2018 Challenge: Transform – Harnessing the Power of Energy to Transform the lives of 10 million people

Energy is the lifeblood of human society. By creatively harnessing energy we can transform it into clean water, food, jobs, and connectivity. The world has enough latent capacity for energy innovation to shift the trajectory of global development. The world needs more disruption that taps into those energy innovations to accomplish a second transformation: the transformation of lives. The 2018 Hult Prize is an invitation to student teams around the world to find and develop energy innovations that can be scaled to improve the lives of millions.

Recording of the Hult Prize @ University of Waterloo Kick-off event, held on October 4, 2017. Presenters included Pragya Dawadi (Hult Prize Campus Director), Roopa Reddy (Conrad faculty), Uche Onuora (HITCH), and Nigel Moore (Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy). The Hult Prize at UWaterloo is sponsored by the Conrad Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology Centre.

The Hult Prize is a social entrepreneurship competition which challenges student teams around the globe to develop sustainable social ventures to address the world's most pressing issues—with a grand prize of $1 million. 

You can participate by competing in the on-campus Hult Prize @ UWaterloo event, sponsored by the Eyton Directorship of the Conrad Centre. The winning team at this event will represent UWaterloo at the regional semifinals in March. 

Attend the kick-off event to: 

• Learn more about the Hult Prize and social entrepreneurship;
• Get advice from the EPOCH team, previous Hult Prize finalists from UW; and
• Dive into the challenge theme with guest speakers Nigel Moore and Uche Onoura! 

Guest Speakers

Nigel Moore, the Manager of Global Programs and Activities for the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy will be discussing his work with the Affordable Energy for Humanity (AE4H) Global Change Initiative, launched in September 2015. AE4H ilmjs an emerging international collaboration between the world's leading scientists, technology developers and practitioners on the topic of universal energy access. With the primary goal of achieving energy affordability on a global scale, participants focus on cutting edge scientific research through international collaboration, yielding breakthrough innovations.

Learn more about AE4H & download the Vision Document

Uche Onuora is an active AE4H member and the Co-Founder of HITCH, a cloud platform that enables curation and access to videos via smart WiFi hotspots and caches the content allowing users to access it offline. Operating in markets such as Nigeria where affordable  broadband is often inaccessible, HITCH empowers local community members to nurture and sustain economic opportunity, gender equality and empowerment and access off-grid energy.

Learn more about HITCH

Interested in competing in Hult Prize? Complete the General Application

Fill out your team information, choose your city and submit your 500 word statement of purpose on why your team should be selected to move on!

Learn more about deadlines and how to apply on their website: http://www.hultprize.org/challenge/