AWARDED CHALLENGES
A SeaFreight Labs challenge can be run completely anonymously, in a completely public fashion or in a manner between these two extremes. This page contains information about our challenges where the Seekers wanted to publicize the solutions and Solvers from their challenges.
1. Safe and Desirable Female Toilets in Refugee Camps
Seven winners of this challenge were announced on 11 January 2024 by the International Rescue Committee ("IRC"). Read the press release HERE. The challenge offered a US$30,000 prize for new ideas on three different categories of problems with current latrines: improved lighting, locking and alerting when in need of maintenance. The cost for all three innovations could not exceed US$20 per latrine.
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The challenge attracted 220 registrants from 60 countries. These folks submitted 114 proposals. The IRC selected 7 winners from 7 different countries. Click HERE to learn about the winners and their winning submissions.
2. Innovative Packaging for Last-Mile Medical-Supply Delivery
The winning solution for this challenge was announced on 24 April 2024 by the International Rescue Committee ("IRC"). Read the press release HERE. The challenge offered a US$25,000 prize for cheaper and better ways to ship medical and surgical supplies to rural health clinics in Sierra Leone. Specifically, the IRC was seeking improvements in trackability, resistance, reuse and affordability.
The challenge attracted 180 registrants from 49 countries. These folks submitted 92 proposals from 33 countries. The winning submission was a 2-person team - one from Ghana and one from Rwanda. Click HERE to read their winning submission. Click HERE and HERE for drawings of the winning design. Click HERE for a video simulation of how to put the box together. Click HERE for biographies of the two winners.
3. Sourcing and Enabling Traditional Disaster Risk-Reduction Approaches For Rural Afghanistan and Somalia
The winning solution for this challenge was announced on 15 October 2024 by the International Rescue Committee ("IRC"). Read the press release HERE. The challenge offered a US$15,000 prize for either: 1) traditional approaches to disaster risk reduction ("DRR") that could work in the context of rural Afghanistan or Somalia; or, 2) modern methods to preserve, promote and enable indigenous approaches to disaster risk reduction for rural Afghanistan or Somalia.
The challenge was noteworthy because it only ran for 32 days, much shorter than other humanitarian challenges we have been involved with. The shortness of the public solicitation period allowed the IRC to be able to use the challenge as part of their project initiation process and to fit into their project schedule constraints. They used the challenge to obtain a diverse overview of current DRR practices in Afghanistan and Somalia as they kicked off a new project regarding DRR in these countries. An overview of the project titled "Blending Tradition and Modernity for Disaster Risk Reduction at the Epicenter of Crisis: The Case of Afghanistan and Somalia" can be found HERE. The IRC press release about the project is HERE.
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The challenge attracted 62 registrants from 32 countries. These folks submitted 36 proposals from 20 countries. Because the IRC was looking for a range of diverse ideas, they awarded 10 prizes to solvers from 9 countries. These countries included Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Greece, India, Malaysia, Netherlands, Tunisia, and USA. A short description of each idea can be found in the IRC press release HERE.
1. Affordable Rural Single Family Sanitation Solutions
Three winners of this challenge were announced on 29 June 2021 by World Vision. The challenge offered a US$15,000 prize for ideas on how to improve sanitation for families and communities in rural areas of developing countries at a cost of less than US$45. Click HERE to learn about the winners and their winning submissions.
2. Affordable Water-Quality Monitoring in Africa
The winner of this challenge was announced on 31 January 2022 by World Vision. The challenge offered a US$20,000 prize for a system that could continuously monitor levels of free chlorine in rural piped water systems for a bill-of-materials cost of less than US$500. Click HERE to learn about the winner and his winning design.
1. Affordable Retrofit of Homes with No Foundations for Improved Earthquake & Typhoon Resilience
The winner of this challenge was announced on 29 September 2021 by Habitat for Humanity at a virtual awards ceremony. The challenge offered a US$25,000 prize for solutions that could be used to retrofit existing homes in the Philippines without foundations for less than US$300. After an extensive review process including the construction of partial homes and the simulation of earthquake and typhoon forces, the winners were a team from Civil Engineering Department at the University of the Philippines.
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Read Habitat for Humanity Philippines' press releases HERE and HERE.
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Read an article from BusinessWorld HERE.
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Read the front-page article in Business Mirror HERE.
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Watch a 6:37 video about the challenge HERE. In this video, our Founder announces the challenge winner at 5:17.
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The virtual awards ceremony was attended by over 200 people from all over the world (see the agenda here). It is an excellent example of how a humanitarian organization can use a challenge to solve important problems AND to generate awareness of their work. You can watch the full event on the video below (1 hour, 5 minutes long). In this video, our Founder announces the winning solver at 39:46 of the video.
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This project is particularly interesting because it had an extensive phase of field testing to select the eventual winner. Habitat documented this process with a set of videos that they launched on Linked-In over the testing period. Links to some of the videos are below:
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2. Improved Construction and Demolition Waste Management
The winner of this challenge was announced on 27 August 2021 by Habitat for Humanity's Terwilliger Center via Twitter (see below). The challenge offered a US$15,000 prize for ideas on how India and/or other parts of the world could dramatically reduce the amount of construction and demolition waste generated. The challenge attracted 277 registered solvers from 59 different countries. There were 59 different solutions submitted from 18 different countries.
The challenge had four winners. Read the complete problem statement and the winning submissions HERE.
3. Affordable Water Harvesting for Low-Income Households in Urban Areas
The winner of this challenge was announced on 20 January 2022 by Habitat for Humanity's Terwillieger Center for Innovation in Shelter at a virtual awards ceremony. The challenge offered a US$25,000 prize for solutions that could be used to harvest rainwater for family use in an urban setting for less than US$210 of materials cost and less than US$420 for installation. The challenge attracted 278 registered solvers from 54 different countries. There were 55 different solutions submitted from 26 different countries. Read the full challenge definition HERE.
The winner of the challenge was Jesús Chico Fernández, from Spain. His submission was titled "Project SABUC: Solar Air Bubbles + Ultraviolet Light + Carbon Filter". Read his submission HERE. The solution collects, cleans and stores rainwater for human consumption. It best met the challenge objectives of 1) using low-cost technology; 2) being simple to install; 3) providing easy access to clean water; and, 4) offering adequate storage capacity for an urban Mexican family.
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The virtual awards ceremony was conducted entirely in Spanish. A link to a recording of the event is below. It is 26:13 long. Our Founder and President, Harry Sangree, announces the winner at 6:47 of the video. The Solver explains his solution beginning at 9:56 of the video. The follow-up newsletter celebrating the winning solver is available HERE.
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4. Malaria Prevention through Innovations in Home Design or Home Life
The winner of this challenge was announced on 16 September 2022 by Habitat for Humanity's Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter via Twitter and LinkedIn. Read the full announcement HERE.
The challenge offered a US$20,000 prize for solutions that could dramatically reduce the interior population of mosquitos in a typical Kenyan home for a retrofitting cost of less than US$200 for a 36 square meter house with three rooms. The challenge attracted 264 registered solvers from 57 different countries. There were 75 different solutions submitted from 28 different countries.
The winner of the challenge was Jayesh Vani, from India. His submission was titled "Malaria-Mosquito Free Homes". Read his submission HERE.
The solution was tested by the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). Their tests found that the solution cut mosquito entry into homes by 89%, compared to a typical home without the retrofitting. Read their evaluation report HERE.
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