2025

The Stanford Center on Longevity Design Challenge is a global competition that encourages students to design products and services to improve well-being across the lifespan. In its twelfth year, the Challenge is focused on reimagining education and learning for longer lives.

LONGEVITY DESIGN CHALLENGE GOALS:

1. Create well-designed, practical solutions that improve well-being across the lifespan
2. Encourage a new generation of students to become knowledgeable about issues associated with long lives
3. Provide promising designers with a path to drive change in the world

HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Register to participate and submit your entry here: https://designchallengestanford.skild.com/

Register to Participate
Register to participate here between September 9 – December 4, 2024. You may participate as an individual or as part of a team. Teams may have a maximum of 5 members. See the “Teams and eligibility” section of the FAQ below for more information about team rules. If you are registering as a team, the person who registers first will be designated the team leader. They can then add everyone else as team members.

Prepare your submission
You can view all the materials you will need to prepare in this preview of the entry form. Please see the “Submissions” sections of the FAQ below for more information about the entry form. If you still have questions, please email [email protected].

Submit your design
Once you have prepared your materials, log in and complete the entry form. The form will be open from September 9 until 11:59 PM Pacific time on December 4, 2024.

After the December 4 deadline, the judges will evaluate all submitted designs according to the judging criteria (see the Details section below for more information).

Finalists
Finalists will be announced on January 29, 2025. Finalists will be awarded $1,000 US and paired with an experienced mentor.

Finalists will compete in the final competition for $10,000 in April 2025. The finals are expected to be held in-person at Stanford University. Finalists are reimbursed (limited) travel costs. Each team will have 7 minutes to pitch their idea to the panel of judges. The judges will use the same criteria as for the initial submissions and will decide the top three winners on the same day as the pitches.

CHALLENGE TIMELINE
The challenge is organized into two phases that are synchronized with the academic year.

Phase I:  September – December 2024
Phase I is the open call portion of the challenge. During this time, teams will learn about the topic and create their solution concept. The Challenge organizing team will be available during this time for questions. Solutions may be submitted at any time during this period, but no judging feedback will be available until January.

Judging Period: December 2024 – January 2025
During this period, our judging panel will select a small number of finalists. Finalists will be announced in late January.

Phase II: January 2025 – April 2025
During Phase II, finalists will be asked to further develop their idea and to prepare a presentation. Mentors from corporate partners and industry experts will be available during this period.

 KEY DATES

• Kick-off: Monday, September 9, 2024
• Phase I submissions due: Wednesday, December 4, 2024
• Finalists (5-8 teams) announced: Wednesday, January 29, 2025
• Finals: April 2025 (exact day TBA)

AWARDS
Top winners receive cash prizes of $10,000 (1st place), $5,000 (2nd place), $2,000 (3rd place).

Finalists receive a $1,000 cash prize and mentorship from industry experts and researchers.

ELIGIBILITY
The challenge is open to teams of 1-5 students enrolled during the 2022-2023 academic year, attending any accredited university or college globally.  Each team must have at least one full-time student and if the team is selected as a Finalist, only students may present.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Any intellectual property developed by a team during participation in the Design Challenge will remain the property of the individual design team, or the team members’ universities or employers, as applicable. The Stanford Center on Longevity and Challenge sponsors reserve the right to publicize designs following submission. Teams interested in intellectual property protection should take any steps necessary to protect patentable inventions, copyrighted work or other intellectual property prior to submission. Team involvement with any of the Challenge sponsors is strictly voluntary. Agreements between teams and sponsors are beyond the reach of Stanford Center on Longevity or Stanford University, and should be arranged separately between the teams and sponsors.

JUDGING CRITERIA
The Challenge will be judged by experts in design and technology including carefully selected academics with expertise on the topic; executives from technology and consumer goods firms; venture capitalists; and senior representatives from related mission-driven organizations.

Judging Criteria 

• 40% Impact – will the design improve long life outcomes?
• 30% Originality – has this idea been seen before? Is there something similar to it on the market?
• 20% Feasibility – will the design work? Can it be produced at scale?
• 10% Affordability – teams must identify their target population for the design. Would the cost of the design at scale make it a viable product for that population?

A separate score reflecting alignment of the design to the topic will be added as a weight to the overall score. For example, if a design were to score 90% on the judging criteria above but only 50% on alignment, the overall score would be 45% (.90 X .50).

SPONSORSHIP

LEVELS AND BENEFITS OF SPONSORSHIP

 PLATINUM SPONSOR ($50k +)
• Receives all benefits as per Gold Sponsor (below)
• Receives online and offline Platinum Sponsor recognition
• Acts as a strategic partner in creating the structure of the challenge
• Option for SCL presentation at Platinum Sponsor meeting or event

GOLD SPONSOR ($20k)
• Receives all benefits as per Silver Sponsor (below)
• Receives online and offline Gold Sponsor recognition
• Has the opportunity to provide a judge for the competition
• Is offered access to all designs submitted in December 2024
• Is offered a corporate presence at the Awards ceremony in April 2025

SILVER SPONSOR ($10k)
• Receives online and offline Silver Sponsor recognition
• Has the opportunity to provide tailored content to educate teams through the challenge website
• Is offered the opportunity to mentor teams during the incubator period

For more information on sponsorship opportunities, please contact Marie Conley-Smith at [email protected].

2023-2024 | “Designing for Life Transitions”

The 2024 Longevity Design Challenge focused on making life transitions more positive and meaningful for people of all ages.

