On January 29, 2020, we held our 2020 Rist DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge Kick-Off and Idea Hack at the Saab Center, Perry Atrium from 5:30 – 7 p.m. It was a very eventful night! The space was a full house filled with students, faculty, and mentors.

The event started off with food and networking. Students and faculty were able to speak with one another about their project ideas, catch up with how their semesters are, and meet new people.

Holly Butler, Entrepreneurial Initiatives Program Director, and Steven Tello, Vice Provost, then gave opening remarks to the crowd. They explained the history & process of being a DifferenceMaker, explained the plan of events for the evening, and provided reminders to apply for the Idea Challenge and to join us at the DCU/Manning School of Business Final Competition coming up soon.

Afterwards, real-life DifferenceMaker Teams sat in a panel and answered questions that were moderated by Holly Butler, Entrepreneurial Initiatives Program Director. They spoke about how and why they got involved with DifferenceMaker, how the various workshops & mentors have helped them, and the status their startup projects currently are at. The featured teams who spoke were:

Benji Ball, 2019 Rist Campus-wide DifferenceMaker, Edward Morante, English and Education.

Ambulatory Innovations (formerly known as the CAT MAT), 2019 Honorable Mention, Katie Muise, Health Sciences.

Re-Vive, 2019 Honorable Mention, Alison Mitchell, Engineering.

Ha Pho, Entrepreneurial Initiatives Program Manager, led the Idea Hack activity and discussion. Students wrote the ideas they had on the top of their mind on white paddle boards, and shared them to the crowd. Then, students and faculty worked in teams to solidify the ideas that the students shared earlier.

After the ideas were solidified, one student representative from each team shared their idea to the crowd. This activity gave the students an opportunity to practice their pitching skills and allowed them to get feedback for their ideas.

Thank you to everyone that attended! We hope that you learned something new about DifferenceMaker from this event!

Don’t forget to apply for the 2020 Rist DifferenceMaker $50k Idea Challenge! The deadline is on February 12th.

Interested in hearing student teams pitch? Join us at the DCU/Manning School of Business Innovation Finals this February 11th!

On January 7, 2020, four Rist DifferenceMaker® student teams pitched at DECA. This event took place at Durgin Hall on South Campus at UMass Lowell. DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe.

High school students from neighboring schools such as Nashoba Regional High School and Tyngsborough High School, visited the UMass Lowell Campus to pitch their own entrepreneurial start-up projects that they have been working on for months. During the interlude period while the judges were tallying their votes, our Rist DifferenceMaker Teams pitched their current start-up projects and companies.

The four RIST DifferenceMaker teams that pitched were:

ETRA Lock – 2018 DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge, Honorable Mention; a $2,000 prize. ETRA Lock is a RFID device that allow users, mainly individuals with physical limitations, to autonomously lock and unlock their doors by proximity.

Mass Heartbeat –   2018 DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge, Contribution to a Healthier Lifestyle winner; a $4,500 prize. Mass Heartbeat conducts heart screenings that detect underlying conditions that people may not be aware of, and is brought in an affordable manner to schools across Massachusetts

RE-VIVE – 2019 DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge, Honorable Mention; a $2,000 prize. RE-VIVE is a wearable auto-injection system to administer Naloxone to those suffering from a drug overdose.

VotED – 2019 DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge winner, Significant Social Impact winner; a $4,500 prize. VotED is a voter education app that makes learning about current politics simple, fast, and easy.

After all the teams pitched their start-ups, the young entrepreneurs in the audience were asked to vote for their favorite teams using PollEverywhere on their phones. Mass Heartbeat won first place with a top prize of $600, RE-VIVE came in second with a prize of $450, VotED won third and received $250, and ETRALock came in fourth place with a prize of $150.

Congratulations to all teams that pitched! Congratulations to all students that participated in DECA and pitched their own projects earlier that day!

On Wednesday, December 4th, 2019, 24 student teams went to the Saab Center, Perry Atrium, to pitch their prototypes to judges and the public. This was the 6th Annual Francis College of Engineering Prototyping Competition!

