Inducement prize contest
Encyclopedia
An inducement prize contest (IPC) is a competition that awards a cash prize for the accomplishment of a feat, usually of engineering. IPCs are typically designed to extend the limits of human ability. Perhaps the most famous IPC was the Longitude prize
, awarded to John Harrison
for his highly-accurate marine chronometer
.
IPCs are distinct from recognition prizes, such as the Nobel Prize
.
Research has show that IPCs can be extremely effective in pushing the advancement of technology. In 2006, there is much interest in prizes for automotive achievement, such as the 250 mpg
car.
The Longitude Prize was a reward offered by the British
government for a simple and practical method for the precise determination of a ship's longitude
. The prize, established through an Act of Parliament (the Longitude Act) in 1714, was administered by the Board of Longitude
.
Another example happened during the first years of the Napoleonic Wars
. The French government offered a hefty cash award of 12,000 francs to any inventor who could devise a cheap and effective method of preserving large amounts of food. The larger armies of the period required increased, regular supplies of quality food. Limited food availability was among the factors limiting military campaigns to the summer and autumn months. In 1809, a French confectioner and brewer, Nicolas Appert
, observed that food cooked inside a jar did not spoil unless the seals leaked, and developed a method of sealing food in glass jars. The reason for lack of spoilage was unknown at the time, since it would be another 50 years before Louis Pasteur
demonstrated the role of microbes in food spoilage.
Yet another example is the the Orteig Prize which was a $25,000 reward offered on May 19, 1919, by New York hotel owner Raymond Orteig
to the first allied aviator(s) to fly non-stop from New York City
to Paris
or vice-versa. On offer for five years, it attracted no competitors. Orteig renewed the offer for another five years in 1924 when the state of aviation technology had advanced to the point that numerous competitors vied for the prize. Several famous aviators made unsuccessful attempts at the New York–Paris flight before relatively unknown American Charles Lindbergh
won the prize in 1927 in his aircraft
Spirit of St. Louis
.
In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the development of IPCs to push technical boundaries in several key areas such as aerospace, life sciences, and sustainable energy among others.
A leading oganization in development and managing IPCs is the X PRIZE Foundation. Its mission is to bring about “radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity” through incentivized competition. It fosters high-profile competitions that motivate individuals, companies and organizations across all disciplines to develop innovative ideas and technologies that help solve the grand challenges that restrict humanity’s progress. The most high-profile X PRIZE to date was the Ansari X PRIZE
relating to spacecraft development awarded in 2004. This prize was intended to inspire research and development into technology for space exploration. Indeed, the X Prize has inspired other "letter" named inducement prize competitions such as the H-Prize, N-Prize
, and so forth.
Longitude prize
The Longitude Prize was a reward offered by the British government for a simple and practical method for the precise determination of a ship's longitude...
, awarded to John Harrison
John Harrison
John Harrison was a self-educated English clockmaker. He invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought device in solving the problem of establishing the East-West position or longitude of a ship at sea, thus revolutionising and extending the possibility of safe long distance sea travel in the Age...
for his highly-accurate marine chronometer
Marine chronometer
A marine chronometer is a clock that is precise and accurate enough to be used as a portable time standard; it can therefore be used to determine longitude by means of celestial navigation...
.
IPCs are distinct from recognition prizes, such as the Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
.
Research has show that IPCs can be extremely effective in pushing the advancement of technology. In 2006, there is much interest in prizes for automotive achievement, such as the 250 mpg
MPG
MPG or mpg may refer to:*.mpg, one of a number of file extensions for MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 audio and video compression*General Motors Milford Proving Ground*Havas Media, formerly known as Media Planning Group, a media division of Havas...
car.
History of IPCs
Throughout history, there have been instances where IPCs were successfully utilized to push the boundaries of what would have been considered state-of-the-art at the time.The Longitude Prize was a reward offered by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
government for a simple and practical method for the precise determination of a ship's longitude
Longitude
Longitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds, and denoted by the Greek letter lambda ....
. The prize, established through an Act of Parliament (the Longitude Act) in 1714, was administered by the Board of Longitude
Board of Longitude
The Board of Longitude was the popular name for the Commissioners for the Discovery of the Longitude at Sea. It was a British Government body formed in 1714 to administer a scheme of prizes intended to encourage innovators to solve the problem of finding longitude at sea.-Origins:Navigators and...
.
Another example happened during the first years of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. The French government offered a hefty cash award of 12,000 francs to any inventor who could devise a cheap and effective method of preserving large amounts of food. The larger armies of the period required increased, regular supplies of quality food. Limited food availability was among the factors limiting military campaigns to the summer and autumn months. In 1809, a French confectioner and brewer, Nicolas Appert
Nicolas Appert
Nicolas Appert , was the French inventor of airtight food preservation. Appert, known as the "father of canning", was a confectioner.-Biography:...
, observed that food cooked inside a jar did not spoil unless the seals leaked, and developed a method of sealing food in glass jars. The reason for lack of spoilage was unknown at the time, since it would be another 50 years before Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist born in Dole. He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and preventions of diseases. His discoveries reduced mortality from puerperal fever, and he created the first vaccine for rabies and anthrax. His experiments...
demonstrated the role of microbes in food spoilage.
