Bring us your problems. (Seriously.)

Innovation requires solutions and clearly defined problems. This year, MI2’s Innovation Competition gives airtime to both.

Organizations are competing to present their Toughest Problems and Most Innovative Solutions at KYIC 2025. Applications are now closed.

Solutions without problems are like keys without locks.

Impact comes from the perfect fit between industry problem and innovative solution. 🔒 Problem + 🔑 Solution = 🔓 Innovation Unlocked.

In years past, MI2's Innovation Search focused on startups and solutions. But innovators are part of in-house teams, consulting groups, and startups alike, so this year's competition expands the category to include service providers, process designers, vendors, and unique partnerships.

These solutions need to solve real-world, relevant industry problems for the metals sector. So in addition to competing for the best solutions, you can compete for the best problems. To see real impact in our industry, we need to see innovation implemented.

Our goal?
🔄 Problems meet Solutions.
🤝 Partnerships become Pilots.
📈 Ideas turn into Industry Impact.

INTRODUCING

Who It’s For: Creators of innovative technologies, processes, or partnerships, including startups, in-house innovation teams, pilot-ready research, service providers, or consultants.

Who It’s For: Any organization ready to share their real-world challenges, and articulate the scale of the problem. Clearly defined problems might elicit a solution no one's even thinking of yet.

Finalists in both tracks will take stage at KYIC 2025, where leaders, funders, and collaborators can see the problems in our industry, and the bold solutions that may solve them.

Ideal Outcome: Problems and Solutions find one another through Innovation Unlocked — and come back to share their success stories next year.

👉 Applications are now closed.
👉 12 semi-finalists will be selected in each category.
👉 Four finalists will be asked to present at the KYIC October 27-29 in Lexington.

We will notify finalists by October 1.

Competition 1: DEFINE THE PROBLEM

Winner will go to the applicant who most clearly states a problem, without even a hint of solution.

Innovation often means embracing unorthodox solutions. The best problem statements don't even pretend to know what the solution is, but they do know how to quantify the impact or risk to their organization, to the industry, or the environment.
This application pushes teams to state the problem, and to tell the story of how it came to be, their efforts to date, and the scale of the issues. This way, whether you win or not, innovators can help solve the problem.

We need 2 things from you:
1. this application applications are now closed
2. a short video (seriously, nothing fancy here - a selfie video is great) telling us a bit about the problem

The application is a form, but you can download the PDF of the whole thing if you want to check it out.

Have more questions? Check out our FAQs.

Download PDF

Competition 2: FIND INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS

Winner will go to the applicant who presents the most innovative solution to a metals and manufacturing problem, whose application demonstrates clear real-world knowledge of what it would take to implement and pilot this solution with industry partners.

This application pushes teams to state the problem they're solving, the business motivations their customers have to solve it, to tell us about the tech or innovation itself, and to quantify the scope of the problem and opportunity.

We need 3 things from you:
1. this application applications are now closed
2. a short video (seriously, nothing fancy here - a selfie video is great) telling us a bit about your team, and your solution
3. your pitch deck
Note: There will also be a place to upload any other docs, links, demos, or other things you want us to see.