Foxconn Technology Group
Press Release

Foxconn Announces Final Round Winners of “Smart Cities-Smart Futures” Competition

Concludes first year of $1 million competition with state, local academic partners

By - Apr 25th, 2019 06:00 pm

Milwaukee, WI – Foxconn Technology Group (Foxconn) today announced the final-round winners of the first year of its “Smart Cities-Smart Futures” competition alongside its state and local partners. Dr. Alan Yeung, Foxconn Director of U.S. Strategic Initiatives, academic leaders, and competition partners recognized 12 outstanding ideas submitted by students, faculty, and staff representing Gateway Technical College, the Medical College of Wisconsin, the Milwaukee School of Engineering, UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee, and UW-Platteville.

The winners are:

Hanwan Jiang & Team, UW-Platteville
Bahareh Behzadnezhad & Team, UW-Madison
Michelle Botts  & Team, Medical College of Wisconsin
Michael Schlicting & Team, UW-Madison
Brandon Tefft & Team, Medical College of Wisconsin
Jiatong Li & Team, UW-Madison
– Prof. Jeffrey Blessing, Ph.D., Milwaukee School of Engineering
Fang Yang  & Team, UW-Platteville
Zak Sharif-Sidi & Team, Medical College of Wisconsin
Jingjie Li & Team, UW-Madison
Kate Field, Gateway Technical College
Zihao Jin & Team, UW-Milwaukee

In May 2018, Foxconn pledged up to $1 million in cash and in-kind technical support over a three-year period to support innovative ideas that enhance quality of life, improve working environments, expand transportation networks, inspire creative city planning, and promote sustainable energy solutions. Submissions were evaluated by a group of fifty judges based on clarity, impact, marketability, and other criteria.

Final round competitors were required to write a 1,500-word essay and create a five-minute video explaining how their submission contributes to the vitality of smart communities. Ideas submitted for the competition covered the following categories: energy and the environment, mobility and transportation, education, e-health, software, the internet of things, smart homes, robotics and manufacturing, and big data analytics.

Twelve submissions were selected as third and final round winners from an initial pool of 325 first round applicants. Today’s winners received a $5,000 cash prize for a total of $7,000 in awards over the duration of the entire competition. Beginning last year at a ceremony at Carthage College, first round winners received $500, advancing to the second round where winners received $1,500.

“When we first announced the ‘Smart Cities-Smart Futures Competition, we were amazed at the amount of interest and the quality and creativity of the submissions. I want to congratulate our final round winners on their work, as well as all of the candidates who participated,” said Dr. Yeung. “The goal of this competition was to encourage innovation and critical thinking to help the people of Wisconsin, and I think we are achieving that. The work that resulted from the competition will pave way for developing technologies that will revolutionize how people live, work, and play.”

Foxconn has partnered with the University of Wisconsin System, the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and the Wisconsin Technical College System on the “Smart Cities—Smart Futures” competition. In addition to the academic partners, the competition is also supported by several groups, including the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, the Wisconsin Technology Council, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, the WiSys Technology Foundation, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and the UW-Milwaukee Research Foundation.

For more information about the competition, please visit: https://wismartcities-smartfutures.com/

Twitter: @SmartCitiesWI 
Facebook: facebook.com/SmartCitiesWI
Instagram: Instagram.com/smartcitieswi
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/smartcitiesWI

About Foxconn Technology Group

Established in 1974, Foxconn Technology Group (“Foxconn”), is the global leader in manufacturing services for the computer, communication, and consumer electronics (3C) industry. A multinational company headquartered in Taiwan, Foxconn offers many of the leading U.S. and international companies in electronics a one-stop integrated manufacturing solution. Foxconn generated total annual revenue of $158 billion in 2017 and was ranked No. 24 on the 2018 Fortune magazine Global 500. The company has facilities in Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

Foxconn is leveraging the potential of cloud computing, mobile devices, the Internet of Things, Big Data, artificial intelligence, networks, and robotics and automation, in its transformation as a leading high-tech enterprise and industrial Internet company. The company has research centers and testing laboratories internationally and has received more than 83,500 patents worldwide. In addition to maximizing value creation for customers, Foxconn is also dedicated to enhancing the concept of environmental sustainability in the manufacturing process and serving as a best-practices model for global enterprises.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.

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