If you’ve ever been to an iShow you’ll know that they are long, information-dense single-day events in three urban hubs of creative expression around the world. Ten teams compete in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ event, each presenting their original product or prototype that fulfills a basic need in underserved communities.
The day is crammed with activity. There are rapid “elevator pitch” introductions, private consultations with experts in product pitches, rounds of presentations with slides, videos and demonstrations, rounds of media interviews, judges’ deliberations behind closed doors, design consultations, finger foods, cocktails, flurries of business card trading and more.
This year, as in years past, E4C supplied a judge for the expert panels, and we reported from the events either directly or through our expert collaborators. This is a look at the events on the ground in Bangaluru, Nairobi and Washington, DC, at the podium and behind the scenes.
Bengaluru, India, April 27
In one of India’s technology hubs, three winners from a pool of ten finalists took home up to $50,000 in cash and packages of design and engineering consultation, plus invitations to an investor showcase.
The winning products are SWACHH (Saral Design Solutions Private Limited), an ultra-thin sanitary napkin manufacturing machine; BrailleMe, tactile Braille script for instant access to digital information at one-tenth of the price of existing products; and Saans, a neonatal breathing support device for infants with Respiratory Distress Syndrome in resource-constrained settings.
Noel Wilson at Catapult Design portrays the event in three snapshots.
Nairobi, Kenya, May 25
Ten finalists in Kenya’s nexus of technology innovation and startup culture competed for three winners’ packages, plus one fan favorite.
The winners are Matibabu, a noninvasive smartphone-based Malaria test; Science Set, a low-cost, portable and scalable science lab for students; and Sign-io, a sign language to speech translation glove to help sign language users communicate.
Here is a glimpse of the proceedings in three photos.
Washington, DC, USA, June 22
The final event of the year saw ten finalists in the United States whittled down to three winning teams and one fan favorite. Here we also have a look at the judge panel for the US event.
The winners are the BioLite HomeStove, an efficient and clean-burning wood stove that generates electricity to charge mobile phones and lights while reducing smoke emissions by 90 percent and wood consumption by 50 percent compared to traditional open fire cooking; the EV 8 Cooler, an “evaptainer” that serves as a low-cost mobile refrigerators that runs on water, not electricity; and PlenOptika’s QuickSee portable eye exam that can accurately issue an eyeglass prescription.
This is the US iShow in three shots.
For details and updates on the next iShow, please see thisishardware.org.
