8th Annual Sustainability
Design Challenge
Oct 04, 05, 2025
2-Day Innovation Competition
Program Dates
Day 1 - Oct 4 (9:00 AM to 5:00 PM)
Day 2 - Oct 5 (9:00 AM to 6:30 PM)
Venue: Innovation Hive, Harney Science Center (click for campus map)
Registration Deadline: Oct 2, 2025 by 11:59 PM, if capacity is reached, then you will be added to a waitlist
Questions? Please e-mail
sustainability@usfca.edu
Click here to see featured projectes from Sustainable Design Challenge 2023
Solve problems for your campus,
build skills for your career
Spend two days collaborating in interdisciplinary teams to learn and apply design thinking to sustainability issues at USF and beyond. Participants will tackle pressing global sustainability issues using the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a guiding framework. Teams will work collaboratively to co-create impactful solutions addressing real-world challenges like climate change, clean energy, health, and inequality. Through rapid ideation, design thinking, and hands-on prototyping, participants will learn how to align their innovations with the SDGs while developing scalable solutions.
Successful teams will have opportunities to apply for follow-on grants to take their solutions to the next stage.
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9 - 9.30 am Breakfast and Registration
9.30 - 10 am Introductions to the Human centered design concept and setting the culture
10 - noon Problem identification using human centered design approach
12- 1 pm Lunch
1 - 2 pm Primary market research using Empathy
2 - 3 pm Secondary market research
3 - 4 pm Defining the Entrepreneurial Opportunity in response to your chosen “World Problem”
4-5 pm Creativity and Innovation module
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9 - 9.30 am Breakfast and Recap from Day 1
9.30 - 10 am Creativity and Innovation
10 - noon Analogous Thinking Design Sprints
12- 1 pm Lunch
1 - 2 pm Idea Selection
2 - 4.30 pm Preparing Final Presentation and Learn the Art of Pitching your idea
4.30 - 5.30 pm Final Pitches
5.30 - 6.30 pm Awards, Feedback and Post Program Keeping in touch planning
But, wait - What are the
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals i.e. UN SDGS?
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
Who Is This For
USF students interested in solving campus problems while building personal skills for being an empathetic problem solver.
Top skills you acquire
Complex Problem Understanding and Breakdown
Cause and Effect Analysis
Idea to Prototyping
Stakeholder Mapping and Market Research
Human Centered Design
Creative Problem Solving
Check out this cool video on Design Thinking
Role of Young People in making a Global impact
Flaunt your skills with a Digital Certificate on LinkedIn
Upon completing our program, Ycenter will provide participants with a verified certificate that can be showcased as a LinkedIn badge, highlighting your achievement and new skills. This badge not only enhances your professional profile but also signals to potential employers that you've gained valuable, hands-on experience in innovation, sustainability, design thinking and entrepreneurship.
Dhairya Pujara
Founder, CEO at Ycenter
Started his first company at the age of 19, Dhairya has always been about using technology for humanitarian impact. He is Biomedical Engineer and has experience of living in 3 different countries across 3 different continents.
He has been a global public speaker with invitations from the United Nations, World Bank, World Economic Forum, Social Enterprise World Forum, SXSW, TEDx and top universities and organizations in 15+ countries across 4 continents. His work has been featured in magazines like Entrepreneur, INC, nominated for Forbes 30 under 30 and several other media publications like BBC radio, Huffington post, Philadelphia Business journal to name a few. He has received a visa reserved for individuals of extraordinary abilities from the US immigration services.
Partners for the Program
Innovation Hive, University of San Francisco
The Innovation Hive promotes cross-campus participation and collaboration by welcoming and training any student, faculty, or staff member who wishes to use the equipment. In addition to hosting many interdisciplinary activities, each Innovation Hive area functions as a learning center as well as a work space, and accommodates computer work as much as physical creation. Imagine a group of students — from engineering, art, and nursing, for example — gathering to work together on a project in an open comfortable space, furnished with couches and tables. They are chatting and scribbling on writable surfaces around the room. This is a place where students, faculty, and staff across campus can gather, collaborate with purpose, and explore ideas without limits.
Environment Engineering and Science Club
EESC is an academic and social club that hosts events on special topics, hosts fields, engages in on and off campus partnerships, as well as engage in social justice within the environmental engineering and science field.
For more information, click here to visit their Instagram page.
About Ycenter
Ycenter is a Global Experiential learning and Innovation consulting firm. We build programs for university, innovation and incubation centers. We work with Fortune 500 companies and governmental agencies on using human-centered design thinking to solve complex social and business challenges. Ycenter programs have offerings have been benefited by participants and organizations in 30+ countries across last 12 years.