On Tuesday, July 10, the 2018 winning DifferenceMaker® Idea Challenge teams gathered in the Saab Center, Perry Atrium, on UMass Lowell’s North Campus to pitch their new and improved ideas to alumni, faculty, staff and interested mentors/advisors. These student teams participated in a 4-week Summer Boot Camp where they conducted customer discovery, discovered who their competitors were, and developed their business models utilizing the canvas. This was all done in preparation for Demo Day!

Demo Day allowed gave each team the opportunity to showcase their new and improved solutions to the audience of over 100 participants!  In their pitches, they explained their business plans and potential customers and discussed the impact they wanted to make with their solutions. They also described the qualities, skills, and expertise they needed in a mentor, in order to get to the next step.

The goal of Demo Day is always to advance teams’ progress with the help and guidance of mentors. The teams had the opportunity to mentor with the crowd, answer questions, and receive insightful feedback.

Thank you to all attendees and mentors that make this possible!

If you are interested in learning more, please click the following links:

DifferenceMaker Program

2018 Idea Challenge Winning Teams

Mentor Program

Support DifferenceMaker or a Specific Student Team

Facebook Photo Album of Demo Day

Over 100 attendees!!!

Networking with the Manning School of Business Dean, Sandra Richtermeyer

Team ETRALock networking with UMass Lowell’s Provost Michael Vayda

Mass Heartbeat pitching there idea to save lives

Due to the snow day on Feb. 7th, the DifferenceMaker Kickoff Idea Hack will be RESCHEDULED to Monday, Feb. 12th. The location will be in the Saab ETIC on North Campus, and the event will take place from 5:30-7p.m.

Come join us in kicking off our $50,000 Idea Challenge and Idea Hack! Stop by to hear from real DifferenceMaker students, and how they turned their ideas into success stories.

When: Monday, February 12th
Where: Saab ETIC, Atrium, North Campus
Time: 5:30-7PM

Food and drinks will be served.

We hope to see you on Monday!

Hacking for a Better World!

Hack AE was a 24-hour civic hackathon designed to bring America East undergraduate students together, to build software and hardware projects that encourage civic engagement and/or address the real-world challenges facing our neighborhoods, cities, states and country. This event was managed by Juliette Kenny, Executive Director, Academic Consortium.

This Hackathon took place from November 5-6 at Binghamton University’s Innovative Technologies Complex, located in Vestal, NY. Holly Butler, DifferenceMaker Director, joined 18 UMass Lowell students (with just 3 having been to a Hackathon before) on the exciting trip! The UMass Lowell Hackletes left Lowell, MA at 5:30am on November 5 and arrived to Binghamton just for the start of lunch, at 11:45am. The team was welcomed by Juliette, Binghamton faculty and staff, and students from across the academic consortium. At 12:30pm, the Hackathon kicked-off with introductions from Major League Hacking (MLH), Juliette, and Binghamton staff. After welcoming remarks, the hacking began!

Students immediately ran into rooms, built teams, and began brainstorming ideas. The 18 UMass Lowell students formed 5 teams, one being with 3 Binghamton students, which was great! Holly helped the teams brainstorm ideas, using the DifferenceMaker method: Problem, Opportunity, Solution, and Resources. After several hours, the teams had ideas and began hacking…all night long! The excitement and enthusiasm throughout the night was incredible.

24 hours later, at 1:30pm on November 6th, the projects were submitted, and the judges began scoring the teams. All of the student teams, from across various AE Universities, had innovative ideas that they were passionate about. After being judged, the awards were announced.

It was an exciting moment for UMass Lowell! Two teams won in two categories!

Project Title: Superhero

Project Description: An application that connects helping volunteers to those who may be in trouble or need help.

Prize Category: Beginner Hack Category

UMass Lowell Student Information: Sanskriti Sharma, Freshman, Computer Engineering

Team: She built a team with 3 Binghamton students

Project Title: Generation 2U

Project Description: Research proves loneliness leads to depression. Generation 2U solves this problem by connecting baby boomers & millennials through a website and phone application network.

Prize Category: Health and Wellness Category

UMass Lowell Student Information: Lesa Duval, Junior, Electrical Engineering, Andrew MacGregor, Junior, Computer Engineering, Sohit Pal, Junior, Computer Science and Krin Yongvongphaiboon, Senior, Computer Science

Team: UMass Lowell students

Prizes: Each student could choose from the following:

Echo Dot

Google Chromecast

Skullcandy Wireless Headphones

Sony Noise-Canceling Headphones

Logitech Stereo Speakers

$50 Amazon Gift Card

This was an exciting event that brought together various schools and students. UMass Lowell was happy to be a part of it, and all teams learned from the experience. UMass Lowell looks forward to future AE Hackathons and events.

