This Tuesday, December 5th, the DCU Innovation Contest was held in the SAAB ETIC, Perry Atrium, from 6 to 9PM. The event started with pizza, drinks, and networking.

Dean Sandra Richtermeyer addressed the crowd praising their drive to succeed in business, and Steve Tello, Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Entrepreneurship & Economic Development, kicked off the competition!

Four teams went ahead of the panel of judges, including Jim Regan, CEO of Digital Federal Credit Union, Sarah LaLiberte, ’06, Owner & Founder, Mainspire Marketing, and Vasilios Roussos, Managing Director, Fintech Innovation Center. Teams then made a ten-minute presentation on their banking and/or financial innovations.

First up was Team ATMPal. Their team consisted of members Xuan Bui, Zachary Fay, Andre Ragel, and Greg Smelkov. They presented their idea on a mobile app that allows users to find the nearest ATM, and then sort them by free ATM charge.

The next team to go was Guided Savings Projector. Members included Kaitlyn Hanerfeld, Kristen Bauer, and Eli Gukovsky. Their idea was an app that allows users to enter their earnings per week or year, and they will be provided with a projection on a sliding scale of 1-100 of the percentage they would like to save.

After was Team Cheetahead. Thomas Stranberg, Bryan Desrosiers, Ethan Gariepy, and Steve Alger presented their recommendations for Digital Federal Credit Union to create an educational cryptocurrencies tool that can clarify, monitor, and help its investor to use cryptocurrencies to their full potential.

Lastly, Team True to You pitched their idea of a security software for the banking industry, which utilize facial recognition and block chain technology to improve the mobile clients’ financial data. Team members included Gregory Montemurro and Dave Seybert.

The judges deliberated, and then announced the winners.

In fourth place was ATMPal. Third place went to Guided Savings Projector. Cheetahead took home second, and lastly first place went to True to You! Each member of the semi-finalist teams went home with $100 each, and the members of True to You took home $500 each!

Thank you to everyone who participated, and congratulations to the teams! We hope to see everyone’s ideas submitted into the 2018 $50,000 Idea Challenge!