West Lafayette Challenge to Tackle Traffic Congestion

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Several West Lafayette partners have announced a challenge at Discovery Park District designed to find innovative solutions to traffic problems in the city. Innovation Partners Institute, Purdue Research Foundation, city of West Lafayette, Indiana 5G Zone and US Ignite expect the competition to make the streets of West Lafayette safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, and scooter riders. 

The city says the population nearly double when students return to campus and the challenge asks for participants to develop a scalable IoT solution and/or software application to help road safety for vulnerable users who navigate traffic during football games and other events. 

The organizers say the three-phased challenge will ask participants to submit an online proposal due December 3. In the second phase, up to three teams will each be awarded $5,000 to develop a prototype. The third phase will have the finalists access historical and real-time data from current infrastructure to deploy new sensors. Organizers say the finalists will engage with a team of tech experts who make up the Challenge’s Technology Advisory Board, who will serve as coaches and project evaluators.

One of the finalists will implement its solution for the city and gain access to possible investors, along with a one-year membership to NT Convergence.

“We designed the West Lafayette Smart City Challenge with the intent of offering more than a competitive challenge opportunity. We really wanted to support the teams with technical coaching and mentorship to enable the best ideas to be advanced successfully, “said Troy Hege, vice president at the Purdue Research Foundation. 

For the third phase, one of the finalists will pilot its solution for the city and gain access to potential investors, along with a one-year membership to NT Convergence.

The organizers say proposals are welcomed from an U.S. university-based faculty or student teams, or U.S. owned startups or businesses with fewer than 25 employees. More information can be found here.