From 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., each team demonstrated their working prototype with a three-minute presentation to a panel of preliminary judges. They were judged based on practicality, creativity, market ability, cost-effectiveness, and presentation. This event was also open to the public, where family, student peers, and visitors could also see the pitches and vote for their favorite teams

We would like to extend a big thank you to all of the Preliminary judges:

Doug Browne ’85, Francis College of Engineering

Cindy Conde ’87, ’91, Francis College of Engineering

Steve Geyster ’83, Francis College of Engineering

Paul Makris ’91, Francis College of Engineering

Mike Mulligan ’85, Francis College of Engineering

Rich Rosetti ’83, Francis College of Engineering

Rob Sullivan ’88, ’93, Francis College of Engineering

William (Bill) Perciballi ’85, Francis College of Engineering

From 6 p.m to 7 p.m, the judges deliberated. Three teams were selected by the judges to move to the final round. And, the People’s Choice Award team also moved to the final round.

After the deliberation, the teams that were moving on to the final competition were announced. They presented their proposal to a panel of alumni judges. Each team had ten minutes for their presentations and five minutes for questions. A huge thank you to the final judges:

Rajia Abdelaziz ’16, Francis College of Engineering and Kennedy College of Sciences

Chad LeFrance ’88, Francis College of Engineering

Chris McKenna ’89 Francis College of Engineering

Mark Saab ’81 ’13 (H) Francis College of Engineering

After the presentation pitches, judges went to a separate room to deliberate for who won the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place awards. The People’s Choice Award vote from the individual pitches earlier were also counted.

First prize – $2,500 – Concussion Sensor – A mouth guard with sensor to detect concussion while athletics play in the field.

Second prize – $1,500 – The Smart Safety Outlet – An outlet that interfaces with an app to permit only the authorized person to use electrical appliances in home and workplace.

Third prize – $1,000 – Stand-Assist Belt – A new design of the traditional gait belt to reduce injuries by providing back and under buttock support to assist nurses helping patients to stand.

Med Device prize – $1,500 – The C.A.T. Mat – A physical therapy mat that simulates walking outdoors, helps treat a multitude of patients to improve balance, stability, and other impairments they may have.

Fan favorite – $500 – Use App – An app to help people recycle single use materials.

Honorable mention – team OTDSEES – A device that can assist disable athletes, SCUBA divers, trades people, and homeowners with transferring heavy items, equipment, or people over uneven and rough terrain.

Congratulations to all teams, and thank you to all the judges, audience members, and Francis College of Engineering! If you’re interested in winning additional funding and resources, please apply to the Rist DifferenceMaker $50K Idea Challenge from now until Feb. 12th.

On November 12, 2019, the UMass Lowell innovation community partnered with Johnson and Johnson Innovation to host an event at M2D2 located at the Innovation Hub in downtown Lowell. The event was called – The Promise of the Next Generation of Wearables. RE-VIVE, who won Honorable Mention, a $2,000 award at the 2019 Rist DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge, was chosen to pitch at this exciting event!

Innovations such as the Apple Watch and FitBit, also known as wearable devices, have become one of the trendiest accessories to hit the consumer world. The smart wearable device market is projected to double by 2022.

Steven Tello, Vice Provost for Graduate, Professional and Online Studies, gave welcoming remarks. After the remarks, expert thought leaders in this space, such as Cris De Luca, Global Director of Digital Innovation, and Jeff Champagne, Director of Business Development at MPR Associates, Inc. discussed the true value and definition of “wearables devices” and “smart clothing”.

There were various three minute pitches, presented by startup teams with products related to wearable technology. Alison Michell and Nicholas Lydon, two UMass Lowell seniors studying chemical engineering, pitched their idea for RE-VIVE. RE-VIVE aims to address the opioid epidemic by preventing fatal overdoses. RE-VIVE 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.

There was an expert feedback panel, featuring Stefanie Dhanda, Ibraheem Badejo, and Cris De Luca. Everyone on the panel were Directors from Johnson and Johnson Innovation. After all of the pitches, they voted for their top favorite teams. RE-VIVE came in 2nd place!

Congratulations to RE-VIVE! We’re very proud of their hard work!

On Tuesday, November 19, students from local colleges and universities near the Boston area gathered to the global headquarters of LogMeIn for the largest cross-college pitch off hosted by MIT. Among those schools were students from our district: UMass Lowell and Middlesex Community College!

Representing UMass Lowell was team Ambulatory Innovations, who won Honorable Mention at the 2019 Rist DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge. Michelle Mailloux and Katherine Muise, two graduates in physical therapy in the Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences, are the founders. Michelle pitched their product, the C.A.T. Mat, at the Beantown Throwdown this Tuesday.

C.A.T. Mat (community ambulation tool mat) is an artificial environment simulation tool for patients going through physical therapy. It will simulate walking outdoors, with tiles that have textures such as sand and rocks, to help patients prepare for community ambulation.

