Design Terminal Aquathon Event — March 26-27, 2020

Water scarcity affects at least 2.5 billion people today, and by 2050 will be a daily problem for over half the world’s population. Aquathon is a 24-hour innovative idea competition or ‘hackathon’ for finding technological solutions to this problem. It is aimed at graduate students or startups with a working prototype, in teams of 2–4. Applicants can sign up from now to March 1, will be notified of their acceptance on March 9–10, and will compete on March 26–27 at Design Terminal’s location in Budapest.

The goal of the competition is to develop a solution to promote responsible water use and prevent waste, which can be scaled internationally. Teams will have access to workshops, one-on-one sessions with mentors, and consultations with industry experts on their solution. At the competition’s end, each team will present  their solution (3-4 minutes) to an international panel of experts, with prizes for the top three solutions.

Aquathon is looking for ‘digital solutions’ in particular, such as the use of cloud-based systems to monitor and record daily water consumption and efficiency of water filtration systems at the residential level.

The official language of the event is Hungarian, but interpreters are available upon request. Food and drinks will be provided, but entrants must bring their own electronic devices, as well as a passport or identity card. For further questions, the organizers can be contacted by email.

The event is funded by Blue Planet Climate Protection Foundation, a nonprofit organization focusing on environmental issues in Hungary, in conjunction with Design Terminal, which in 2016 was awarded “Best Incubator in Hungary” by the Central European Startup Awards.