See the USA Challenge 'Final Five' Best Ideas at ION GNSS 2011

Artist's clay rendering of the USA Challenge "Oscar." The five finalists will be awarded this statuette in bronze at ION GNSS 2011. (Click image to enlarge.)

August 16, 2011

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Right now, six GNSS experts are poring over the GNSS spplications ideas and location-based services submitted to the 2011 USA Challenge, one of 23 regional contests in the European Satellite Navigation Competition.

This year, the ESNC competition attracted a record 401 commercial application ideas from developers in 50 countries.

Five spirited entrepreneurs whose ideas have won the support of the judges will be invited to participate in the Institute of Navigation's GNSS 2011 conference in Portland, Oregon, and to prepare poster presentations about their GNSS innovations.

All ION GNSS visitors will have a chance to vote on their favorite innovation during the conference, which runs from September 19 through September 23. The best ideas will be on display at the Oregon Convention Center at the Inside GNSS and USA Challenge booths 401-3 and 405-7.

On Thursday, September 22, at 12:30 p.m., finalists will offer brief "fast pitch” presentations at an awards party in room AO5 of the convention center, close to the conference exhibit hall.

Bronze statuettes - the "Oscars" of the USA Challenge competition - will be awarded to the finalists at the party. And, sponsor Inside GNSS will hail one lucky contestant as the "People's Choice."

The ultimate USA Challenge winner and other regional and special topic prize winners will be announced on October 19 at the ESNC international awards ceremony in Munich, Germany.

All of them are eligible to compete for the grand prize, the €20,000 2011 Galileo Master award.

The USA Challenge winner will receive a U.S.$1,000 cash prize, a trip to Munich and a cover article in the November/December issue of Inside GNSS.

The USA Challenge is sponsored by Inside GNSS and NovAtel Inc. The ION event is also underwritten by the Institute of Navigation.

Last year’s USA CHALLENGE winner was Elliot Klein, of New York City, who developed a mobile voting application, eVOTZ. In the overall 2010 ESNC competition, an Austrian start-up company, Mobilizy, took home the €20,000 grand prize for its Wikitude Drive navigation system, which uses augmented reality to superimpose driving directions over live street video on smartphones.