The first place winner of the 2019 Beantown Throwdown was UMass Lowell, team Ambulatory Innovations! They received first place against teams from Harvard University, Boston University, MIT, and more.

They were awarded the following prizes:

Entrepreneur Education

· Admission to an upcoming MITEF Cambridge Start Smart class – (1st + 2nd place teams)

· Launchpad Venture Group is offering guest passes for two (2) entrepreneurs to attend one upcoming catalyst event as observers. These events showcase short pitches from 10-12 startups, with networking with investors afterwards. The two team members will be able to watch the pitches and network afterwards – (1st place team)

· Underscore VC will host an expert-lunch/mentoring-session and offer a final round interview to a team they select for their UFirst Summer Accelerator

· A Legal Lunch with MITEF Legal Sponsors

· Net Positive Agency is offering four (4) one-hour digital marketing consulting sessions – (1st + 2nd place teams)

Startup Tools

· One-year team plan subscription to the Disciplined Entrepreneurship Toolbox; a set of tools and checklists to help founders build a healthy and successful startup – (1st + 2nd place teams)

· Access to Google Cloud Startup Program – Spark Package, which includes 20K in credits via MITEF Cambridge partnership –(1st + 2nd place teams)

Incubator Access

· ACTION Innovation Network will provide one hour consultations exploring the greater Boston/New England incubator network. (1st + 2nd place teams)

Other

· Day passes to the Cambridge Innovation Center

· The Canada prize of travel to Montreal at District 3 Innovation Center for a week, Montreal’s leading innovation hub (1st place winner)

· Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds gift bag

We’re very proud of their hard work and innovative idea!

Representing Middlesex Community College, is team VotEd. Students Michael Dignan, Gillian Inglis, and Olivia Reposa are part of the DifferenceMaker/MCC Partnership. VotEd is a platform that works to give users unbiased knowledge about their rights to vote. They won the DifferenceMaker prize for Significant Social Impact in 2019.

We are so proud of our DifferenceMaker student teams that pitched at Beantown this year!

Read about the Beantown Throwdown press release here.

On October 16th, 2019, we held our DifferenceMaker Thank You Celebration at Moloney Hall in University Crossing. This event was to give a huge thank you to everyone that has been helping out and supporting DifferenceMaker!

The night started off with lots of networking. About 105 people were in attendance, consisting of Faculty Fellows, student teams, directors, alumni, and more. Brian Rist, ’77, Manning School of Business, and CEO of Storm Smart, along with Chancellor Jacquie Moloney, also stopped by to celebrate.

Following the networking, there was a dinner reception. Steak tips, along with seasonal roasted vegetables and potatoes were served. Everyone ate and networked with each other some more.

After the dinner reception, Entrepreneurial Initiatives Project Director, Holly Butler, gave opening remarks and an introduction of the night to the crowd.

After the introduction, Chancellor Jacquie Moloney followed up afterwards by giving welcoming remarks to everyone. She spoke about how much DifferenceMaker has grown since it first started in 2013 and how it’s been successful in getting students involved with learning about startups, being an entrepreneur, and making change in the world.

Brian Rist, followed up the Chancellor’s speech by speaking about his recent donation to establish the Rist DifferenceMaker Institute. Without the education he received from UMass Lowell, he would have not been as successful as he is now, being the CEO of his own company, Storm Smart. His donation to establish the Rist DifferenceMaker Institute was a way to give back and to help give students a boost in working to become their own CEOs’ as well. Towards the end of his speech, he gave everyone pieces of advice about startups. A quote of advice that was given to him which also inspired the crowd was “Businesses don’t fail, people quit.”

Following the speeches by Brian Rist and the Chancellor were pitch updates from former and recent student teams. Ha Pho, Entrepreneurial Initiatives Project Manager, introduced each team. The teams (some whom are now companies!) that pitched were Nonspec, Preventions Possible, invisaWear, Operation250, Benji Ball, and CAT Mat.

There was a Q&A session after each team’s pitch update to engage the crowd. The night ended with closing remarks by Vice Provost Steven Tello, along with dessert and more networking and poster viewing.

Thank you to everyone that attended this night! DifferenceMaker would not be where it is at right now without you all.

Please save the date for the upcoming College-based competition finals and 2020 Idea Challenge.

Digital Federal Credit Union/Manning School of Business Innovation Contest Finals: December 3, 6-8:30 p.m., in the Saab Center Perry Atrium.

Francis College of Engineering Prototyping Competition: December 4, 3-9 p.m., in the Saab Center Perry Atrium.

