On Tuesday, December 10, 2024, the 2024 DifferenceMaker Francis College of Engineering Prototyping Competition was held at University Crossing from 4:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. This event consisted of a preliminary round, fan favorite voting, and final round.
The twenty teams competing during the preliminary demonstration round were:
- Atrophists, team members Rohita Maddi, Mahmoud Mishal, Caitlin O’Brien, and Adam Attia
- Comprehensive Clicker, team member Jetrin Orenberg
- EdYou, team members Alexander Donnelly, Aaron King, Max Zarkou, and Christian Sobande
- Gem Mind, team members Negin Yazdani Motlagh and Elyas Irankhah
- JoltGuard, team members Casey Callahan, Charity Garabedian, Nora Fatimi, and Zoha Akram.
- Kallehpuck, team member Elyas Irankhah
- Pawva Smart Pet Bed, team members Owen O’Brien, Tanish Araveti, and Jiya Panchal
- Pitch Pal, team members Jack Ray and Brendan Clawson
- Pop it Prosthetics, team member Linda Neneh Jallow, Neytan Milioli, John Khoury, and Eleni Tekelis
- Rainforest Associates, team members Callum Hammill and Haydn Hammill
- RDZ, team members Abhiram Reddy Chepyala and Prathiba FrankFernando
- Remote Patrol, team member Michael McCarthy
- Rights Watch, team member Adam Warden
- Skinthesize, team members Sidney Luangrath, Lizberte Celestin, Steve Bui, and
Kazuma Marquez - Ultimate Foot Comfort, team members Dana Yousef, Alexander Masi, Tobechi Amakor, and Siya Patel
- Urban X, team members Vincent Studer and Jose Rosario
- Vertical Solutions, team members Nicholas LeBlanc, Christopher Coco, Molykim Srun, Alvin Yu, Zane Campbell, and Jacob Milligan
The prototype demonstration and idea pitching round was held from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. in the lobby of University Crossing. Each team had five minutes to present their product to a panel of preliminary judges, followed by a five-minute Q&A session. The preliminary judges were:
- Carol Devellian, President, Yeti Biomedical
- Dennis Gagne, Founder, C2C LLC
- Joe Hennessey, Vice President Manufacturing Quality & Technical Operations, Juniper Networks
- Ken Horton ’79, Francis College of Engineering, Founder, C2C
- Dan McCormick ’83,’91, Francis College of Engineering, Retired, Waters
- Leigh Sharrock, Senior Director, System Engineering, Brooks Automation
During the prototype demonstration round, the judges scored each team based on the problem that was being solved, the opportunity that it holds, prototype quality, resources/implementation needed, presentation effectiveness, and overall project. After seeing each team’s pitch and demonstrations, the preliminary judges deliberated on which teams would move forward for the final round.
The teams that moved onto the final competition were:
- Comprehensive Clicker, team member Jetrin Orenberg
- Pop it Prosthetics, team members Linda Neneh Jallow, Neytan Milioli, John Khoury, and Eleni Tekelis
- Rainforest Associates, team members Callum Hammill and Haydn Hammill
- Rights Watch, team member Adam Warden
- EdYou, team members Alexander Donnelly, Aaron King, Max Zarkou, and Christian Sobande
Meanwhile, the prototype public viewing was held from 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. in the lobby of University Crossing. Event attendees which consisted of students, faculty, community, friends, and family each had five votes to disperse to the teams they liked the best. The team that had the most DifferenceMaker Dollars would be awarded the $500 Fan Favorite Award.
The Final Round Competition was held in Moloney Hall from 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. It began with opening remarks by Dean Sherwood. Next, the five finalist teams pitched their ideas on stage and demonstrated their prototype to the panel of final judges.
The judges during the final round were:
- Rajia Abdelaziz ‘2016, Francis College of Engineering, CEO and Co-Founder, invisaWear Technologies LLC
- Ray Hamilton,CTO, InvisaWear
- Steve Geyster,Medical Device Consultant
- Chad LaFrance,Retired, Business Operations and Engineering Manager, Texas Instruments
After all the presentations the final judges deliberated and selected the winners for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes. Additionally, the People’s Choice votes were counted, and the winner of the People’s Choice award was announced. The final awards were:
- 1st Place: Comprehension Clicker, Jetrin Orenberg; $2,500 and automatically advances to the Rist DifferenceMaker $50,000 Idea Challenge Preliminary Pitch-off in April 2025. Comprehension Clicker is an innovative classroom tool that revolutionizes student engagement by enabling real-time feedback during lessons. This device can also double as a classroom clicker, giving a quick way for educators to poll multiple choice answers.
- 2nd Place: Pop it Prosthetics, Eleni Tekelis, John Khoury, Linda Neneh Jallow, Neytan Milioli; $1,500. Pop it Prosthetics addresses the frequent need for replacement of lower limb prosthetics in children from ages 3 to 12 years old, providing more convenience.
- 3rd place: Rainforest Associates, Callum Hammill and Haydn Hammill;$1,000. Rainforest Associates is designing a medical device for military explosives training and other areas in which repeated explosions may occur (construction, mining, etc.).
- People’s Choice: RightsWatch, Adam Warden; $500. RightsWatch is working to develop real-time monitoring, predicting, and deterrence of human rights violations in the Middle East.
Thank you to everyone who attended and supported this event!
View a video of the event: https://bit.ly/3BwDJFY
For additional information on the Francis College of Engineering Prototyping Competition: https://bit.ly/3DtnvxI
Interested in pitching an idea and getting funding? Applications for the 13th Annual $50,000 Idea Challenge are open now – apply today!