Technical Solutions to Climate Change - meet the expert!

I'm excited to share with you another great opportunity to help you prepare for the 2011 Climate Leadership Challenge! 


For those of you interested in technical solutions to climate change, this Friday you'll have the chance to pick the brain of an expert about your ideas.


Dr. Klaus Lackner, a professor from Columbia University and pioneer in developing technology to capture carbon dioxide from ambient air, is visiting campus on Friday, October 8 to give a public lecture about his research. Full details of the event are provided here.


Dr. Lackner is open to and enthusiastic about meeting with students who are interested in entering the Climate Leadership Challenge to talk with you about your questions and ideas. I can't stress what an incredible opportunity this is for you to sit down individually or with a small group for a discussion with Dr. Lackner. 


If you are interested in setting up a brief chat, Dr. Lackner will be available from 2:30-3:30pm in 2180 Mechanical Engineering this Friday, October 8. 


If you are interested -- please contact me (sageCLC at gmail) or Scott Williams (spwilliams at wisc.edu) to set it up. 

Dr. Klaus Lackner is a professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering at Columbia University. He is also the director of the Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy at the Earth Institute. Dr. Lackner’s principal fields of interest include: Carbon management; alternative fuels and energy management; fluid mechanics and transport processes; applied physics. The specific on-going research efforts of Lackner's group range from the development of a new technology to capture carbon from the air to the investigation of an approach to energy production and conversion that favors smaller units that are mass-produced, modular, and controlled in aggregate by cheap automation and control systems. He co-founded Global Research Technologies in 2004 as a mechanism to commercialize carbon dioxide air capture technologies. Dr. Lackner received his Ph.D in Physics from Heidelberg University.

And don't forget about the Speed-Networking event this Thursday at 5:30 in the Engineering Centers Building's Tong Auditorium! Come one, come all. 

Hope to see you there! And as always - please help spread the word by sharing a link to this post on twitter and facebook. Thanks!

Speed Networking Event! Come one, come all!

Interested in the Climate Leadership Challenge but don't want to enter on your own? 

Have a great idea, but need someone with complementary skills from another major or department?

Are you looking for a team or to meet other people interested in the Climate Leadership Challenge?

Come to our Speed Networking event to connect with other interested students, to find a partner or build a team for the Climate Leadership Challenge!

When: Thursday, October 7th, 5:00-6:00 p.m.

Where:Tong Auditorium, Engineering Centers Building

Who: YOU! Even if you're still just rolling the idea of entering around in your mind, come check it out. I'll be there to answer your questions about the Climate Leadership Challenge, and you'll have the opportunity to chat with staff from the other university innovation competitions on campus - Innovation Days (Tong and Schoofs prizes) and The Burrill Business Plan Competition. 

I hope to see you there!

Learn more about Climate Leadership Challange at www.sage.wisc.edu/clc and the other competitions at http://innovation.wisc.edu.

2011 Climate Leadership Challenge: Call for Proposals

What if you could win $50K to launch your ideas into action?

University of Wisconsin-Madison students have the chance to win $50,000 with their innovative ideas and creative solutions for climate change.  We are officially announcing the third annual Climate Leadership Challenge – a philanthropic innovation competition put on by the Nelson Institute Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment. 

UW-Madison students: we want your proposals for products or programs that address the causes or impacts of climate change.

(Yes, we realize that's a little vague.The point is for you to BE CREATIVE!!!)

In previous years, entrants have been primarily engineering and business students, but don't let that scare off the scientists and artists and communicators among you! We welcome submissions from all disciplines. Like before, we're open to technical innovation, but we're also very interested in ideas that rely on social or interdisciplinary innovation. 

Focus on a climate change issue that drives your passion and figure out how your skills could be part of the solution. 

The Climate Leadership Challenge wants proposals with three broad characteristics: innovative – an original product or program, or a new improvement or variation on existing products or programs; action-ready – something students could implement if provided with the necessary resources; and scalable – a product or program that could start on a small-scale and expand in scope with more time or funding.

Proposals for the 2011 competition will be due on Friday, March 25, 2011. Six winning teams will be selected to present their proposals at an exposition-style booth at the annual Nelson Institute Earth Day conference, scheduled for April 20, 2011, where the $50,000 Grand Prize winner will be announced.

We’ll be here to answer questions throughout the process, as well as to help play matchmaker for students looking to form interdisciplinary teams with students from other departments. Check out our website for contest details and follow our blog, facebook and twitter accounts to benefit from our updates, guidance and tips for building a successful team and a winning proposal.

Please share, link, repost or email. Just link back here as a courtesy. Thank you!