Call for Proposals: IEEE R10 HTA Committee – R10 Humanitarian Challenges 2020

TENHUMCH 2020 (R10 Humanitarian Challenges 2020)

Humanitarian Technology Committee encourages R10 Sections to have Humanitarian Technology activities and invite sections to apply for funding of R10 TENHUMCH 2020.

TENHUMCH2020 is a project contest in R10 where contestants will develop technological solutions for the benefit of resource-constrained and vulnerable communities thereby making a difference in peoples’ lives. It provides an opportunity for participants to work with NGOs and other organizations. The details of this initiative are given in the following.

Introduction

TENHUMCH, formerly known as AIYEHUM, which received the IEEE MGA Innovation 2014 Award, is a project contest to encourage young scientists and engineers to solve real-world challenges applying science and technology. The contest aims at orienting young minds towards identifying community problems and developing technology solutions, focusing on actual implementation reaching the beneficiaries.

Project Proposal

These projects cover a wide variety of technological areas including technology for silver age; assistive technology; healthcare; frugal technology; sustainability; intelligent mobility; smart nation; disaster recovery and social enterprise. A strong practical implementation of projects reaching target beneficiaries is expected.

This contest encourages the participant teams to actually work with beneficiary partners, for example, could be an underprivileged community with no or little access to clean water, electricity or other utilities, or it could be an NGO working on rural education or a local government, an NGO; a social entrepreneurial venture; or a public hospital etc. Historically we have seen the finalists to evolve into social entrepreneurs, and patent holders licensing the technology to others. One of the examples is a shortlisted project from AIYEHUM 2014, titled, ‘Microwave machine for weed detection and removal’, which led to patent and local media coverage.

Timeline

• Call for Proposals Initiated: April 30, 2020
• Deadline for Proposals: May 30, 2020
• Selected Project Announced: June 30,2020
• Project Implementation Phase: April – November, 2020
• Amounts Reimbursed (as per progress): Final by November 30, 2020

For details please read the official announcement from R10 here.

Author: Vijay S Paul

Chair, 2023 IEEE R10 Information Management Committee