UW Environmental Innovation Challenge 

Innovation in Clean-Tech + Market Opportunity = Solutions for the Planet


Who hasn’t seen the headlines? Worldwide competition for energy and water. A dramatically changing global climate. A 10-year goal to make the United States a leader in innovative technologies and clean-tech ventures.

At the University of Washington we have a challenge for you. If you’ve got a passion for clean-tech, the smarts to play in the emerging “green economy,” and the desire to make an impact, the UW Environmental Innovation Challenge  can provide just the platform you’ve been looking for.  And a chance to win $10,000.

In the UW Challenge, interdisciplinary student teams define a clean-tech problem, design and develop the solution, and produce both a prototype (proof of concept/computer simulation) and a business summary that demonstrates the market opportunity. Teams are judged—by Seattle area industry experts, entrepreneurs, and clean-tech investors—on their prototypes, their pitches and business summaries, and the potential impact of their innovations. Can your idea reduce environmental impacts, improve ecological sustainability, conserve resources, and compete in the marketplace?  Prove it at the UW Challenge.

2010 Emphasis = Energy
While the focus of the UW Environmental Innovation Challenge is always clean-tech, we choose a new emphasis each year. For 2009 it was water; for 2010 it is energy.

Apply now for UW Environmental Innovation Challenge prototype funding!  Deadline to apply is midnight on December 11.
Environmental Innovation Practicum. Join us on Monday, November 16 for a panel discussion on the entrepreneurial and funding environment for clean energy.  Panelists include Kirk Van Alstyne (Evolution Capital), Rick LeFaivre (OVP), and Daniel Malarkey (Assistant Secretary of Commerce).
View an interview with the Nanocel, second place winner of the 2009 Environmental Innovation Challenge and winner of the 2009 Business Plan Competition.
The Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship produces the UW Environmental Innovation Challenge in partnership with