First Student Awards for “Idea Competition” Presented at Homecoming Today

Troy, N.Y. — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumnus and entrepreneur Sean O’Sullivan ’85 has donated $1 million to create the “Change the World Challenge,” an initiative to support entrepreneurship education and stimulate ideas to improve the human condition. The program was officially launched today with the first round of $1,000 awards presented to five Rensselaer students.

O’Sullivan earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from Rensselaer in 1985. He is one of the founders of MapInfo, a global software company headquartered in Rensselaer’s Technology Park. He also is founder of Jumpstart International, a humanitarian organization created in 2003 that focuses on rebuilding and reconstruction in war-torn Iraq and in the Gaza Strip.

“In extraordinary ways, through words and deeds, Sean O’Sullivan has demonstrated the power of ideas to change the world,” said Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson. “Through Sean’s million-dollar ‘Change the World Challenge’ gift, he is inspiring future generations of entrepreneurs at Rensselaer to follow in his fine footsteps, taking risks working to address important questions with answers that bring value to the world. This is high-impact generosity at its best.”

“I hope this contest will provide both a kick in the pants and financial and logistical support to students willing to believe and take action to change the world,” said Sean O’Sullivan. “I want to awaken students — particularly engineering students — to the knowledge that their talent can and should be used on large scale ideas that can improve the planet. Today’s five winners represent the first batch of these innovators. We hope this contest will inspire a stream of innovation, every semester, which will help in the development of the world.”

Recognizing the potential for Rensselaer to be a global leader in science, engineering, and technology education, the Change the World Challenge is designed to stimulate creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship among the innately creative students at Rensselaer, according to Jackson.

Idea Competition
At the core of the Change the World Challenge is an “idea competition” to be held each semester.

Open to all undergraduate and graduate students at Rensselaer, the competition is designed to stimulate idea leaders, challenge them to focus on ideas that bring value to the world, building an appreciation for ideas that are the “right thing to do,” according to Provost G.P. Bud Peterson.

Each semester, students — as individuals or in teams — will select a topic from a list of challenges to use science and/or engineering to improve human life, and offer a solution to that challenge which is not currently available and is sustainable long term. Examples of challenges include: improving alert and/or relief and rescue systems; improving the commuting experience for American commuters; improving the education performance for a class of students in a typical American city; or improving the average person’s access to the latest source of health information. Submissions are judged on both novelty and sensibility. A minimum of $1,000 will be awarded to each of up to five winners.

First Change the World Challenge Winners Announced Today at Homecoming
New sound technology for teaching math, emergency housing solutions, use of bar codes in canes to assist the blind, a signaling device to improve car safety, and an environmentally friendly mechanism for recycling old cars were among the winning ideas from students who participated in the first Change the World Challenge idea competition. President Jackson announced the five student winners — Casey O’Donnell, a doctoral student in science and technology studies; Joseph Choma, a second year student in architecture; Brendan J. Kavanagh, a senior in mechanical engineering; Danika Patrick, a senior in mechanical engineering; and Cheuk Wa Yuen, a graduate student in architecture — during a ceremony at halftime of the Homecoming football game today on ’86 Field.

In addition to the $1,000 idea competition, additional support will be given to students in recognition of the “best of the best” ideas. In addition to these awards, significant financial support will be available to assist students in pursuing patents for the best of the best ideas as judged in annual reviews.

O’Sullivan’s gift is in support of the Institute’s $1 billion Renaissance at Rensselaer: The Campaign for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

About the Campaign
The $1 billion Renaissance at Rensselaer: The Campaign for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, launched in 2004, fuels the Institute’s strategic Rensselaer Plan, and supports groundbreaking interdisciplinary programs that have at their core the technologies driving innovations in the 21st century: biotechnology, nanotechnology, information technology, and experimental media. The campaign aims to build the Institute unrestricted endowment, and also seeks funds for endowed scholarships and fellowships, faculty positions, curriculum support, student life programs, and athletic programs and facilities. To date, the effort has raised more than $650 million, more than three times the amount raised in Rensselaer’s previous campaign that ended in 1993.

Contact: Theresa Bourgeois
Phone: (518) 276-2840
E-mail: bourgt@rpi.edu