To view more photos, please visit the DifferenceMaker Facebook Page, American East Hackathon photo album.

Savannah Marshall studied community music at UMass Lowell and is a DifferenceMaker student. She won First to Market, a $4,000 prize at the 2014 Idea Challenge. Fresh Beets is a food truck and music venue that unites three discrete areas that the Greater Lowell community values highly into one vehicle of change. By combining food, music and education, Fresh Beets will turn any street corner, park, festival, or parking lot in Lowell into a total experience which feeds the mind, body and soul.

Savannah is currently in Texas where there is a vibrant food truck community.  She is learning more about the industry and how to launch her business. She will return to Lowell next month with the knowledge she gained from her research trip.

Here are more photos and captions of her trip:

Apple of my Eye – Just a cool shot I took one morning eating an awesome apple for breakfast waiting for my manager to open the truck up. Breakfast at the truck, either before it opens or right before customers arrive after I’ve set up, has become my favorite part of my morning ritual!

Edible Austin – I took this photo after making some tacos for dinner that I was especially proud of. I distinctly remember that it was a Friday night, one of my first Friday’s in Austin and I was very happy to have a nice dinner and adult beverage for myself after a long but exciting week. After assembling, photographing, and eventually EATING the tacos, I realized how passionate I am about tacos in general… and then it hit me clear as day that I should strongly consider tacos for the truck! I texted Professor John Morgan immediately, and started brainstorming more flavor profiles and combinations, and I’ve been working on that ever since!

Goofie Selfie – Working on the food truck!

2nd shift @ Arlos – Well, that’s when this was taken! I was a little too shy to ask my co-worker to take my picture on day 1, but I braved up and asked him on the second. 🙂

We are excited to hear about Savannah’s trip and the plans for her business when she returns in May.

Savannah Marshall studied community music at UMass Lowell and is a DifferenceMaker student. She won First to Market, a $4,000 prize at the 2014 Idea Challenge. Fresh Beets is a food truck and music venue that unites three discrete areas that the Greater Lowell community values highly into one vehicle of change. By combining food, music and education, Fresh Beets will turn any street corner, stake park, festival, or parking lot in Lowell into a total experience which feeds the mind, body and soul.

Savannah wanted to do research and learn more about the food truck industry so she used some of her winning funds to travel to Texas where there is a vibrant food truck community.  She has spent 6 months learning about the industry, inside and out. She is returning to Lowell in May and will begin implementing her creative business with the skills and knowledge she acquired in Texas.

Here are some photos and captions from her trip thus far:

Newspaper! This is an article that ran in the Daily Texan, a newspaper put out by the University of Texas at Austin, describing the new truck on campus, featuring yours truly. 🙂

Inspiration – I would pass by this incredible graffiti on my bike ride home from work every day when I lived at my first apartment. I still pass it sometimes. The sun would hit it in a really special way… and it was like a sign that I was on the right path with my aspirations.

Happy FRYday! – We sell vegan burgers and fries primarily at Arlo’s, and one Friday night at the beginning of a shift I made myself some fries and put this picture on social media to get some Austin friends to visit the truck… and make my northern friends a little jealous.

Brainstorming Sesh – One day I was out for several hours on my bike, enjoying nature, and enjoying some quality “me time.” Though, to be honest, the first few weeks of my trip were loaded with “me time” when I didn’t have too many friends or hours at work yet. I tried to stay positive about this time, and on this afternoon I found myself sprawled out at a Starbucks table I found along the bike trail, with coffee and a snack to fuel my furious pen hand. It made me so pleased to realize that I want to work on my project intrinsically.

My First Bike – I’ve been biking every day here in Austin because I don’t have a car. Such a blessing! It’s been really fun to ride everywhere, and while it’s definitely a hassle sometimes and certainly tiring, I love the simplicity, not buying gas, and love the environmental sustainability bikes promote. This bike was lent to me by my friend James! I’ve recently returned it and am on a bike my boyfriend bought on his visit down here. He found it to be cheaper to spend $100 and buy one than to rent one for several days, so I lucked out again with that!

Arlos Burger – This is a bac’n cheeze burger from Arlos! SO GOOD

Nature – Just one example of how beautiful it is down here! I found a lot of peace here at Ladybird Lake, a body of water that reminds me a lot of the Merrimack!

