🌍 Future17 Student Research for SDG Projects – Cohort Showcase (2022–2024)
ASU x Responsible Innovation Lab past posters (for the most recent semester visit this page )
Over four semesters, Arizona State University has partnered with Future17 to mentor global student teams working on challenges aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This program connected undergraduates with international organizations — from food system giants to impact-focused VCs — to co-create responsible, scalable, and principled solutions.
The Responsible Innovation Lab played a core role in shaping the program’s ethics-forward direction at ASU, helping students use the INNOVATE framework to drive real-world impact. These past projects reflect what happens when students are empowered to tackle complexity head-on, with partners who believe in long-term systems change.
This showcase includes projects that spanned multiple semesters, evolved across cohorts, or contributed to larger Responsible Innovation Lab initiatives. Others, like the Mercy Corps project below, have been selectively included to demonstrate pathways for future evolution.
🧠 AI & Ethical Tech Integration
▶ Enhancing the Poverty Stoplight Program with AI
Neha Dhanekula
📎 View Poster (PDF)
🔗 LinkedIn
Partner: Fundación Paraguaya
SDGs: 1 – No Poverty, 10 – Reduced Inequalities
Designed an AI-driven mentorship system to personalize poverty interventions in low-resource settings, built to be scalable and ethically grounded.
▶ ESG Automation with Briink AI
Thaivu Chantarakulawong
📎 View Poster (PDF)
🔗 LinkedIn
Partner: Briink
SDGs: 12 – Responsible Consumption, 13 – Climate Action, 16 – Strong Institutions
Benchmarked Briink’s ESG platform against manual review. Generated recommendations for improving AI reliability and stakeholder engagement.
🏙 Sustainable Infrastructure & Tools
▶ Rebuilding Sweco’s Sustainability Scoring Tool
Thaivu Chantarakulawong
📎 View Poster (PDF)
🔗 LinkedIn
Partner: Sweco
SDGs: 11 – Sustainable Cities, 13 – Climate Action
Led a full redesign of an SDG-based assessment tool used by engineering professionals, with added visualization, historical tracking, and modular flexibility.
🥦 Food Systems & Waste Reduction
▶ Reducing Food Waste through AI with Sysco
Caleb Lieberman
📎 View Poster (PDF)
🔗 LinkedIn
Partner: Sysco
SDGs: 2 – Zero Hunger, 9 – Industry, Innovation, 12 – Responsible Consumption
Designed an AI-powered educational tool to reduce food waste across global supply chains, emphasizing redistribution and caloric impact.
🧭 Ethical Innovation & Certification Models
▶ Could INNOVATE Replace B Corp?
Mark Hopkins & Jadyn Ocampo
📎 View Poster (PDF)
🔗 Mark on LinkedIn
🔗 Jadyn on LinkedIn
SDGs: 9 – Industry Innovation, 16 – Institutions, 17 – Partnerships
Proposed an alternative to B Corp certification using the INNOVATE framework, emphasizing transparency, student leadership, and scale flexibility.
🌱 Climate Tech Landscape Mapping
▶ Mapping Emerging Climate Tech Solutions
Kennedy Gourdine
📎 View Poster (PDF)
🔗 LinkedIn
Partner: Mercy Corps Ventures
SDGs: 7 – Affordable Clean Energy, 13 – Climate Action, 17 – Partnerships
Created a dynamic database of 137 companies across 25 countries to spotlight scalable innovations in ag-tech, fintech, and climate-smart infrastructure.
We are deeply grateful to the students who have brought their energy, creativity, and conviction to this program. Each project here is a reflection of their commitment to solving real-world problems with thoughtfulness and integrity. Watching these ideas grow — and grow others — has been one of the most meaningful parts of our work at the Responsible Innovation Lab.
As their journeys continue beyond the classroom, I look forward to seeing where these changemakers go next. I hope to collaborate with many of them again, as colleagues, partners, and fellow builders of a more just and sustainable future.
🌐 Explore More
Here are some of the organizations, frameworks, and tools that helped shape these projects — and that may shape your next step.