SMART

As part of the Pure Michigan Social Entrepreneurship Challenge, a competition designed to advance ideas and solutions to address Michigan’s social challenges, Consumers Energy and The Heat and Warmth Fund are sponsoring the “Fostering Energy Affordability” category and will award a $10,000 cash prize for a social venture with market traction and a $5,000 cash prize for the best new business idea.

In this new “Fostering Energy Affordability” category, Consumers Energy and THAW are seeking scalable business concepts and ideas that encourage reductions in energy use and development of tools to foster energy affordability within low-income communities. As part of the sponsorship, Consumers and THAW will also support events and relevant programs for participants in The Challenge.

Created by Michigan Corps, in partnership with Great Lakes Entrepreneurs’ Quest and the Michigan Economic Development Corp., The Pure Michigan Social Entrepreneurship Challenge invites individuals and teams to submit plans for an emerging company or a new business idea focused on sustainable social change in a wide range of areas including but not limited to urban revitalization, energy, environment, health, and education.

Read the full story at http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/03/14/consumers-energy-thaw-join-pure-michigan-social-entrepreneurship-challenge.

On May 21, TRU will present our second annual Regional Transit Awards to recognize the essential work individuals, organizations, and businesses have done over the past year to improve transit throughout greater Detroit. Categories include:

• Citizen Activist of the Year
• Corporate Transit Champion
• Transit Employee of the Year
• Exemplary Regionalism & Innovation Award
• Forward Motion Award for Most Effective Public Servant
• Top Progressive Initiative Award

Submit nominations at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGZwR1E4Wkxfck9LNUk0Q1NPMGRHTWc6MA.

For more information, see http://detroittransit.org.

ITS America and Southwest Research Institute are once again proudly sponsoring the Annual Student Essay Competition for the 2013 ITS America Annual Meeting, held in Nashville, Tennessee on April 22-24, 2013 (www.itsa.org/annualmeeting).

The Student Essay Competition is designed to encourage student interest and future participation in the development of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and solutions. The objective of the essay competition is to provide an opportunity for today’s transportation and engineering students to apply their knowledge in a thought-provoking and enjoyable competition and to build awareness of ITS as a career path with unlimited potential.

Each year, students from all of the country respond to a variety of topics and provide their insight to the ITS industry. Students are an important part of the continued development of the ITS industry, a field of expertise that is vitally important to our nation’s economy and our way of life.

For more information, see http://www.itsa.org/annualmeeting/student-essay-competition.

ITS America’s “Best of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Awards” recognizes the best and brightest of the transportation technology community. Winning entries will be honored at the Opening Plenary Reception of the 23rd ITS America Annual Meeting & Exposition on Monday, April 22nd in Nashville, Tennessee. This is a unique opportunity to be recognized at the premier global event on advanced transportation technologies in front of hundreds of transportation professionals, policymakers, and press.

For more information, see http://www.itsa.org/annualmeeting/awards.

The Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation (WICI) is seeking tools and methods that improve the exploration, analysis, and visualization of complex-systems data.

With each passing year, researchers and policymakers have access to steadily more data on the behavior and causal structure of complex systems such as urban land markets, global financial networks, epidemic disease, and Earth’s climate. They need tools and methods to effectively evaluate and interpret these data and present the results in accessible formats to a broad range of stakeholders. But the development of such tools and methods has not kept up with the data’s soaring availability. WICI is launching a $10,000 challenge prize to help address this emerging need.

For more information, see http://wici.ca/resources/call-for-submissions.

Do you have an innovative venture that is helping to reshape mobility in cities or across regions?

ANNOUNCING SMART MOBILITY EnterPrize:

A NEW PRIZE FOR ENTREPRENEURS ADDRESSING SUSTAINABLE URBAN TRANSPORTATION

3 cash prizes
+
Travel to present on the world stage at Rio +20 in June 2012

WHAT:

SMART [Sustainable Mobility & Accessibility Research & Transformation at the University of Michigan] with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation, seek to identify and recognize notable New Mobility enterprises worldwide, with special recognition for young entrepreneurs, those offering integrated solutions, and those benefiting the everyday life or the urban poor as well as other vulnerable urban people. All entrepreneurs addressing mobility and accessibility challenges with innovative and sustainable solutions and business models are encouraged to apply.

Each application will be evaluated by a prestigious jury of experts in the field and by the online public to decide the winners of the two New Mobility Prizes and one People’s Choice Award. All qualifying applicants – even those who are not prize winners, will be profiled in the first international online listings for New Mobility Entrepreneurs, an exciting new cyberspace for promoting and networking New Mobility entrepreneurs locally and worldwide.

PRIZE:

Each prize includes a $5,000 cash award as well as travel to present your work and receive the prize in person at the Entrepreneurs Session of the Rio + 20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Your venture must be up and running and legal.

APPLY:

Applications open soon. Check the SMART Blog to keep updated on the latest news (um-­smart.org/blog). For more information, please email: EnterPrizeMobility@gmail.com