International students team up for Wege Prize

International students team up for Wege Prize
The Wege Prize will feature five teams of university finalists who will present and explain how their ideas, products, services, business models and other solutions can solve climate problems, pollution, energy use, food insecurity, among other things. <strong>Courtesy Kendall College of Art and Design</strong>

College students from across the world will gather online to present their ideas to solve complex global issues.

The 2020 Wege Prize annual event is hosted by Ferris State University’s Kendall College of Art and Design (KCAD). It will feature five teams of university finalists who will present and explain how their ideas, products, services, business models and other solutions can solve climate problems, pollution, energy use, food insecurity, among other things on May 29 during a live stream broadcast starting at 10 a.m. on wegeprize.org.

The finalists are from seven countries, 13 academic institutions and 20 academic disciplines. They will participate remotely via video conferencing.

“Creativity and collaboration are absolutely essential to both addressing the many complex challenges we face today and rising to meet those that await us in the future,” said Tara McCrackin, KCAD interim president. “That’s why what happens in Wege Prize each year is so important. We need to empower young people from every corner of our planet through these kinds of immersive, real-world experiences so that they can become the leaders and change agents we so desperately need.”

The teams are competing for a share of $30,000. The winner will be awarded $15,000, the second-place finisher will receive $10,000 and the third-place finisher will be given $5,000.

The judges for the competition are from Google and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a Chilean expert in high-tech entrepreneurship, a midwestern biochemist and environmentalist and a Miami-based artist-educator.

Information on the Wege Prize 2020 finalists can be found here.