PLUS IP (Poland-U.S. Innovation Program) is a public-private partnership that brings the nexus of government, business, and academia to advance innovation through joint venture and joint research and development projects between the United States and Poland. The two countries are sharing best practices and expertise to replicate successful U.S. innovation models such as the Research Triangle and Silicon Valley in Poland. This effort provides opportunities for joint projects between U.S. and Polish companies and organizations aimed at promoting access to capital, more rapid and effective commercialization of technology, strengthening and expanding regional innovation clusters, improving collaboration in key economic sectors (i.e., defense, energy, health, and science and technology), and fostering the innovation ecosystem.

The European Rover Challenge, or ERC, is an international competition organized by Mars Society Polska, in cooperation with ABM Space Education, the Austrian Space Forum, the Regional Science-Technology Centre in Chęciny and the Marshal Office of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. Institutions of higher education can field teams of students, graduates and faculty to enter the contest – the challenge is to design, construct and operate a rover that will most successfully complete a number of Mars-exploration themed tasks designed by the organizers. The ERC is a modified version of the University Rover Challenge organized in the United States by The Mars Society, bringing the Challenge to Europe.

Read more: http://www.roverchallenge.eu/