Hult Prize: An innovative solution in the fight against social issues.

The Hult Prize is the most important student contest in the world. It considers innovation to be the main option for solving problems that come up around the world and pushes undergraduate students to look for solutions.

The prize’s main objective is to create a new generation with the abilities to change the world and the understanding of the true power and potential of an idea in doing so. The challenge in 2018 is to use the power of energy to transform the lives of millions of people and UTEC has two projects seeking to do so. Chemical Engineering students Alejandro Alarcón and Ignacio Ñañez, along with Andrea Alvarez, from the Energy Engineering program and Mechanical Engineering student Julio San Martin have come up with the Solar Cooler, which uses solar energy to generate cold. Also Chemical Engineering students Carlos Vermejo and Jimena Tello have joined forces with Mechanical Engineering student Richard Hodge to create the Huaycosphere, a large sphere that can freeze huaycos through a series of chemical reactions.

Learn more about the solar cooler in this video.

The Hult Prize was created in 2009 by Ahmad Ashkar, an entrepreneur and former student from Hult International Business School. His idea was to motivate a group of young people to come up with sustainable solutions for the world most critical social challenges.

Since 2012, the Hult Prize has become the most important referent for social innovators and it is, as of today, the biggest support for the launch of university entrepreneurship. With over 1800 yearly applicants, more than 800 entrepreneurs have had the chance to take part in the contest presenting more than 5000 business ideas. Up to now, 26 Peruvian universities have taken part in the contest.

The process has many stages. The first one is getting to know every year changing challenge. With that in mind you can go and assemble a team of applicants. Then, at UTEC’s demo day we determine who is going to represent the university and send them to the regional finals. The winner gets a chance to accelerate their project for two months working along with renowned researchers and entrepreneurs to attend the world finals where, if they were to win, would get a million dollars.

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The official presentation of the 23 Peruvian teams that will be a part of this year’s competition will take place in Peru’s National Congress at 9.30 am on March 5th. Our students will travel to Ecuador, Mexico, United Kingdom and Singapore for the chance to win a million dollars. Come see them for free, you only need an ID to get in!