FAQ

Our upcoming Innovation Challenge: Carbon Conscious will be February 9-10, 2024. Registration is now open to all undergraduate and graduate students in the surrounding Baltimore area. We are welcome to people of all majors, backgrounds, and skillsets. There is a place for you and your innovative ideas at GreenHacks. We hope to support you and your ideas at our event.

An innovation challenge, also known as a venture challenge, is a competitive forum designed to support and motivate aspiring entrepreneurs and their startup ideas. Typically, these challenges provide mentorship and resources to help participants refine their ideas, pitch their ventures, and gain resources or funding to launch their businesses. 

Innovation challenges are great opportunities to network with a diverse range of individuals, including investors, researchers, professionals, and prospering entrepreneurs, potentially leading to partnerships or future opportunities. They are a great way for participants create and showcase innovative ideas, valuable feedback, access support, and potentially funding or critical resources.

A sustainability innovation challenge has the same premise as an innovation challenge but deals with environmental problems and solutions that can help mitigative climate, pollution, and sustainability issues. The ideas that participants create are targeted towards developing innovative technologies or strategies that promote environmental conservation, reduce carbon footprints, enhance resource efficiency, and foster sustainability practices.

GreenHacks provides a nurturing environment for individuals and teams to ideate and innovate their idea. Through mentorship, workshops, and networking opportunities, participants receive guidance and support to develop their ideas into actionable initiatives with real-world impact. We partner with the JHU initiative FastForwardU which works to support student entrepreneurship and innovation. 

Students work in teams to tackle targeted sustainability challenges head-on. At the culmination, they will be judged on the creativity, feasibility, and impact of their pitches. Embracing inclusivity and all skill levels, we encourage participants from all fields and areas of expertise. Solutions can come in any form ranging from strategic business proposals, cutting-edge mobile applications, functional prototypes, and so on. Our aim is to foster entrepreneurial ingenuity for impactful and sustainable solutions.

GreenHacks is always looking for people to be speakers, judges, or experts to be part of our events. This opportunity is not limited to people who are in the sustainability field, but rather those who have a passion for innovation and bettering the planet. 

In the past, GreenHacks has collaborated with:

• Ralph O'Connor Sustainable Energy Institute 

• JHU Environmental Health and Engineering

• JHU Department of Sustainability

• Bloomberg School of Public Health

• JHU Earth and Planetary Sciences

• JHU Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

• Institute for NanoBioTechnology

And our participants have come from many different JHU majors and departments!

The event is open to students of ALL backgrounds and skills from the Homewood campus, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Carey Business School, MICA, and other Hopkins-affiliated schools, undergraduate or graduate student, regardless of area of study! GreenHacks will also be open to the entire network of Baltimore-area universities! 

GreenHack's innovation challenge is a rewarding experience that combines collaboration and impactful ideation. We encourage individuals of all concentrations to sign up for our Spring 2024 event.