Nutrition.Innovation.Real Impact.
A national challenge inviting BIT students to design real solutions for Burkina Faso's health and nutrition needs. Guided curriculum, hands on mentorship, and a stage to show what you built.
The challenge
Healthcare Innovation & Nutrition Design Challenge
This is not a theoretical case study. You will tackle a real nutrition or health problem affecting communities in Burkina Faso today, one that people are living with right now.
Pick a challenge from a shortlist of real, community rooted problems and design a solution people can actually use. Your mentors will push you to think bigger and build smarter.
The program
Your journey, three steps
Apply and get matched
- Submit a short application, no health background needed
- Get placed in a small innovation team
- Meet your technical and business mentors
- Join the official BIT delegation for the challenge
Learn and build
- Work through self-paced classes on nutrition and health systems
- Get live mentorship and hands on feedback from your team
- Design and prototype a real solution with your teammates
- Build skills in human centered design you will use for life
Present at the symposium
- Pitch your solution to a jury of health innovation experts
- Get judged on real world impact, not just theory
- Earn your certificate of participation
- Walk away with a story that sets you apart
Eligibility
Is this for you?
- Current BIT students (undergraduate, graduate, or PhD) or young professionals joining the official delegation
- Open to every field of study, not just health, medicine, or engineering
- Available for the full curriculum and live mentorship sessions
- Ready to commit to the final symposium presentation
You do not need
- No prior healthcare or medical background
- No coding or engineering experience
- No application fees, at any stage
- No fixed major, every field of study can contribute
Why apply
What the cohort gives you
Mentors who've built it before
Get paired with mentors who have designed real healthcare technology, not just given advice about it.
A curriculum built for you
Learn at your own pace, with a class dedicated to how health systems actually work in Burkina Faso.
A stage to show your work
Pitch your solution at the final symposium and walk away with a certificate that proves you built something real.
Your idea stays yours
Every innovation and project idea belongs to the students who create it, fully and without exception.
Already in motion
Your future teammates are already building.
Backed by
Who's got your back
Project Prana Foundation
Cambridge, MA, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
- Mentors drawn from Harvard and MIT's innovation network
- A curriculum tested and refined with real student teams
- An evaluation rubric built specifically for health innovation
- A track record of turning student ideas into working prototypes
Burkina Institute of Technology
Your home base for the challenge
- A dedicated coordinator who has your back throughout
- Local support, on your campus, in your context
- A community of BIT innovators tackling the same challenge
- A direct line to the organizers whenever you need one
It stays yours
Every idea and prototype belongs to you, the student innovator. We only ever share the results and impact of the symposium, nothing else.
Application
Ready to apply?
It takes about five minutes. No essays, no stress, just tell us who you are and what you want to build.
Applications close in
Open the application form
You'll be asked for your name, BIT email, program, year of study, and a couple of sentences on the nutrition problem you want to solve.
Open application form ↗Applications close August 31 at 23:59 · Opens in Google Forms