SolveSB

What is it?

SolveSB is a South Bend-specific ideathon, a collaborative event in which individuals from different specialties work together to solve an existing problem.

During our first SolveSB event this past July we called upon local high school students, college-age young adults, and mid-to-late career professionals alike to join in a weekend of fun, competition, and brainstorming. Individuals formed teams or were placed placed in project teams based on their skills. They then worked to intensively solve a problem statement under the topic of sustainability. The Summer 2022 problem statement was: “How might we increase the amount of residents that move about the city on bike, by walking, or rolling?”

Special thanks to our judges and speakers from the Department of Innovation and Technology, Office of Sustainability, South Bend Bike Garage, and Bike Michiana Coalition, as well as our lunch sponsor, The General.

Finally, we extend a big congratulations to our winners, Team Coveleski! We look forward to more collaborative brainstorming events in the future!

Event dates

Sat, July 16th — Sun, July 17th, 2022

Location

Technology Resource Center (TRC)
1165 Franklin St
South Bend, IN 46601

How it works

1. Choose your team.

Registrants can participate based on the following criteria:

• Individuals must be of or over the age of 16.
• Individuals from all disciplines and areas of expertise are invited to participate — from creatives to coders and everything in between.
• Each team will work the same problem statement.
• Teams should be formed with 3-5 members.
  • Teams with fewer than 3 members will be paired with single entrants or other like-sized teams.
• Single registrants will be assigned a team based on experience and team needs.

2. Work to solve our problem statement.

During SolveSB weekend and broken into two work sessions, teams will collaborate to ideate and propose an innovative solution to our Sustainability-related problem statement. A detailed problem statement will be announced at the beginning of the SolveSB event. The problem statement topic is:

• Sustainability

3. Compete to win!

Our judging panel of City and community partners will award the top two teams based on how innovative, pragmatic and equitable their solutions are.