The Cleveland Water Alliance will host the first-ever Erie Hack Competition and Water Innovation Summit on May 2-3. The event will feature teams competing for $100,000 in prizes by presenting solutions to water challenges in Lake Erie, such as algal blooms and urban pollution. Eight to ten teams will compete in the finals and winners will receive cash and services to launch a company. The summit will also include speakers on water innovation and panels on topics like new technologies for solving water issues. The goal is to drive innovation around water technologies and engage youth in developing solutions for water challenges.

1. Media Contacts
Bryan Stubbs
Cleveland Water Alliance
bstubbs@clewa.org
216.592.2490
Sue Valerian
Studiothink
svalerian@studiothink.net
216.262.1946
International Water Innovation Summit in CLE
May 2 & 3 event to feature top water experts and teams
competing for $100k in prizes
CLEVELAND, Ohio (April 10, 2017) – The Cleveland Water Alliance, in conjunction with
numerous partners from throughout the Lake Erie basin, including NASA Glenn Research
Center and the Great Lakes Observing System, will present a first-ever Erie Hack Competition
and Water Innovation Summit.
Erie Hack is a tech-driven international water innovation competition and accelerator program
that will culminate in this two-day summit at the Global Center for Health Innovation on May 2
& 3. Participants will present innovative solutions to Challenge Statements around Lake Erie
such as algal blooms and urban pollution.
“We’re excited to present this competition and summit that we believe will bring brilliant ideas
to water innovation and put the spotlight on Cleveland,’’ CWA executive director Bryan Stubbs
said. “The goal is to raise awareness about our precious freshwater resource and turn the teams’
big ideas into start-ups that will drive innovation and economic development in Northeast Ohio
and the Lake Erie region.”
Eight to 10 teams will compete for a grand prize of $40,000 in cash at the finals in Cleveland.
These finalists will include the highest-scoring teams from each partner city – Cleveland,
Toledo, Buffalo and Detroit/Windsor – from the semifinals on April 13 in Detroit. The next four
to six highest-scoring teams from any city also qualify. (Teams from Erie, Pa., are also
competing.) Total cash and accelerator services awarded will total $100,000, which can be used
to launch a company.
Teams will present their solutions on Day 2 of the Summit, which will be filled with engaging
speakers and judges, such as Jay Famiglietti, senior water scientist at NASA’s jet propulsion
laboratory, and former Priceline.com co-founder Jeff Hoffman. The summit will feature panels
on topics such as the role of new innovation and technology and entrepreneurship to solve our
water challenges. WKYC-TV chief meteorologist Betsy Kling will emcee the finals competition.
The Erie Hack is an opportunity to drive innovation in the water technology sector and engage
young people in the creation of the emerging “Blue Economy.” The event is hosted and
sponsored by The Cleveland Water Alliance in collaboration with Digital C as well as local
champions, startup incubators and accelerators, and funders from each of Lake Erie’s major

2. metropolitan areas [Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Windsor, Erie, and Toledo]. Key partners
include NASA GRC, the University at Buffalo, Kent State University, Case Western Reserve
University, IBM, GE, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, Cleveland Metroparks, Wayne
State University, the University of Toledo, TechTown Detroit, LaunchPad Incubation at the
University of Toledo, Thinkbox, HIMSS, Great Lakes Science Center, WEtech Alliance,
Innovation Collaborative in Erie and the Blackstone LaunchPad in Buffalo.
Key sponsors include the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, Cleveland Division of Water,
AT&T, GLOS and HIMSS Innovation Center. Significant support also comes from The George
Gund Foundation, The Joyce Foundation, The Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation,
The Cleveland Foundation and the Burton D Morgan Foundation.
The Summit is open to everyone and people can register at Event Brite or at our web site:
http://www.eriehack.io. For more information on Cleveland Water Alliance or Erie Hack, follow
us at https://www.facebook.com/clevelandwateralliance/ or on Twitter @ErieHack
About Erie Hack: This is a tech-driven international water innovation competition and
accelerator program that will bring together coders, developers, engineers, data experts, and
water professionals to generate creative solutions to Lake Erie’s biggest challenges. The
competition, which will award more than $100,000 in cash and accelerator services to up to four
winning teams and one high school team, focuses on creating publicly accessible mobile apps,
open data and new technology and solutions to elevate the value of clean water and leverage its
potential to drive the economy of the Great Lakes Region.
About the Cleveland Water Alliance: Established in 2014, CWA is a non-profit organization
that seeks to better utilize the economic and job-creating potential of Lake Erie while also urging
greater care of this valuable, natural asset. We are working to bring together Northeast Ohio’s
water providers, business and political leaders, researchers and environmental organizations to
establish Cleveland as a nationally recognized center for water innovation.