it. The course lectures and readings were the same materials that Yale students were exposed to yet I could go through the course at my own pace and on my own time. I was hooked! I then took a few other courses as well as some at Stanford University. Many top universities are now offering free online courses of their already established classes and it's a wonderful thing. The best part is that anyone can take these free online classes! 

The course selection is varied and I believe there is something for everyone.

I love the idea that a small girl growing up in rural india with limited educational opportunities due to coming from a low socio-economic background can now learn about Computer Science and Programming (MIT), Biotechnology (MIT), World Literature (Yale or MIT) or Entrepreneurship (Stanford).

The world is changing fast, and technology is aiding the process. I strongly believe in open access to top rate education and a more level playing field. And these Open Courseware sites are a step in the right direction. Just think of how some little girl or little boy's life might change with exposure to higher level/first- rate academics. For someone who might live in an environment with limited resources and where education is not a priority, this could really motivate them and change their life path. At the very least, they will learn something new and a more educated society benefits all.

Here are links to some of the more popular Open Courseware sites:

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT

2. Stanford University
Stanford
Stanford Venture Lab

3. Yale University
Yale

4. Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon

4. Harvard University
Harvard

Enjoy!