Challengeweek040 successfully concluded at the campus grounds of the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) on the 1st of September, 2023. The four day event saw more than 60 students from TU/e, Summa Engineering and Fontys Pulsed get together and develop sustainable solutions for various challenges. 6 different challenges were offered under the 2 main themes, Campus of the Future and Festival of the Future. Challenges ranged from creating a pop-up library experience of the future, to enriching physical (offline) interactions at a festival.
Challenge040 falls in line with the ambitions of the TU/e as part of the EuroTeQ alliance. The event paved the path to expand EuroTeQ outreach and include diverse types of learners such as professionals and vocational learners and provide insights into other disciplines by an interdisciplinary setting. The spectacular concepts and solutions developed at the event demonstrated that bringing together learners from different educational and cultural backgrounds enhances their creative thinking, problem-solving and intercultural skills.
The challenges as part of Challengeweek040 were real life problems and are issues faced by sponsors of the event. For instance, the Bibliotheek Eindhoven (Central Library of Eindhoven) was looking at ways to create a pop-up “library experience” of the future using a mobile transporter bus, with a natural appeal for young people aged 15-25, who do not often use a library now. The library representatives were very enthusiastic with the solutions that the student teams came up with. They propose to implement these solutions and display them at the Dutch Design Week, an annual international design festival in Eindhoven.
The students displayed their concepts at a Demo Market where a panel of judges selected the winning team for each of the challenges. Attendees at the event also got to vote for the concept that resonated most with them. The Demo Market at Challenge040 was a fantastic culmination of the enthusiasm, effort and energy put in by the students and the organizing team with the support of all the sponsors.
