On December 6th the Francis College of Engineering Prototyping Competition was held at Perry Atrium in the Saab Center on North Campus. For the first few hours of the contest, teams were set up throughout the lobby of the building, showcasing and explaining their prototypes to the public, as well as the preliminary judges as they filtered in.
A big thank you to our preliminary judges:
- Mark Dyment ’86, ’87 Francis College of Engineering
- Carol Devellian’85 Francis College of Engineering
- Rich Rossetti ’83 Francis College of Engineering
- Dave O’Brien’80 Francis College of Engineering
- Dan McCormick’83, ’84, ’91 Francis College of Engineering
- Doug Browne’85 Francis College of Engineering
- Matt McBride Associate Director, Development, Francis College of Engineering
- Michelle Veilleux ’93 FAHSS and DifferenceMaker Faculty Fellow
The preliminary judges selected 5 teams as finalists to pitch their idea in a presentation to the panel of finalist judges. Before the pitches began, Joseph Hartman, Dean of the Francis College of Engineering, introduced the judges, and gave an overview of the format for the contest.
A big thank you to our final judges:
- Jack Wilson, President, Emeritus, University Distinguished Professor
- Mark Saab’81, ‘13 Francis College of Engineering
- Cindy Conde’87, ‘91 Francis College of Engineering
- Rajia Abdelaziz Rajia Abdelaziz ’16 Francis College of Engineering. Rajia is the co-founder of invisaWear which won the Francis College of Engineering Prototyping Competition in 2015 and the Innovative Technology Solution prize at the 2016 $50,000 Idea Challenge.
The first team to present was Pyramid pack consisting of Sean Roche, Brett Wadman, and Patrick Drummey Jr. Their idea was to create a weight-distribution backpack that relieved some of the strain that backpacks put on the body.
They were followed by Cameron Edmonds of Project SASS. The idea here was an automated satellite and GPS beacon that can call for help from remote locations. Project SASS was also a winner at the 2018 $50,000 Idea Challenge.
Next up was Benjamin McEvoy of Benji Ball, fresh off of his win at the Creative Venture competition the night before. Benji Ball is a game similar to wiffle ball that takes the baserunning out of it, to cater to children with disabilities, as well as make it easier to play in confined space.
The next team was yet another group presenting on back to back nights. Air Align also took part in the Creative Venture Competition the night before. This group consisted of Daniel Garfinkel, Alexander Barr, Dennon Audette, Alex Higgins, Joe McDonald, Kevin Truong, Michael Hoppe, Nick Dean, and Patrick Pang had the idea of a soft robotic suit that corrects people’s posture.
The final presentation was from Sid Iyer of EnvivoMed. His idea was creating a painless blood extraction device.
Sid Iyer fields questions from the judges
At the conclusion of the presentations, the judges gathered to determine the winners of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, as well as the top biomedical device prize and People’s Choice award.
The results were:
1st Place, $2,500: Benji Ball
2nd Place, $1,500: Air Align
3rd Placec, $1,000: Project SASS
Best Biomedical Device, $1,500: EnvivoMed
People’s Choice award, $500: Air Align
Air Align accepts their 2nd place and fan favorite prizes
Thank you to everyone who made this event possible, and to the teams and judges. Job well done by everyone!
