The XPRIZE Pandemic Alliance introduces the Next-Gen Mask Challenge.
The CDC, doctors, and healthcare professionals say that mask-wearing is important to controlling the spread of COVID-19. But many people don’t like masks–they say they’re hot, or uncomfortable, or ugly. The XPRIZE Pandemic Alliance is looking for young people, age 15 to 24, who can create fun-to-wear, stylish, practical, and effective masks…and they’re offering big money to those who do.
“Currently, we are experiencing a crisis within a crisis,” said Peter Diamandis, the founder and executive chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation. “Studies show that masks are effective in slowing and preventing the spread of COVID-19, yet even as cases surge a large number of individuals are still not adopting the preventive measure. We understand that masks can be ill-fitting, uncomfortable, unfashionable, and that the most effective masks are often unavailable or expensive for everyday people. We need an alternative.”
The contest is sponsored by Jim Cramer, of CNBC’s Mad Money, and Marc Benioff, the founder of Salesforce, Inc. In an appearance on Mad Money, Benioff said that simple cloth masks block most of the COVID-19 droplets. He said he wants young people to develop masks that everyone wants to wear, cultural phenomenons, that maybe Stella McCartney or Louis Vuitton might have designed–but he believes young people can develop the masks that will win the prize. Benioff owns a home on the Big Island.
This eight-month challenge, which is open to young adults from around the world, invites future innovators to shift cultural perspective around mask-wearing behavior by developing the next generation of surgical -grade consumer face masks. In the end, a grand prize winner plus two additional teams will be selected by a panel of judges and industry experts. The three teams will split a one-million-dollar prize purse and will be connected to rapid manufacturing opportunities to accelerate the production of their reimagined facial masks.
Young innovators, ages 15-24, who want to participate should visit xprize.org/mask to learn more and register.
