Innov8x Flash Challenge

Global supply chains have been significantly disrupted in the wake of the Covid pandemic. The housing construction industry, in particular, has been severely impacted. Prices of lumber and steel, two key inputs, have risen dramatically. This has contributed in part to runaway home prices pushing home ownership out of reach for many more people. The housing industry has lagged in adopting new technologies and alternative material. We still build the same way we used over 100 years ago. This perfect storm of archaic methods and supply shortages present a great innovation opportunity for creative Mines students and faculty:

Part 1 During Flash Challenge: Sourcing alternative housing construction material:

• Given a list of materials, which one interests you? Which one has potential?
• Where is the material currently? How is it used? Does it need to be extracted or processed? If so, how?
• How can your proposed alternative material be used in housing construction?
• What collection strategies make sense? Is the supply pipeline sustainable enough to support local housing construction? How does it go from source to a builder?

Part 2 Following the Challenge: Winning teams will be invited to run an experiment (pretotype to prototype) to explore their proposal.

On November 12, the next Innov8x Flash Challenge will take place in the new Innov8x Studio – 1750 Jackson St in Golden. The theme will be a surprise. All we can tell you now is that it has to do with Mines and it is not an app.