As one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious social impact contests, Big Ideas provides up to $300,000 directly to students each year for their groundbreaking initiatives.

In the last round of the 2016 Big Ideas Competition, finalists in the IT category presented their ideas for health justice, campus security, special education, and mental health.

Summaries of the 41 final teams from 266 students teams representing more than 750 students across 16 different campuses.

To help celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Big Ideas competition, a record-shattering 266 applications were received. On April 27, 2016, after months of working to develop their ideas, six teams were selected to present at “Pitch Day” before a packed audience at Blum Hall.

2015 Global Health Big Ideas winner Hombres Verdaderos aims to improve health outcomes by stopping domestic violence before it starts. Set to launch in March, the program will engage young, at-risk adolescent boys, ages 11 to 14 years old, from districts in Barranquilla, Colombia.

When it comes to public health, changing behavior sometimes requires coming up with creative incentives. That’s what 2014 Big Ideas Winners Jacqueline Nguyen and Mark Webb had in mind when designing their clean-burning stove, KleanCook.

“Jacaranda Health emerged from a confluence of understanding health care through the eyes of women and identifying the gaps in the business landscape,” said Pearson.