On Friday, June 26, from 1:30 p.m. – 3 p.m. EDT, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) will host a live virtual event as the first set of teams from the NAE Call to Action against COVID-19 pitch their engineering solutions to an expert committee of NAE members. The Call to Action was launched to facilitate a multi-generational crowdsourcing and brainstorming of creative ideas for protecting our health and economy. The initiative includes people ranging from university-level NAE Grand Challenges Scholars Program students to the world’s most seasoned engineers and those from other fields as well.

These initial five teams will pitch their concepts involving at-home testing, more efficient vaccine delivery, innovative mask disinfection, patient monitoring, and a handless door opener. Alice Liu, assistant director for the Office of Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering, will moderate the event.