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IMPACT IDEATHON
hosted by united engineers and stemchats

The Impact Ideathon is a competition for students ages 16-18 who will collaborate to identify the world's greatest sustainable development challenges and propose solutions that will shape our future.

ABOUT

By 2050, the world will need to feed 9 billion people. The number of people living in cities will triple. One third to one half of rain forests will vanish. Diseases will be deadlier than ever. The Impact Ideathon is hopefully the first of many Virtual Design Thinking Challenges hosted by United Engineers and STEMchats.

Projects can take the form of computer programs, 3D models, graphic designs, pure academic research, or any other medium which can be tested and innovated upon. Participants will use design thinking and the engineering design process to evolve their solution to something that can be implemented.

The Impact Ideathon is a competition for students ages 16-18 who will collaborate to identify the world's greatest sustainable development challenges and propose solutions that will shape our future. Throughout this Ideathon, teams will select an idea to develop, justify, and present as a solution in response to a problem.

CHANGE THE WORLD

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sustainability

Start by identifying a global issue. Then formulate an idea that could be the solution. Test and develop your idea using a variety of skills and knowledge on your team. End result: pitch your idea and convince the judges that it will work.

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learner friendly

No prior experience is necessary to attend and compete. Speakers and workshops from organizations that could be potentially useful to participants will be featured throughout a full day.

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remote

The competition is open to students around the world! You’ll have weeks before the event to meet and collaborate with other people via Slack. You’ll learn and compete via Zoom. All you need is access to WiFi (and a bit of patience for technology).

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rewards

We’ll be awarding top 3 teams based on scores from the judges. In addition, a fourth team will receive the Peoples Choice award by vote. We’re working with social impact leaders to help us award prizes in addition to the base Amazon e-gift card prizes..

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community

Network with other game changers who want to build a better world. Interact with professionals who want you to succeed. We hope participants will take their projects and feedback to the next levels even after this Ideathon ends — we’ll be here to cheer you on!

PAST TESTIMONIES

Mariana

United States
Impact Ideathon was recommended to me by another technology organization. I was curious about it and when I saw the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, I was really excited. I decided to register and I was impressed that communication was organized through Slack instead of emails and texts. I was able to meet and connect with multiple smart students my age! I finally felt like I had a support group. The events were well organized and I was very inspired by the speakers’ presentations and life stories. Being my first hackathon, I had no clue where to begin but I was provided numerous resources that I was able to use to design my project. Moreover, we were provided useful workshops with extremely talented and diligent software engineers in the most elite educational institutes and companies. My first hackathon experience was amazing and I am grateful United Engineers and STEMchats were able to help me in each way possible.

Angela

Philippines
From the workshops to the speakers to the competition itself, there were honestly almost no flaws in the entirety of this ideathon! All of the organizers were extremely nice and accommodating, and I could tell that the planning and execution of the event was done very meticulously. They were very encouraging and the environment they have created allowed everyone to interact freely, learn, and have fun! Even though I attended in another country, which meant all-nighters and waking up early, I would love to do it all over again!

Anna

India
Coming into this Ideathon, I was rather anxious as I barely knew anything about conceptualizing projects such as these– I didn’t know how to code extensive programs, nor did I have thorough knowledge on engineering. However, through this event and its workshops, I was able to learn more about various programs, as well as valuable skills, that were able to help me and my team fully develop our idea. This Ideathon was definitely a great learning experience! I can truly say that I learned a lot, not only regarding project planning but also regarding teamwork and coordination. I would certainly participate in one again!

Tiffany

United States
Impact Ideathon was an incredible networking event that gathered plenty of people with similar interests across different time zones to team up and help solve the world's problems. Meeting new people and listening to special speakers was a breath of fresh air after living under a pandemic. Developing a solution and presenting an idea built organization, creativity, and social skills. Impact Ideathon is a team-building event, a time management event, and a creative problem-solving event; it is a worthwhile experience.

Richard

United States
When I joined as a participant of the virtual “Impact Ideathon,” I barely had a clue of what I would experience. Who was I going to meet there and what would the program’s schedule be like? When the event started, I was met with kind and compassionate organizers, who made the program straightforward and made me feel more comfortable being at the event, and nice team members (who would work together with me to create an impactful idea to present from scratch). The guest speakers each shared a valuable and unique part of their life experiences and the workshops proved to be fun to engage in. It also wasn’t mandatory to participate all in the speaker and workshop events, allowing some people like me to put a bit more time into the group project. If there is one/two things to take away from this program, it is that hard work/determination and building those interactive relationships pays off in the long-run.
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FAQ

An ideathon is a competition similar to hackathons and makeathons, but the goal of ideathon participants is to refine, develop, and present very unique and promising ideas. Participants in an ideathon may choose to use a variety of mediums to support and test the limits of their ideas, but judging criteria are solely based on the participants’ methodology and the quality of their ideas.

JUDGES