Winners:

• First Place – “Asterisk” from University of Navarra, Spain
• Second Place – “Bala” from Delhi Technological University, India
• Third Place – “LifeQuest” from Northwestern University, USA

2022-2023 | “Optimizing Health Span: Living Well at Every Age”

The 2022 Longevity Design Challenge focused on the optimization of health span at any age.

Winners:

• First Place – “Variable Reactive Board” from Pratt Institute & New York University, USA
• Second Place – “Unpause Life” from NMIMS School of Design, India
• Third Place – “2 Care” from Tunghai University, Ming Chi University of Technology, and National Taipei University of Education, Taiwan

2021-2022 | “Longevity-Ready Environments: Rethinking Physical Spaces for Century-Long Lives”

The 2022 Longevity Design Challenge focused on designing physical spaces that better support century-long lives.

Winners:

• First Place – “Sarewa” from Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria
• Second Place –“Karpolax” from Makerere University, Uganda
• Third Place – “Spore” from North Carolina State University & Boston College, USA

2020-2021 | “After the Pandemic: Designing the Next Version of Our World”

The 2021 Longevity Design Challenge focused on ideas inspired by the cultural shift that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic that support long, healthy, and happy lives for everyone.

Winners:

• First Place – “Foris Labs” from Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Nigeria
• Second Place – “PhoneBook” from the Metropolitan State University of Denver, USA
• Third Place – “Wulu” from Harvard Kennedy School, USA (team located in India)

2019-2020 | “Reducing the Inequity Gap: Designing for Affordability”

The 2020 Longevity Design Challenge focused on significantly reducing the cost of innovations that help people at all ages increase their odds of a long and healthy life.

Winners:

• First Place – “Shishu, Sui aur Dhaaga” from the Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology in Bengaluru, India
• Second Place – “School in the Sky” from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, USA
• Third Place – “The First Desk” from the Beijing Institute of Technology in Beijing, China

2018-2019 | “Contributing at Every Age: Designing for Intergenerational Impact”

We invited teams to submit proposals for designs that promote and facilitate intergenerational interaction.

Winners:

• First Place – “Family Room” by Anand Upender, Daniel Chan, Mina Bhatt, Nadine Levine, Stanford University
• First Place – “So You Think You Know Your Grandma” by Ismail Azam, Inaara Charolia, Rani Cochran, Ashna Mangla, Lillian Tran UC Berkeley
• Second Place – “Pillow Fight!” by Hung-Yu Chen, Chor-Kheng Lim, Ching-Chia Renn, YuanZe University, Taipei

2017-2018 | “Promoting Lifelong Habits through Design”

We invited teams to submit proposals for designs to create and support healthy habits –including financial, physical, and social behaviors—which are shown to improve quality of life.

Winners:

• First Place – “Ride Rite” by Eric Bottelsen, Eric Lord, Maya Pines, and Drew Sigler from Virginia Tech
• Second Place – “Gesturecise” by Nakul Kasture, Nikhil Kumar, Akshat Mandloi, and Purvish Shah from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
• Third Place – “Grow and Gather” by Seira Yasumatsu of San Francisco State University.

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2016-2017 | “Aging in Place”

The challenge invited submissions to address the factors that allow individuals and families to remain in their homes throughout the lifespan and into old age.

Winners:

• First Place – “TAME” by  Hooriya Anam, Awais Shafique, and Arsalan Javed  from the  National University of Sciences and Technology in Islamabad, Pakistan
• Second Place – “Rendever” by Charles Lin and Kyle Rand at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Third Place – “UPPO” by Lane Hering, Emma Lee, Charlene Lertlumprasert, Genesis Solano, and Gerrold Walker from Virginia Tech

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2015-2016 | “Using Happiness to Optimize Longevity”

The challenge invited submissions to address three tracks: Mind, Mobility, and Financial Security, reflective of the Center on Longevity’s mission to enable people to reach old age Mentally Sharp, Physically Fit, and Financially Secure.

Winners:

“Delight the Mind” (Mind Challenge)

• First Place – “Memoir Monopoly” from Cho Szu-Yang and Cheng Ya-Fang of National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
• Second Place – “Bath Chair” from National Yunlin University of Science (Taiwan)
• Third Place – “Echo” from National University of Singapore

“Discover the Motion” (Mobility Challenge)

• First Place – “City Cart” from Brandon Lopez and Eric Renard of San Francisco State University
• Second Place – “Yedi70” from Koc University at Istanbul
• Third Place – “POTALK” from National Chiao-Tung University (Taiwan)

Note: Insufficient entries were received to select finalists and make awards in the financial track.

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2014-2015 | “Enabling Personal Mobility Across the Life Span”

The 2014-2015 Challenge invited designer to create solutions for empowering mobility among older adults at a personal level by: (1) reducing sedentary lifestyles, (2) encouraging and enabling physical movement and exercise, and (3) reducing barriers and increasing facilitators to mobility in the home and community.

• First Place – Nicholas Steigmann and Maiya Jensen from the California College of the Arts and their project “SPAN”
• Second Place – “HandleBar” from the University of California, Berkeley
• Third Place – “Luna Lights” from Northwestern University
• Stanford Longevity Technology Prize – “Flipod” from National University of Singapore

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2013-2014 | “Maximizing Independence for those with Cognitive Impairment”

This 2013-2014 challenge focused on designing new solutions to keep individuals with cognitive impairment independent for as long as possible. The challenge asked designer to identify issues around quality of life, personal independence, and helping people experience the best parts of life for as long as possible.

• First Place – “EatWell” by Sha Yao from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco
• Second Place – “Taste+” from the KEIO-NUS CUTE center at the National University of Singapore
• Third Place – “Memory Maps” from the Copenhagen Institute of Design

Read more about the winners >