2019 Preliminary Pitch-Off

On Wednesday, April 10, we held our 2019 DifferenceMaker Preliminary Pitch-off at O’Leary Library on South Campus.  This year 33 student teams got the opportunity to pitch their ideas to our panels of guest judges.  To end our event, the ten finalist teams were announced and will be competing on April 24th in our 2019 Idea Challenge for a chance to win $50,000!

Congratulations to our ten finalist teams!

Benji Ball- Benjamin McEvoy, Sophomore, Business; Gavin Donohue, Sophomore, Engineering; Tristan Naboicheck, Freshman, English; & Edward Monrante, Sophomore, Education.  “This is a Baseball training tool that will be composed of a bat and ball with the ball having multiple sides, each side showing the different outcome of an at bat. The bat has a bigger barrel since this game/training tool is designed for children and special needs kids to be able to learn the game of baseball in a fun and simplistic way. I already have the first prototype made from a manufacturer in China.”

ECG for Me (Electro Cardio Athletic Patch)- Rachel Harrington, Graduate, Biotechnology; Taylor Mellen, Graduate, Biotechnology; & William Bizilj, Graduate, Biotechnology.  “Design wireless electro cardio patches that work with the Apple Series 4 watch to display an ECG capable of detecting underlying heart conditions.”

EV Smart (EV 2 EV)- Omkar Bhandakkar, Alumni, Energy Engineering; Hamza Ehsan, Junior, Computer Science; & Rajvi Shah, Senior, Computer Science.  “We want to solve the problem of EV owners worrying about range and charging. By creating an app to connect nearby EV owners with people in need of charging we solve exactly that. With the hardware in place for Vehicle-2-vehicle communications as well we can have short range and long range communications either between mobile phones and users or cars between cars.”

Jamfuze (Music Web Platform)- Stephen Wahome, Alumni, MBA; Christopher Sinclair, Junior, BBA; Michael Adrien, Senior, Sound Recording Technology (BM).  “We are aiming to create a music website/market place connects local artist with the services they need to build and accelerate their music careers. These services will range from finding local studios, engineers, videographers, beats, and much more. The key is eliminating the search cost for these artists by providing a one stop shop platform.”

OTDSEES (Over Terrain Tactical Scuba Personnel Delivery Device)- Ian Ramsdell, Senior, BA.  “As a scuba diver here in New England it is always a challenge to haul your gear over the extremely uneven terrain that is associated with the best dive sites. This also keeps a lot of disabled divers from being able to enjoy a sport that they love. For a disabled scuba diver, this terrain makes it even more of a challenge. I have developed a device that would either assist the diver by moving the diver’s gear to the water or even move a disabled diver to the water or even into the water.”

Projected Pin/ ATM Fast App- Conrad Nelson, Junior, Chemical Engineering; Jenna Olander, Senior, Art (BFA); Tatiana Tompkin, Sophomore, Business; & Mohammad Musawear, Freshman, Computer Engineering.  “A faster and safer method to withdraw from an ATM that will save Americans and ATM companies millions of dollars per year.  Our method requires a minor integration to the ATM user interface that will help prevent potentially all card skimming and PIN theft that occurs at ATMs.”

RE-VIVE (NextStep)- Nicholas Lydon, Senior, Chemical Engineering (BSE); Allison Michell, Senior, Chemical Engineering (BSE); & Derek Jamieson, Freshman, Undeclared.  “This project aims to address the opioid epidemic by preventing fatal overdose. The project consists of a wearable auto-injection system to administer Naloxone to those suffering from a drug overdose. This will help decrease the number of fatal overdoses that tragically occur, and hopefully combat the overall epidemic.”

The CAT Mat (Outside In – An outdoor simulation mat)- Michelle Mailloux, Graduate, Physical Therapy; & Katherine Muise, Graduate, Physical Therapy.  “Our product is a mat that will allow physical therapists to treat their patients’ deficits throughout the body, from the musculoskeletal system to sensory systems. It will simulate walking outdoors to help patients prepare for community ambulation. Our mat will have a sturdy structure underneath that allows it to be slip-free and be buildable. The pieces will be sized so that they can fit in parallel bars, making them usable to even the most dependent of patients. It will be a great alternative to walking outside when an outdoor environment is not suitable for a patient.”

USe Cart- Max Ushakov, Graduate, Electrical Engineering; Daniel Falcone, Senior, Business; Moya Alhayek, Junior, Electrical Engineering; & Shanice Kelly, Junior, Mechanical Engineering.  “The future shopping cart that makes the shopping faster, easier for customers, pushing the self-checking to the new level. The smart shopping cart will create the better experience of doing your grocery, and it will reduce the time that you spend in a store. Technology inside will help a customer to navigate through the piles and have a shopping list on a screen connected to theirs accounts.  Let’s make the future of shopping enjoyable.”

VotED- from Middlesex Community College: Michael Dignan, Sophomore, Business Administration; Gillian Inglis, Sophomore, Business Administration; & Olivia Reposa, Sophomore, Business Administration.  “A voting education app.  It informs voters about what is on their ballot in the upcoming election and will notify them when there is an upcoming election.  They can also decide if they want to learn about town meeting and other political events in their town.”

We would also like to extend a special thanks to our guest judges:

Jack Abrams ’74 Kennedy College of Sciences; Lisa Alloca ’87 ’91 Manning School of Business; Janet Benvenuti ’77 ’82 Kennedy College of Sciences; Janet Dellea ’84 Manning School of Business; Susan De Mari ’98 ’00 College of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; Matthew Donahue; Earle Durham; Bill Estes ’87 Francis College of Engineering; Steven Geyster ’83 Francis College of Engineering; John Grayson ’87 Francis College of Engineering; Richard Juknavorian ’98 Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences; Sarah LaLiberte ’06 Manning School of Business; Jay Lang ’00 ’15 College of Education; Brenda Maille ’78 ’78 Kennedy Colleges of Sciences and College of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; Diane Maltais; Glenn Morgan ’86 College of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; Mahati Mukkamala ’09 Manning School of Business; John Norden ’80 College of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; Michael Rider ’87 Francis College of Engineering; Richard Rossetti ’83 Francis College of Engineering; Raymond Southworth ’81 College of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; Andrew Sutherland ’94 Manning School of Business; Chet Szablak; Joseph Vaillancourt ’90 ’01 Manning School of Business; Mark Yates ’80 ’81 Francis College of Engineering; and Bill Yelle ’85 Kennedy College of Sciences.

Lastly, we would like to thank our guest speaker, Tyler Cote from Operation250, for sharing his experiences and success since joining the DifferenceMaker Program!

Don’t forget to stop by our 2019 $50k Idea Challenge on April 24th from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Moloney Hall to see our finalists pitch their ideas!

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