$12 Million Awarded to 24 Winners In Round One of CCEMC Grand Challenge: Run by NineSigma

CLEVELAND, June 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- NineSigma, Inc., the leading innovation partner to organizations worldwide, today announces that 24 winners were selected by the CCEMC (Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation) Grand Challenge in round-one of their Grand Challenge to achieve a net reduction of greenhouse gases by 1 megatonne per year through novel approaches to converting carbon from a liability to an asset in Alberta, Canada.

The CCEMC is a not-for-profit corporation focused on stimulating transformative change by funding projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within Canada. They selected 24 winners from 55 semi-finalists. Finalists were chosen from 344 submissions received from solution providers in 37 countries on six continents. Seven winners are from Canada, fourteen are from the United States and three are from the UK.

Their solutions are diverse and include a number of different approaches for conversion of carbon dioxide into useful products. These products include a fuel cell, fertilizers, concrete, a product to treat wastewater, and the "miracle material" graphene – which is stronger than a diamond and conducts electricity a thousand times better than copper. They also include a variety of chemicals to produce consumer goods like ski boots, fishing rods, and fleece jackets.

Grand Challenges identify breakthrough, transformative technologies to accelerate solutions for significant societal issues. The significant monetary rewards and access to an expert mentoring community incentivize strategic technical communities globally to bring forward their knowledge and technologies to identify new and unique solution paths. Executed with NineSigma's finely honed methodology, these challenges reach scientists, inventors, and others not normally in the sponsor's "sphere of contacts," to surface breakthroughs that change the course of history.

Grand Challenges are a key strength in NineSigma's portfolio of proven approaches in the field of Open Innovation, which involves going outside of an organization's industry or geography to solve challenges in the most efficient and effective manner.

"For 14 years NineSigma has refined our methodologies to succeed with Open Innovation on the largest scale. The CCEMC Grand Challenge is a great example of a program that other organizations may find illustrative, as a model to combat climate change," said Andy Zynga, NineSigma CEO.

"The value of NineSigma is demonstrated by their results. NineSigma is a trusted brand to reach the global technical community. They extended our reach dramatically - attracting submissions and stimulating interest from qualified solution providers around the globe. NineSigma also empowered us to better leverage internal capacities, fill in gaps and design an effective program," said CCEMC Chair Eric Newell.

The CCEMC Grand Challenge, "Innovative Carbon Uses", offers a $10 Million Grand Prize for technology commercialization. Each Round One winner received $500,000 in seed grants and access to a support team to help them develop their solution.

Winners of the first round are:

For biofixation:

• The University of Maryland (USA)
• OakBio (USA)
• Industrial Microbes (USA)

For solid products:

• New Sky Energy (USA)
• Skyonic Corporation (USA)
• Solidia Technologies (USA)
• Blue Planet Ltd. (USA)
• McGill University, for Use of Carbon Dioxide in Making Carbonate-Bond PrecastConcrete Products (Canada)
• CCm Research (UK)
• Carbon Cycle United (UK)
• Archtech Inc. (USA)
• JRE Petroleum Services (Canada)

For chemical synthesis:

• RTI International (USA)
• Liquid Light (USA)
• E3Tec Service, LLC (USA)
• Gas Technology Institute (USA)
• University of British Columbia (Canada)

For fuels:

• Pioneer Energy (USA)
• University of California Riverside (USA)
• Quantiam Technologies (Canada)
• McGill University, for Chemical Transformation of Carbon Dioxide via Solar-Powered Artificial Photosynthesis (Canada)
• Robert Gordon University (UK)
• University of Alberta (Canada)
• Enerkem Inc. (Canada)

Round Two of the Grand Challenge launches in September 2015 and after a second international outreach, five winners will each receive $3 million in development grants. From that group, a final winner will be awarded a $10 million grant in 2018 to commercialize their solution.

Solution providers interested in participating in Grand Challenges can register on NineSights®, to download all documents related to the Challenges currently underway and coming up, ask questions, and sign up to receive regular updates.

Click to download a PDF version of the Project Backgrounders
http://ccemc.ca/media_release/1553/#sthash.HwRfiud1.dpuf

About NineSigma

NineSigma connects organizations with external innovation resources to accelerate innovation in private, public and social sectors. The company provides open innovation services to organizations worldwide, including Kraft Foods, Philips, Siemens, and Unilever, to solve immediate challenges, integrate new knowledge, fill product pipelines, and stay ahead of the competition. Named to the 2012 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private U.S. companies, NineSigma's proprietary process has produced billions of dollars in value for its clients. NineSigma has the largest open global network of solution providers and an extensive database of existing solutions spanning numerous industries and technical disciplines. NineSigma's online innovation community, NineSights®, is the world's first open innovation social media destination, connecting innovators of all sizes with resources and relationships to drive growth. Learn more at www.ninesigma.com and www.ninesights.com. 

Media Contact: 
Jackie Lucas, Warner Communications — [email protected], (978) 255-1159

SOURCE NineSigma