Bengaluru (India), 13th March, 2023: CMR University (CMRU), one of Bengaluru’s leading private universities, is all set to host its annual flagship event, ‘CMRU Design Thinking Day’ (DTD) at their Lakeside Campus in Bagalur on Friday 17th March 2023. Taking it to the next level, this year CMRU is organizing a first-of-its-kind competition ‘CAUSE 2023’ – A Global Open Innovation Challenge, in which 750 teams from 90 institutions have registered to participate from across 10 countries. Dr. David Kusuma – President, World Design Organization (WDO) & Senior Vice President of Product Management & Innovation, Oregon Tool, USA will be the Chief Guest; Prof Uli Weinberg – President, Global Design Thinking Alliance (GDTA) and Professor & Director – School of Design Thinking, Hasso Plattner Institute, Germany and Shri Venkat Venugopal – R&D Site Head & Director Engineering, Schneider Electric, India will be the Guests of Honour for the Inaugural Ceremony.
CMRU, through its Common Core Curriculum (CCC), was India’s first University to make design thinking a mandatory course for all its Undergraduate and Postgraduate programs across all its School of Studies with effect from the academic year 2021-22. To encourage design thinking in all schools and colleges across the globe, the ‘CAUSE 2023’ Innovation Challenge has created an international platform to encourage all students to come up with innovative solutions to real-world problems that they deeply care about aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) using the design thinking process.
A total of 3,000+ participants from 10 countries have registered to participate in ‘CAUSE 2023’. Out of the 750 teams, only 60 teams will be selected for the ‘Solution Showcase’ round of the Challenge. At the ‘Solution Showcase’ round, the 60 selected teams will pitch their projects’ solutions to a Jury. Only 6 finalists selected from the ‘Solution Showcase’ round will further get an opportunity to pitch their solutions to a Superstar Jury in the ‘Ground Zero’ round, which is the finale of the ‘CAUSE 2023’ Innovation Challenge. The jurors, composed of industry leaders, changemakers, subject matter experts, and venture funders, will decide the Final winners of the ‘CAUSE 2023’ Innovation Challenge.
On this occasion, CMRU’s Department of Common Core Curriculum (DCCC) is also inaugurating a MakerSpace at the Lakeside Campus, an in-house innovation lab that promotes ‘Learning By Doing’, to provide a dedicated space for students and professionals to work on their innovative projects; and will give out its first ‘CMRU Innovation Award’. The constitution of the ‘CMRU Innovation Award’ is a significant part of the Design Thinking Day ‘Cause 2023’. The award is a humble way to recognize, appreciate and celebrate the successes of individuals and groups who have made significant contributions in their respective fields and been instrumental in transforming lives. The award also aims to provide a source of inspiration for all students who aspire to become future innovators.
India’s largest design thinking competition on 17th March 2023 is going to be a big day for all the design thinkers to notice and participate in large numbers. It will also be streamed LIVE.