Yet another example is the the Orteig Prize which was a $25,000 reward offered on May 19, 1919, by New York hotel owner Raymond Orteig
Raymond Orteig
Raymond Orteig was the New York City hotel owner who offered the Orteig Prize for the first non-stop transatlantic flight between New York and Paris....
to the first allied aviator(s) to fly non-stop from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
or vice-versa. On offer for five years, it attracted no competitors. Orteig renewed the offer for another five years in 1924 when the state of aviation technology had advanced to the point that numerous competitors vied for the prize. Several famous aviators made unsuccessful attempts at the New York–Paris flight before relatively unknown American Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
won the prize in 1927 in his aircraft
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
Spirit of St. Louis
Spirit of St. Louis
The Spirit of St. Louis is the custom-built, single engine, single-seat monoplane that was flown solo by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, on the first non-stop flight from New York to Paris for which Lindbergh won the $25,000 Orteig Prize.Lindbergh took off in the Spirit from Roosevelt...
.
In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the development of IPCs to push technical boundaries in several key areas such as aerospace, life sciences, and sustainable energy among others.
A leading oganization in development and managing IPCs is the X PRIZE Foundation. Its mission is to bring about “radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity” through incentivized competition. It fosters high-profile competitions that motivate individuals, companies and organizations across all disciplines to develop innovative ideas and technologies that help solve the grand challenges that restrict humanity’s progress. The most high-profile X PRIZE to date was the Ansari X PRIZE
Ansari X Prize
The Ansari X Prize was a space competition in which the X Prize Foundation offered a US$10,000,000 prize for the first non-government organization to launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space twice within two weeks...
relating to spacecraft development awarded in 2004. This prize was intended to inspire research and development into technology for space exploration. Indeed, the X Prize has inspired other "letter" named inducement prize competitions such as the H-Prize, N-Prize
N-Prize
The N-Prize is a competition to stimulate innovation directed towards obtaining cheap access to space. The competition was launched in 2008 by Cambridge biologist Paul H...
, and so forth.
List of IPCs
- Longitude prizeLongitude prizeThe Longitude Prize was a reward offered by the British government for a simple and practical method for the precise determination of a ship's longitude...
- Prize4LifePrize4LifePrize4Life is a non-profit organization dedicated to the discovery of treatments and a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , also known as Lou Gehrig's disease and motor neurone disease. The organization uses the inducement prize contest model. Prize4Life was founded in 2005 by Avi Kremer, an...
offers between $15,000 and $5 million in prize awards for medical discoveries that remove the largest barriers to finding a cure for ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) - Ansari X PRIZEAnsari X PrizeThe Ansari X Prize was a space competition in which the X Prize Foundation offered a US$10,000,000 prize for the first non-government organization to launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space twice within two weeks...
- Automotive X PRIZEAutomotive X PrizeThe Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE was a set of competitions, programs and events, from the X Prize Foundation to "inspire a new generation of super-efficient vehicles that help break America's addiction to oil and stem the effects of climate change." Progressive Insurance was the title...
- NASA's Centennial ChallengesCentennial ChallengesThe Centennial Challenges are NASA space competition prize contests for non-government-funded technological achievements by American teams.-Current Challenges:...
- DARPA Grand ChallengeDARPA Grand ChallengeThe DARPA Grand Challenge is a prize competition for driverless vehicles, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the most prominent research organization of the United States Department of Defense...
- Global Security ChallengeGlobal Security ChallengeThe Global Security Challenge runs international business plan competitions to find and select the most promising security technology startups in the world. The GSC holds regional selection events and a Security Summit in London to bring together innovators with government, industry and investors...
- Orteig PrizeOrteig PrizeThe Orteig Prize was a $25,000 reward offered on May 19, 1919, by New York hotel owner Raymond Orteig to the first allied aviator to fly non-stop from New York City to Paris or vice-versa. On offer for five years, it attracted no competitors...
(crossing Atlantic solo, won by Charles LindberghCharles LindberghCharles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
) - Methuselah Mouse Prize or also known as the "M-Prize"
- The Clay Mathematics InstituteClay Mathematics InstituteThe Clay Mathematics Institute is a private, non-profit foundation, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Institute is dedicated to increasing and disseminating mathematical knowledge. It gives out various awards and sponsorships to promising mathematicians. The institute was founded in 1998...
has a Millennium Prize it will award to anyone who provides a solution to one of seven important mathematics problems. - The Foresight InstituteForesight InstituteThe Foresight Institute is a Palo Alto, California-based nonprofit organization for promoting transformative technologies. They sponsor conferences on molecular nanotechnology, publish reports, and produce a newsletter....
offers a $250,000 Feynman Grand Prize for the first persons to design and build two nanotechnology devices - a nano-scale robotic arm and a computing device that demonstrates the feasibility of building a nanotechnology computer. - Virgin Earth ChallengeVirgin Earth ChallengeThe Virgin Earth Challenge is a competition offering a $25 million prize for whoever can demonstrate a commercially viable design which results in the permanent removal of greenhouse gases out of the Earth's atmosphere, so as to contribute materially to avoid global warming...
- Peugeot Concours DesignPeugeot Concours DesignThe Peugeot Concours Design competition is a biennial competition run by the French car manufacturer Peugeot. For each competition, entrants must submit their designs for a car...
- Intelligent Ground Vehicle CompetitionIntelligent Ground Vehicle CompetitionThe Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition is an annual international robotics competition for teams of undergraduate and graduate students. Teams design and build an autonomous ground vehicle capable of completing several difficult challenges. The competition is well suited to senior design...
- L PrizeL PrizeThe L Prize is a competition run by the United States Department of Energy aimed to "spur lighting manufacturers to develop high-quality, high-efficiency solid-state lighting products to replace the common light bulb"...
is a US Department of Energy competition to increase efficiency of solid-state lighting.