Spring 2021

About the CIC

The Convergence Innovation Competition (CIC) encourages students to create innovative, viable products and experiences whether they are projects for classes, individual classes or even beyond that. Convergence areas are determined by our campus, industry, and community partners. Winning entries will include a working end-to-end prototype which operates on converged services, media, networks, services, and platforms as well as a value proposition model. CIC winners go on to commercialization, other competitions, as well as internship and job opportunities strengthened by their competition experience. CIC is an annual event produced by GT-RNOC and the Institute for People and Technology (IPaT).

Spring 2021 Quick Links

In accordance with Georgia Tech's current campus operations and the latest recommendations from the CDC, this semester's Convergence Innovation Competition will be held in a virtual format.


Competition Timeline

Office Hours (January - March 2021)

Have an idea for your CIC project and would like to discuss with someone? Competition organizers are happy to set up a time to meet with you and discuss your projectand provide feedback to you. To coordinate a time, please contact us at rnoc-lab-staff@lists.gatech.edu with your availability and any details of your project so far.

 

IPaT Thursday Think Tank: Championing Innovation and Advancing Technology through the Convergence Innovation Competition

Thursday, March 11, 2021, 3:30-4:30 p.m.

Online (BlueJeans)

Faculty and students, please join us to explore how your current student research and course projects can leverage the Convergence Innovation Competition (CIC) to improve their impact and visibility. The spring 2021 competition will continue using the Convergence Areas focusing on the global, social and cultural challenges of our times. The CIC is dedicated to helping students create and showcase innovative and viable products with the support of campus and industry resources. Winning entries include a viable prototype which addresses an existing need in one of the competition’s convergence areas.

During this Thursday Think Tank, we will:

  • Brainstorm problems worth solving using the catalyst of current events (i.e. COVID-19, social justice, climate change)
  • Outline the competition’s convergence areas
  • Explore the alignment and intersections of current course topics and research initiatives with the convergence areas
  • Highlight the ways faculty can encourage student participation based on class projects, including different deliverable timelines

This session will be facilitated by:

  • Russ Clark, Senior Research Scientist, Director, GT-RNOC
  • Siva Jayaraman, Strategic Partnerships Director, Institute for People and Technology
  • Matt Sanders, Director of Research Operations, Institute for People and Technology
  • Faith Sumpter, Program & Operations Manager, Institute for People and Technology

If you would like to call into the conversation using a phone, you can access using the phone numbers below:
+1.408.419.1715 (United States (San Jose))(see all numbers - https://www.bluejeans.com/numbers)
Meeting ID: 521 440 874
Enter the meeting ID followed by #

 

Submission (April 11, 2021)

Team submissions are due by 11:59 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 11, 2021.

 

Judging Process

The two-part judging process will include: 

Round 1: First Round Judging (All Teams) - April 12-18, 2021

The first round of judging will be a preliminary review of submission materials by a group of judges during the week of April 12-18, 2021. The CIC planning team will contact selected finalists and provide feedback to all teams via email on April 19, 2021.

Round 2: Finalists' Judging - April 20-22, 2021

The finalists' judging will be a meeting of the team with the judges virtually. Finalists will demonstrate their projects and answer questions from judges highlighting the merits of their projects. Finalists will meet with a panel of judges during a scheduled 20 minute session between April 20-22, 2021.

 

Winner Announcement (April 23, 2021)

We will announce the Spring 2021 Convergence Innovation Competition winners on Friday, April 23, 2021 at 1:30 p.m. Eastern. We invite you to view the livestream announcement at https://primetime.bluejeans.com/a2m/live-event/zszxdjwh.

 

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter or check back here in mid-March for additional details about the finalist judging process.

 

Have questions?

 

If you have any questions regarding the CIC event and wish to contact us, please feel free to send an email us at rnoc-lab-staff@lists.gatech.edu. The RNOC lab is closed for in-person collaboration, but devices can be requested virtually and we have instituted contactless operations.