Rapid Innovation Challenges

1. ​​​​​Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services: The Department of Jobs and Family services has a Youth Ombudsman whose goal is to protect children in Ohio, especially those who are in foster care or other restrictive spaces. In 2021, the State of Ohio passed the Foster Youth Bill of Rights to formalize the protection of children in these spaces. The challenge now is ensuring that youth are aware of their rights and the pathways they can take to protect themselves. In this challenge, a student team will connect with services, state officials, and other experts and stakeholders to determine how to best increase awareness of these protected rights amongst youth. What is the best modality for this awareness? How do we measure this awareness? In the end, the goal is to protect children and provide them with the resources they need to stand up for their rights.
2. Ohio Department of Transportation: Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) is a rapidly-emerging, new sector of the aerospace industry which aims to safely and efficiently integrate highly automated aircraft into the National Airspace System. This emerging technology is pivotal to Ohio’s infrastructure and economy. However, the language around the industry can be confusing, repetitive, and difficult to utilize when convincing leaders to invest. This challenge sponsored by the Ohio Department of Transportation is all about how we translate technical content into more easily understandable and persuasive language to affect policy and create a better environment for Ohio to become a leader in this exciting industry.
3. Steelton Rising: South Columbus families do not have the same resource access as many of their neighborhood counterparts in the city. Bringing more opportunities for these families to acquire and utilize the skills necessary to create their own prosperity is a way to empower and support these communities. Many people in South Columbus are already working side hustles and part time work that provide for their families. How might we empower South Columbus families with skills and connections required to enhance their entrepreneurship and create wealth and prosperity?
4. Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab: Access to High performance computing (HPC’s) is necessary to perform some of the most challenging engineering and science analysis. Purchasing the hardware, obtaining the software to perform the analysis with, and providing IT support to maintain the HPC can be cost prohibitive for organizations (both small and large). The question becomes, how do we balance cost, technological needs, and capabilities to bring High Performance Computing into work areas that need it most at the largest University Affiliated Research Center in the country?

Spring 2024 Challenges (videos to be posted after the semester completes)

1. Hale Yeah - What if we could help staff members of the Office and Diversity and Inclusion better serve students in need of their services and presence while finding a balance flexible office time and other supports that keep staff resilient while increasing student engagement?
2. Leeward Legends - What if we could increase the effectiveness of renewable energy project outreach through resident experiences for completed projects?
3. Healthy Energy - What if we lived in a world where sustainability and energy efficiency were priorities on par with patient satisfaction in healthcare.
4. Solar Squad - What if we could utilize flood planes in the development of solar farming while protecting farm land?

Fall 2023 Challenges (videos to be posted after the semester completes)

1. H2F - What if we could develop a digital user experience that connects members of the Ohio National Guard to the resources they need to improve all elements of their helath?
2. Needs 4 Peds - What if we could reignite the passion of medical trainees to become pediatric anesthesiologists?
3. Cyber Baddies - What if we can improve the safety of national security projects by creating and incentivizing a culture that utilizes and prioritizes cybersecurity best practices?
4. Drive You Crazy - What if we can better prepare Ohio for the emergence of Automated Vehicles (AVs) by going beyond the hype to identify and categorize the most likely uses of AVs in the state?

Spring 2023 Challenges

1. Moonwalkers - What if we could Imagine new space exploration missions now possible thanks to the newest rockets' ability to carry some of the largest payloads ever.
2. Unplugged Buckeyes - What if we could reduce fossil fuel consumption by incentivizing businesses to embrace energy efficiency projects that might not show returns on investment quickly?
3. Resilient Invenergy - What if we could accelerate the United States’ independence from fossil fuels by securing effectively state governments’ acceptance of, instead of hostility to, sustainable energy initiatives?
4. Fast, Furious, Electric Family - What if we could contribute to a more sustainable environment by making Electric Vehicles the Car of Choice for an average buyer?

