IFTP 2018
In the first year's competition, the first and second place teams combined their innovations to bring light to rural villages, much like the team from Myanmar lived in themselves. They developed out their product and worked to commercialize the sewing-pedal-turned-power-source.
IFTP 2019
In the second year, Team Tupa from Brazil, the first place team, developed a two-part sensor system to more accurately and conveniently assist the visually impaired. They partnered with the local school for blind in Brazil, have taken their product through several conferences and are continuing to work on improving the mechanics.
Invent for the Planet
Invent for the Planet follows the Aggies Invent format — teams are formed based on a shared interest. The teams then research the topic and come up with a plan and build a simple prototype. On the final day, each team puts together a video and presents their prototype to a panel of judges. Three teams are selected for a first, second and third place prize. The first-place teams from each university worldwide will then have about a week to perfect their pitch before submitting a new video that will be judged remotely for a chance to be named the first-place winner.
What's going to happen?
On February 14-16, student teams around the world will be presented with 16 global challenges. Each team will choose one to tackle in just 48 hours. From Idaho to Cambodia, students from nearly 40 universities will be working on solving global problems collaboratively through technology provided by Microsoft.
From there, the judges will narrow down all of those first-place teams into a Final Five, with the option for other teams to compete for a crowd favorite spot!
Those five teams will travel to Texas A&M University to determine the final winner of IFTP 2020. This final competition will take place March 31 - April 2, 2020.
Participating Universities
- American University of Beirut | Beirut, Lebanon
- Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport | Alexandria, Egypt
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki | Thessaloniki, Greece
- Arizona State University | Arizona, USA
- Boise State University | Idaho, USA
- Carnegie Mellon University at Qatar | Doha, Qatar
- Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica Celso Suckow da Fonseca | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Delgado Community College | Louisiana, USA
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University | Arizona, USA
- Georgetown University at Qatar | Doha, Qatar
- Habib University | Karachi, Pakistan
- HCMC University of Technology and Education | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar | Gujarat, India
- James Madison University | Virginia, USA
- JAMK University of Applied Sciences | Jyväskylä, Finland
- Loyola University New Orleans | Louisiana, USA
- Mahidol University | Nakhon Pathom, Thailand
- Makerere University | Kampala, Uganda
- New Mexico State University | New Mexico, USA
- Northern Arizona University | Arizona, USA
- Portland State University | Oregon, USA
- Swansea University | Wales, UK
- Technical University of Cluj-Napoca | Cluj-Napoca, Romania
- Texas A&M University | Texas, USA
- Texas A&M University at Qatar | Doha, Qatar
- Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi | Texas, USA
- Universidad de Celaya | Rancho Pinto, Mexico
- Universidad de Chile | Santiago, Chile
- Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Universidad Politécnica De Yucatán | Yucatán, Mexico
- Universidad Tecnológica de Cancún | Cancún, Mexico
- Universidad Tecnológica Laja Bajío | Guanajuato, Mexico
- Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS | Perak, Malaysia
- University of Manitoba | Manitoba, Canada
- University of New Orleans | Louisiana, USA
- University of Sydney | Syndey, Australia
- Wichita State University | Kansas, USA
How can I get involved?
All components of the event will be held in the Zachry Engineering Education Complex at Texas A&M University - College Station Campus. On Friday and Saturday, students will be primarily in the design center of the building, working out their ideas and building prototypes. On Sunday, presentations will begin at 2 p.m. in the Chevron rooms (ZACH 298-300).
Best time for photo/video opportunity:
Saturday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. | Sunday, 2 p.m. for final presentations
All participating universities will be using #IFTP. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter (@tamuengineering and @EEP_TAMU). We will be live-streaming the final presentations on YouTube, and posting on social media all weekend!
Contacts
On-site contacts at Texas A&M University:
- Kristina Ballard, Communications - 281.804.6693, kristina.ballard@tamu.edu
- Rodney Boehm, Program Director - 214.684.6802, rodneyboehm@tamu.edu