NEW YORK (July 27, 2022) – The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has announced the regional winners of the 2022 ASME Innovation Showcase ( ISHOW), the prestigious international accelerator of hardware-led social innovation. Eight finalist teams of social innovators from the U.S., Perú, and Uganda presented their design prototypes in a virtual event held June 19-27. Three entrepreneurs emerged as regional winners who will share $30,000(USD) in seed grants and receive technical support to help bring their design innovations to market. They were announced earlier today in a virtual awards ceremony that featured keynote remarks by Vidyut Mohan, co-founder and CEO of Takachar, Echoing Green Fellow, Earthshot Prize winner, and 2019 ISHOW finalist.

The 2022 ASME ISHOW USA winners are:

• GenH (Boston, Mass., U.S.) for its “Adaptive Hydro™” solution – a first-in-class, rapidly deployable, modular hydropower system designed to electrify non-powered dams and canal heads without construction or investment in fixed infrastructure
• LivingWaters Systems (Hoboken, N.J., U.S.) for “The LivingWaters System” – a portable, low-cost rainwater harvesting system to ensure refugees and off-grid families have access to renewable, clean water at their doorstep
• Wayru Per ú (Lima, Perú) for its “Wayru Portable Shower” – Made for families without access to a public water network, the design functions without any electrical or pipe connection, is portable and multifunctional for washing hands, clothes, and showering with less than 10 liters.

“Social enterprises, now more than ever, need the support of the global impact community,” says Iana Aranda, director of ASME’s Engineering Global Development sector that houses ISHOW. “Social entrepreneurs around the world, including many ISHOW ventures, are on the frontlines of crisis response and the advancement of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. We are aggressively focused on providing these innovators with accessible platforms for capacity building, expert engagement and co-design of scaling strategies suited for today’s dynamic markets. Ensuring their success is of paramount importance.”

In addition to the three grand prize winners, the product with the most votes in social media for each regional event is named the “Fan Favorite,” and receives $1,000 (USD). This prize is made possible and in memory of Byron G. Schieber Jr. M.S., PE, Professor Emeritus QCCNY, and Ruth L. Schieber. The 2022 ISHOW USA “Fan Favorite” winner is Wayru Per ú (Lima, Perú) for its “Wayru Portable Shower” solution.

More information on the ISHOW USA 2022 finalists can be found on the ASME ISHOW website. ASME hosted ISHOW India online in May and a virtual ISHOW Kenya in June. 

The prestigious ASME ISHOW hardware accelerator is open to individuals and organizations taking physical products to market that will have a positive social and/or environmental impact and that improve the quality of life around the world. To date, ISHOW has enabled over 200 startups from more than 30 countries to solve critical quality-of-life challenges for vulnerable populations worldwide. ISHOW alumni have developed affordable devices to address issues including clean combustion, crop threshing, fetal health, food waste prevention, health diagnostics, safe drinking water, and many more that address the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals .