A bi-annual contest to develop innovative ideas with the potential of changing the world. Open to all current Rensselaer students. Up to $10,000 in prizes are distributed each semester.
The Change the World Challenge provides a unique opportunity for students of all disciplines to form teams and develop their unique ideas into a viable business concepts. This is a hands-on experience in which students perform customer discovery to better understand the problem they are solving and who they are solving it for. Top teams are awarded $1,000 each and become eligible for the Best of the Best prize of $5,000 at the end of the year.
This competition is funded by Rensselaer alumnus, business, and social entrepreneur, Sean O'Sullivan '85.
Learn about past competition winners and view photos of past competitions.
2023 COMPETITION DATES TO REMEMBER | |
|---|---|
| Oct 12 6:00PM JEC 5119 | What does it take to win $6000? Introduction to the competition Pop-Up: Who is going to buy this thing? |
| Oct 19 6:00PM JEC 5119 | Pop-Up: Talking to customers All teams must attend a minimum of 1 pop-up session in order to submit to compete. |
| Teams conduct customer interviews on their own time. We strongly encourage students to conduct customer discovery in a safe and professional manner. Remote interviews are acceptable. Try a video conference call or a phone call. Check in along the way if you need help finding customers to talk to or analyzing what you heard from them. | |
| Pre-recorded/ available online | Pop-Up: Pitching to Win All teams must attend a minimum of 1 pop-up session in order to submit to compete. |
| Nov 13 8:00AM | Submit to compete Pitch decks do not need to be submitted in advance. All teams must attend a minimum of 1 pop-up session in order to submit to compete. |
| Nov 15 6:00PM JEC 4309 | Live Pitch Night Participants will present from their own laptops. Judging will be live and in-person. Results will be announced after all participants have pitched and results are tallied. |
| Judging View the revised rubric in which teams will be judged. | |