Three organizations are teaming up to launch a new innovation challenge at the intersection of two verticals where Rhode Island thrives: clean energy and bluetech.
SeaAhead, National Grid and CIC Providence have opened applications for the BlueGreen Innovation Challenge. Designed with students in mind, the challenge provides a space for innovators to dream up big ideas at "the energy-food-urban community-coastal nexus."
Taylor Witkin, the bluetech community manager at SeaAhead, said the hope is that teams competing in the challenge will imagine ways to connect various points of Rhode Island's cleantech economy. Wind energy, for example, is not solely an offshore wind farm. There are connections that need to be made to the land, and those connections need to be made sustainably in order to meet Gov. Gina Raimondo's goal of 100-percent renewable electricity by 2030.
"If you have more activity, that has the potential to lead to more emissions and pollution, and we'd like to avoid that," Witkin said. "We also see connections between the energy system and the food system and the transportation system. How do we move seafood more efficiently? Can we create energy through the food system and at the same time reduce emissions? We don't want to be prescriptive in terms of what the students are focusing on. And there are a lot of connections that I'm sure we're not seeing out there."
The BlueGreen Innovation Challenge is open to young adults who attend an institution of higher education in Rhode Island, or are from Rhode Island and studying at an out-of-state institution. People who have graduated within the last two years are also welcome to apply. The challenge is aimed at teams of up to four people; team members from outside Rhode Island are welcome as long as at least half the team meets the state criteria.
The application period is open until Jan. 12. Finalists will be announced in mid-December, and after taking part in a hybrid in-person and remote incubator, the teams will have the opportunity to pitch at a Demo Day in March. The first-place team will win $7,500, while the second- and third-place teams will take home $2,000 and $500, respectively.
Witkin emphasized that SeaAhead and its partners want to provide a pipeline so the projects don't fizzle out when the program ends.
"The hope is that some actionable solutions come out of this," Witkin said. "We're hoping the final design is something that National Grid can take and turn into a reality. We've also been reaching out to other groups to make them aware, and hopefully, after the competition's through, they can work with these students to implement their designs."
This article has been updated to reflect the updated application deadline. It is now Jan. 12, not Dec. 1.
