This Year’s Innovation Showcase (ISHOW) to Launch Feb. 1

Now in its ninth year, the ASME Innovation Showcase (ISHOW) program offers innovators from around the world the opportunity to win a share of $500,000 in prizes and receive an extensive design and engineering review of their products by a panel of industry experts. The global launch of this year’s competition is just days away. Organizers of the ASME ISHOW will begin accepting applications for the 2016 competition on Feb. 1.

The winners of last year’s ASME ISHOW in Kenya, joined by members of the judging panel: (left to right) Dickson Ayuka, the inventor of Ujuzikilimo; Henri Nyakarundi, the creator of the Mobile Solar Kiosk; judge Dr. Mucemi K. Gakuru of the University of Nairobi; Andrew Foote and Emily Woods, who developed Sanivation; and judge Kamau Gachigi, executive director of Gearbox.

This year, ASME will host ISHOW finals and demo-days on three continents. The first ISHOW event will take place on April 28 in Bangalore, India, followed by a second competition on May 26 in Nairobi, Kenya, and a third event in North America, to be held on June 15 in Washington, D.C.

Since its launch in 2007, the ISHOW has offered teams of entrepreneurs the opportunity to compete for seed money to further develop their novel product concepts and bring them to the marketplace. This year’s three competitions are open to any individuals or organizations who are developing a hardware-led social innovation they would like to take to market. Applicants must have a prototype and have conducted some initial user outreach and testing.

An artist’s rendering of the various entries presented at the ASME ISHOW in Washington, D.C., last year.

Applications for the ISHOWs in India, Kenya and the United States will be accepted through March 16. If you are curious about the competition and would like to learn more about it, watch a video review of last year’s events here to see the program in action. If you would like to take part in this year’s competition, just visit the ISHOW website at www.thisishardware.org to submit your application. The ISHOW also offers opportunities for individuals to serve as competition judges and for companies and organizations to support the program as sponsors. If you are interested in serving as a judge or becoming an ISHOW sponsor, contact Paul Scott, ASME Engineering for Global Development, by e-mail at scottp@asme.org.

For more information on the ASME ISHOW, visit www.thisishardware.org. You can also follow the ASME ISHOW on twitter@asmeishow and tweet about hardware-led social innovation using #thisishardware.