Research – Got a few books in the mail one morning in February. Made great companions to my cup of coffee. I still carry one or two around in my backpack everyday!

Thank you for sharing Savannah and keep up the great work! We are excited to hear from you when you return in May.

Congratulations to the 2013 Campus Wide DifferenceMaker team, Nonspec. On Monday, April 28, 2014 they competed against 9 other teams in the ASME IShow at The Newseum in Washington DC. Nonspec was awarded the 1st place prize of $25,000!!! Congratulations to Nonspec on making a difference through their hard work, dedication, innovative product idea and success.

The ASME IShow is meant to inspire students to be product innovators and entrepreneurs. It provides a platform for top collegiate teams to compete for seed funding in order to further the development of their product and business. Teams must display technical creativity and prove that they have a sustainable business model to a judging panel of successful innovators, industry experts, venture capitalists, and intellectual property specialists.

Nonspec produces low cost expandable and adjusting prosthetic limbs for children in developing nations.  Their technology is currently patent pending. Nonspec applied to the ASME IShow in February and became a top ten finalist. Yesterday they achieved 1^st place in this rigorous IShow competition.

In one short year (since winning the $5,000 award at the 1^st Annual DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge on April 15, 2013) Nonspec has achieved the following awards:

• Campus Wide DifferenceMaker Award, $5,000
• 2nd Place at Commencement Pitch, $1,000
• Top 10 College Entrepreneur of the Year by Entrepreneur Magazine
• IAPD Plastics Application Design Award, $1,000 (but taking PR instead of $)
• Moo Grand Prix Small Business Award, $11,000 plus $1,000 for materials
• NCIIA E-Team Grant Stage 1, $5,000
• Design News Engineer to Watch 2014, Jonathan de Alderete
• ASME top ten for the Innovation Showcase
• AME IShow 1^st Place Award, $25,000

To stay up to date on the DifferenceMaker Program and its creative teams please follow DMs on twitter @Difference_UML and visit www.facebook.com/umldifferencemaker.

The 2^nd Annual DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge was held on Tuesday, April 15, 2014. The poster reception took place from 5–6 p.m. with the pitch competition & awards from 6–9 p.m. This event was held in the Mark and Elisia Saab Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center, Atrium on North Campus. 42 teams pitched in the Preliminary Pitch-Off Event on April 4^th and the 13 teams who made it through were featured at this 2^nd Annual DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge.

The evening began with poster presentations by the 13 finalist teams, as well as student teams who participated in the Preliminary Pitch-Off and wanted a chance to win a “Fan Favorite” prize. The 13 finalist teams then presented a series of 5 minute rocket pitches to a panel of 8 alumni judges for a chance to share in $35,000 in prizes. These entrepreneurial UMass student teams competed and shared their ventures and all received a portion of the $35,000 to help further their projects. This event attracted over 135 students, alumni, faculty, staff, community members and entrepreneurs.

We would like to thank all of the judges for helping make this event a great success:

 Final Judges-April 15, 2014

Jim Regan
John Pulichino
Mark Forziati
Jack Wilson
Mike Morin
Don LaTorre
Tricia Keefe
Amy Hoey

We would like to thank our sponsors for helping us make a difference: 

• Digital Credit Union-Corporate Sponsor
• Joseph C. Day Chancellor’s Fund for Institutional Priorities
• Joseph P. Donahue Charitable Foundation
• Mitchell Kertzman Endowed Discretionary Fund
• Francis L. McKone Chancellor’s Discretionary Endowment Fund
• Pernick Chancellor’s Endowed Discretionary Fund
• Spinola Angel Investment Fund for Entrepreneurship
• Jack Wilson Endowed Presidential Entrepreneurship Award Fund

Congratulations to the 2014 DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge $35K Winners!!!

Please visit www.uml.edu/differencemaker to learn more!

DifferenceMaker^TM held its 2014 Preliminary Pitch-Off on Friday April 4^th from 2-6pm. 42 student teams pitched their innovative ideas making this event a great success! These teams were categorized into 6 groups depending on their projects topic. These categories included IT/Software/Apps, Healthcare/Medical Devices/Well-being, Technology/Energy/Environment, Community/Non-profit, Consumer Products and Education Innovations.  These 6 groups each contained 7 team projects that pitched to a panel of 4 judges simultaneously utilizing 6 UMass Lowell rooms. These rooms included DifferenceMaker Central, Lydon Library Quiet Study, Lydon Library Computer Lab, Saab Emerging Technology and Innovation Center Room 245, 345 and 445.

