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WHAT IS CULTIVATE TOMORROW?

What We Stand For

Cultivate Tomorrow is the first US hackathon focused solely on cellular agriculture and cell cultured food. This hackathon will work to lower the barrier to enter the cell cultured food industry for STEM and non-STEM individuals. We will create a large network and community of diverse individuals with different backgrounds, skills, and interests. Together we will brainstorm, innovate, and re-imagine the future of food.

This event is open to all undergraduate and graduate students across the US who are interested in becoming more immersed in this field. We believe that only through cross-collaboration will this industry succeed in redefining the food system and allocation of our planet's natural resources.

ABOUT OUR CAUSE

Vision and Mission Statement

Vision

We will provide engaging, educational, and fun competitions that reach young adults across the nation and foster creativity, problem-solving, and out-of-the box thinking that will aid the understanding, development and integration of cell-based products.

Mission

To introduce and engage undergraduate and graduate students across the US with a diverse set of backgrounds, interests, and skills in the rising field of cellular agriculture.
To foster collaboration and conversation between educational institutions and industry leaders that will generate innovative ideas and unique perspectives on the advancement of the field.
To lower the barrier for newcomers and help them recognize their unique value to help spread awareness of the initiative that aims to tackle many of the UN sustainability goals.
To provide companies with new insight and broad perspectives on perception of the industry, its products, and its goals
To host a fun, exciting, and educational event that creates a community across states, schools, companies, and people across the US all working towards the same goal of saving our planet.

EVENT DETAILS

WHAT

Undergraduate and graduate students in the US will form teams of four and compete in one of three tracks.

Create an advertising strategy proposal for a novel cultivated food product and target consumer demographic (selected by mentor)
Create a scientific communication platform that demystifies some of the misunderstood aspects of the cultivated food industry
Research proposal for an underutilized resource that could improve or impact a specific part of cell cultured production and devise a proposal for its application

WHEN

09/13/21 - Application opens

11/01/21 - Application closes

11/10/21 - Form teams

12/03/21 - Matching teams with mentors and officially introducing problem statement

02/01/22 - Submit final proposal

02/02/22 - Proposal evaluation begins

02/12/22 - Hybrid hackathon event (in-person and virtual + team presentations

02/12/22 - Announce winners of event

WHERE?

Hybrid Event:

In-Person for participants and mentors able and willing to travel to our events in the Bay Area, CA and Boston, MA
Virtual event and component for those who are unable to travel.

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?

Any student in undergraduate or graduate studies in the US is eligible to apply. We encourage students from all backgrounds, majors, and diversities to apply. Our goal is to help students of all facets to become immersed in the cellular and acellular agriculture industry.

Apply via this page: Application

MENTORS

We have invited the most innovative and advanced companies in the US that are working to revolutionize the food industry with cellular agriculture. These companies have offered their time and expertise to mentor some of the teams. Industry mentors will be able to provide insight on the specifics of the problem statement, challenges being faced, and a closer look at business and technology operations. Mentorship is selective and may require signed NDAs. To learn more about our mentors, check out this page.

JUDGES

Each track will have a separate judging panel, which will evaluate based on a set of criteria. The judges will be selected from non-profit organizations, investors, advisors, and other industry stakeholders.

TEAM

Student Organizers from US academic institutions

This event was spun out of a group of graduate and undergraduate students at different schools across the US that are invested in transforming the food and agriculture industry to protect our planet. Together we have put together this event to grow the community of students interested in the space and lower the barrier for students of all backgrounds to step into the industry.