In February Harvard announced their President's Challenge, a university wide competition to develop innovative solutions to the largest social problems. The problems identified are in five categories--"clean water, personal health, empowered education, global health and clean air". Good list.
What I particularly like about the competition is that it encourages cooperation between the various schools at Harvard. Many universities have a silo structure that inhibits cooperation between schools and administrative procedures to insure it.
Vaxess Technologies is this year's winner for their plan to commercialize unrefrigerated vaccines. A good article on disruptive technologies is here. Vaxess is clearly addressing a 'customer pain point' by eliminating the need for refrigeration.
More on the President's Challenge is here.