Fall 2022 Challenges

1. Electric Vehicle Buckeyes - What if we could provide accessible, affordable, equitable, and sustainable electrified mobility to disadvantaged communities in Ohio?
2. Space Saviors - What if humanitarian aid and disaster recovery could be informed by rapidly deployed space imaging that delivers many images per day of specified locations?
3. Top Gun - What if we could accelerate the equitable deployment of advanced air mobility (AAM) across Ohio by developing local policy guidelines and identifying community benefits and addressing challenges?
4. Whisker Cure - What if we could evaluate the probability of tin whisker formation causing an electrical short that leads to critical impacts on hardware systems?

Spring 2022 Challenges

1. E^3 - What if European Command could lead the way in reducing DoD’s carbon footprint and better support European nations’ climate laws and initiatives?
2. Avenergizers - What if we had a better system of identifying and combatting misinformation related to Sustainable Energy?
3. Canister Crushers - What if we reimagined camping gas cylinders for a greener world?
4. No Carbon Cruisers - What if we could better prepare our cities to undertake the added energy demands from increasing vehicle electrification?
5. Street Smart - What if we could make Columbus streets safe for all modes of transportation as the population continues to grow?
6. Family First - What if we could relieve parenting students of the worry and burden that comes with locating suitable childcare?
7. Disconnection Redirection - What if we could create better processes to reduce the number of utility disconnects and provide consumers with the knowledge and time required to prevent disconnection?

Fall 2021 Challenges

1. APL to Orgs: What if we could ‘engineer’ the human dimension of change in research and development organizations? 
2. Guard Gals: What if unit commanders could better promote physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social fitness in their unit?

Spring 2021 Challenges

1. Space Junkies – Deconstructing Electronics Modules for Space-Based Applications
2. Feed the Need – Identify critical populations and needs to address food insecurity and hunger
3. Isolated Personnel – Devise new methods for locating and identifying isolated personnel in complex environments
4. Mind the Gap – Transform Ohio’s economy by providing reliable transportation solutions for low-income residents to connect with employers in need of skilled labor
5. Data Defenders – Find a middle ground between digital information ownership and privacy rights of individuals and the duty of care that rests on local, state, and federal governments
6. A.R.I.A. – Prevent human trafficking in Appalachian Ohio by predicting vulnerable populations

Fall 2020 Challenges

1. Mad Mappers – Leverage innovative mapping tools to support redistricting and improve representation of the democratic process in Ohio
2. Circuit Boarders – Applying artificial intelligence/machine learning to build schematics from images of electronic circuit boards
3. SITRREP’D – Incorporate new environmental monitoring data into the decision making processes of the Ohio Department of Health and Comprehensive Monitoring Team in order to give actionable steps on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spring 2020 Challenges

1. Space Cadets: Ensuring the public safety of launch vehicles’ Autonomous Flight Safety Systems
2. Public Health: Improving public health outcomes with collaborative planning between state government and hospitals
3. Buckeye Choppers: Improving helicopter maintenance management to ensure successful naval missions
4. Paw Platoon: Addressing the shortage of U.S. working dogs for security
5. 007: Designing a task order system to manage intelligence requests
6. F.R.U.I.T.: Advancing Regulations for the use of Machine Vision in Utility Inspections

Fall 2019 Challenges

1. Zone Out: Rejuvenating urban neighborhoods through creative zoning
2. Lost in Space: Finding lost satellites in space
3. Smart Swarm: Coordinating drone swarms in order to track toxic plumes

Spring 2019 Challenges

1. Keeping it Cool — Defining a risk measure/standard for the HVAC supply chain which may contain foreign-manufactured components
2. No Surprises — Quickly & quantitatively finding and weighing the importance of research networks before disruptive technology shows up on a launchpad or runway
3. Green Grass — Identifying incentives to retain highly trained talent for important missions
4. Arrows in the Quiver — Developing an advocacy strategy for counter-UAS operations on domestic soil
5. Extreme Ops — Enhancing situational awareness and communications in austere/low connectivity environments
6. Auto Route — Planning faster land routes through unfamiliar and/or hazardous