Global Health Technologies Design Competition

Award Information

• Rice360 is thrilled to offer cash prizes for top competitors at the competition. Judges will select award winners based on the evaluation rubric here.
• The 2024 competition awards include:
  • 1st Place: $500, 2nd Place: $350, 3rd Place: $250, and the People’s Choice Award: $350
  • Crystal Sea Award: $500
    • The Crystal Sea Award ($500) honors student innovators who leverage innovation to address an unmet health need. The Award aims to incentivize and celebrate student-led innovation that improves global health equity. The 2024 Crystal Sea Award will go to a team whose design best expands innovation in materials sciences or digital innovation. The Crystal Sea Award honors Dr. Li’s grandfather, Haiqing Du, a materials science professor in Hunan University in China.
  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award: $500
    • The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award ($500) honors student innovators who thoughtfully consider diversity, equity, and inclusion issues throughout the design process. The Award aims to elevate and celebrate student-led innovation that advances equity by designing global health technologies that address unmet health needs, particularly for marginalized populations.

Eligibility Criteria

• Competition eligibility criteria:
  • Teams can be comprised of undergraduate students from any major.
  • Design must address a global health need using a technical approach.
  • Projects can emanate from coursework or other extracurricular activities.
  • Teams should incorporate the design constraints encountered in providing healthcare in resource-limited settings.
• The Rice360 Institute for Global Health Technologies 14th Annual Undergraduate Global Health Technologies Design Competition will feature national and international student teams presenting low-cost technologies designed to address global health challenges in resource-limited settings. The 2024 Competition will be hosted on April 12, 2024, on the Rice University Campus in Houston, Texas, with virtual participation options also available to student teams.
• All teams selected as semi-finalists will have the option to receive coaching from mentors in global health. Using insights from coaching, teams will prepare oral presentations (<6 minutes), which will be presented live at the competition finale on April 12 to a panel of judges from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, including medicine, engineering, and public health. Judges will select awards for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, along with an award honoring the design that best considers diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the design process.

For more information, visit Rice360 Institute for Global Health Technologies.