2020 $50,000 Idea Challenge: April 15, 2020, 5-8:30 p.m., University Crossing, Moloney Hall.

On September 25, at the Saab Center, Perry Atrium, we held our annual semester Kick-Off event! Over 60 participants came to network, ask questions, and learn more about DifferenceMaker and the college-based competitions. The night started off with food, fun, and networking.

During the event, our two college-based competitions were kicked-off. The Digital Federal Credit Union/Manning School of Business Innovation Contest was announced by Thomaz de Moura, the Innovations Director at DCU. Jim Regan ’88, Manning School of Business and President and CEO of DCU stopped by to say hello. Dean Richtermeyer, Manning School of Business also came to show her support for the event and competition.

The Francis College of Engineering Prototyping Competition was announced by Professor Hunter Mack; a faculty member in the Francis College of Engineering and a DifferenceMaker Faculty Fellow. Provost Joe Hartman, former Dean of the Francis College of Engineering also stopped by to support the event.

The Kick-Off event ended with an exciting and interactive ideation activity. To start, each student team had to define a problem they were passionate about solving. Once that was completed, they developed a variety of solutions to solve that specific problem. Then, they chose the best solution and built it using Legos.

Each team pitched their problems and solutions to the audience and showcased their Lego prototypes. Once everyone pitched their ideas, there were closing remarks and more networking to end the evening.

Thank you to everyone that attended this event! A very special thank you to all of our sponsors that support The Rist DifferenceMaker Institute and our College-based Competitions.

We hope to see all students enter a college-based competition to win funding to move their ideas forward. To apply and learn more, click here. The application deadline is Oct. 25th.

Questions? DifferenceMaker@uml.edu

Brian Rist ’77, Manning School of Business is the Founder, President & CEO of Storm Smart Industries. He and his wife, Kim, have recently donated $2 million to establish the Rist DifferenceMaker Institute. The Rist Family donation is a significant step forward in the development and growth of the DifferenceMaker® program. Through the Rist DifferenceMaker Institute we will increase the participation and recognition of UMass Lowell student innovation and creativity across the northeast and the country. We are very grateful to Brian and Kim Rist for this generous contribution, and for their past support of the program.

The Rist DifferenceMaker Fellowship is designed to engage creative individuals in building, developing, and expanding the DifferenceMaker® program and the success of its student teams. The position is supported by the Rist DifferenceMaker Institute with funds being matched by the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

If you are interested in the Rist Fellowship, please see the flyer for more information and take a moment to complete the inquiry form. Once completed, you will receive additional information.

DifferenceMaker hosted a Google Design Sprint in August with current and past DifferenceMaker students and teams, as well as UMass Lowell student researchers. The Sprint consisted of four sessions with the goal of teaching student teams how to build and test their prototypes in just five days. DifferenceMaker judge and mentor, Richard Juknavorian ’98, Zuckerburg College of Health Sciences, led all the sessions. Each session consisted of videos, lectures, and teamwork.

These sessions were based off the book Sprint, Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days, written by Jake Knapp from Google Ventures. The purpose of a Sprint is to be as efficient as possible with your time and to get everyone on the team to bring out their best ideas and contributions.

A Design Sprint is meant to Map, Sketch, Decide, Prototype, and Test ideas in just five days. It allows you to fast forward into the future so you can see how customers react before you invest all the time and expense of building a real product.

Each day of the workshop had a different focus. For example, the first day focused on mapping the foundation for the product the team will be building. Each day led up to the last day of the workshop where the team was able to test their prototype on potential customers for feedback.

We would like to give a huge thank you to Richard Juknavorian for facilitating all of the sessions! The Design Sprint was an amazing learning experience for everyone.

On Monday, July 15 2019, the 2019 DifferenceMaker® Idea Challenge winning teams gathered in the UMass Lowell Innovation Hub to pitch their new and improved ideas since advancing through the summer Boot Camp. The audience consisted of alumni, faculty, staff, community friends, and interested mentors and advisors. The goal of Demo Day is to advance teams’ progress with the help and guidance of mentors.

During Demo Day, students and mentors got to network with one another and each other. Student teams also pitched their ideas to everyone. In their pitches, they explained their business plans, potential customers, and impact that their product or service would have. There was an Q&A session after each pitch and more networking to end the exciting evening.

To learn more, please take a moment to watch a short video about Demo Day here.

Thank you to everyone that attended! The event would not have been so successful without the support of so many individuals. We hope to see you again next year!