The 24 UMass Lowell Alumni judges that dedicated themselves to this event were:

The Preliminary Pitch-Off event began at 2pm in the Saab Emerging Technology and Innovation Center with registration, networking and food. The event concluded around 6pm with the announcement of the 12 finalists that will be moving on to the 2^nd Annual DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge being held on Tuesday, April 15^th from 5-9pm (Register here).

Congratulations to the Finalist Teams:

Nerdonyx: Nerdonyx is a place where theory meets application. This team is helping to encourage anyone who wants to be an engineer or scientist to pursue their dream.

S.imulated A.ction T.esting: A gaming option for S.A.T. testing for students who have testing anxiety.

Prevention’s Possible: The mission of this project is to use creative mediums and personal experience to reach today’s youth with the expectation that WE CAN prevent tragic outcomes!

SOS: Support Our Students: This Campus Community Shop at UMass Lowell would be a centrally located resource for students of low-income or those in need of assistance. It would also serve as a resource center for community engagement, for credit service placements and volunteer opportunities in the area.

Chat UML: Chat UML, a non-profit, will reach those in need of emotional help through a dedicated website where participants will chat with a Chat UML volunteer about what ever issue they feel a need to. We hope to assist people before their situation escalates and becomes a crisis.

iHand: The iHand is a concept integrating retinal scanning technology into a full arm, shoulder to fingertips, prosthetic.

BioBubbler:  The BioBubbler is made from indigenous material and does not require chemicals or electricity to use. It is a slow sand filtration system that eliminates bacteria in water by absorption, predation, natural death, and oxygen depletion.

OTTOnomous Technology: OTTOnomous Technology is a novel soltuion for replacing camshsfts in car engines with electro-mechanical actuators.

Treehouse: Treehouse is a website & phone application that connects friends with plans, events, and small businesses nearby.

ZHOOM: ZHOOM is a mobile application that improves the dining experience and service in restaurants. The features of ZHOOM include an online menu, mobile ordering functionality and payment system and customer reviews.

Fresh Beets: Fresh Beets is a food truck and music venue that unites three discrete areas that the Greater Lowell community values highly into one vehicle of change. By combining food, music and education, Fresh Beets will turn any street corner, stake park, festival, or parking lot in Lowell into a total experience which feeds the mind, body and soul.

TutorTrack: TutorTrack is a mobile application that makes it easy for tutors to track, add, and edit their time slots and for students to subscribe a book a time slot.

Termagen®/ TermaGreen: Termagen is our waste heat recovery solutions company that has innovated the heat recovery mechanism known as the organ rankine cycle. We have innovated the design of this machine to make a significant difference in its operations.

• This team was the winner of the 2013 DCU Innovation Contest with their project called Autocredit, a banking application. They have chosen to pitch their other project, TermaGreen in the finals instead of Autocredit.

These 13 teams will be presenting a 5 minute rocket pitch to a panel of alumni judges for a chance to share in $35,000 in prizes and services. In addition, a “fan favorite” prize will be awarded to the team with the best poster. The 2^nd Annual DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge will take place on Tuesday, April 15^th from 5-9pm in the Saab Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center. If you are interested in attending this event please register.

DifferenceMaker^TM held its forth workshop event last night, on Wednesday March 5^th from 6-7:30pm in Kitson 309 on North Campus. Over 40 students were in attendance! This workshop taught DifferenceMaker students how to identify all the resources needed to further their projects and ideas.

The night began with networking, pizza and soda. Then Professor Chad Montrie, from the College of Fine Arts Humanities and Social Sciences engaged the student audience through an interactive PowerPoint presentation that included group brainstorming activities along the way. This presentation, as well as the open discussion layout of this workshop allowed students to uncover the resources needed for their specific projects. This included funding, team members, specialists, physical space, software and more.  At the end of this workshop students were broken into teams to brainstorm every resource needed for a specific project. Those teams then presented to the student audience and received feedback.

To end the night Professor Steven Tello, Associate Vice Chancellor of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development presented a sample 3 minute rocket pitch. This pitch was an example of what is expected of each student team at the Preliminary Pitch-off and Final Idea Challenge events.

If you could not make it to this workshop, please view the DifferenceMaker resource page where all workshop materials will be posted for your convenience within 24-48 hours after each event. In addition, pitch coaching will be taking place on March 24^th and 25^th. Each DifferenceMaker applicant will be receiving an email to schedule a time for coaching. For more information regarding the DifferenceMaker Program, please visit www.uml.edu/differencemaker or email us: differencemaker@uml.edu.