Siemens FutureMakers Challenge to Spark Students' Tech Innovations

Next month, students at five U.S. universities will work on next-generation software concepts in an on-campus FutureMakers Challenge program designed to foster innovation and develop the next-generation digital engineering workforce. The competition is being hosted by Siemens in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University, University of California, Berkeley, Princeton University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Teams of undergraduate and doctoral students at each university will have 24 hours to create software solutions for Siemens' Mindsphere cloud-based operating system that address emerging technology trends such as cybersecurity, machine learning, artificial intelligence, industrial automation and smart manufacturing. Winners will be selected by a panel of Siemens experts, based on "innovation, out-of-the-box thinking and relevance to market needs"; Siemens will invest $150,000 in each university's winning idea.

In addition, Siemens will spend six months working with a Ph.D.-level student from each winning team to make the technology concepts a reality.

"We are pleased to be working with Siemens on this hackathon concept," said Edward Felten, director of the Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton University, in a statement. "By combining the work of undergraduate and graduate students during the FutureMakers Challenge itself with an ongoing research project for the first place winner, this event is a novel way to foster university-industry collaboration in a way that supports both teaching and research."

For more information, visit the FutureMakers Challenge site.

About the Author

Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

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