UCLA administrators will launch a new initiative early next week that aims to encourage members of the campus community to develop new technologies that can alleviate global problems.
The university is collaborating with XPRIZE, an organization that hosts competitions in science, technology and education, to create FuturizeX. The initiative will prompt students to identify major problems in the world and come up with ideas or inventions that would lessen their impact, said Andres Cuervo, a spokesman for the initiative.
XPRIZE awards million-dollar grants to winning high school and college students, as well as professional researchers. The organization helped fund the first privately funded space expedition, led by astronaut Brian Binnie, in 2004.
FuturizeX will include a year-long challenge, which students have until December to apply for. Three finalists will each win $4,000, an HP Sprout computer, a tour of SpaceX and a 3-D printer.
“(We want to get people excited) about the technologies we are developing at UCLA and their ability to shape the future,” Cuervo said.
Undergraduate students who participate in the challenge will aim to solve global issues such as climate change and poverty using science, technology, engineering, art and math research.
A FuturizeX committee consisting of XPRIZE staff and industry professionals will judge entries based on their creativity and feasibility. Community members can participate in a public vote in January, and winners will be announced in February.
FuturizeX organizers will also host a speaker series featuring innovators such as NASA’s director of solar system exploration and the CEO of Virgin Galactic, Cuervo said. At the event, students will be able to explore 3-D printing, robotics and holograms.
Speakers will discuss the future of space technology at the inaugural panel on Nov. 6 at UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design’s IDEAS campus in Silicon Beach.
Compiled by Alejandra Reyes-Velarde, Bruin senior staff.