Five Ventures Selected as Innovation Challenge Finalists

February 22, 2021

Hosted by the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship, the four-part Innovation Challenge continued with The Semifinal on Monday, February 22. In front of a panel of four judges, 17 student-led startup

Hosted by the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship, the four-part Innovation Challenge continued with The Semifinal on Monday, February 22. In front of a panel of four judges, 17 student-led startups gave five-minute pitches describing their ventures and participated in a 10-minute Q&A session. The judges selected five teams to advance to Innovation Challenge: The Final (April 7, 2021), where $60,000 in seed money will be awarded.

 

rStream Recycling: Ian Goodine (mechanical engineering), Ethan Walko (mechanical engineering)

In a tweet: Look around, plastic is everywhere. It lives forever- so it's perfect to build with and awful to trash. Join us as we re-imagine recycling as an experience where you truly get out what you put in. From convenience to products to environmental progress, this is rStream Recycling.

 

Traditional Hockey: James Marathas (social thought and political economy), Ethan Harper (CNS), Pat Scanlon (BDIC)

In a tweet: Traditional Hockey is a team of hockey players looking to revolutionize the hockey industry by making the sport more sustainable.

 

Nutriply: Minqi Wang (food science)

In a tweet: Nutriply licenses encapsulation technologies to dietary supplement companies to protect the key components from degradation during manufacturing and digestion.

 

MicrobeBlaster: Simran Jeet (biology), Phoebe Lasic-Ellis (BDIC), Sarah Kaunfer (microbiology), Hayley McIsaac (biochemistry and molecular biology)

In a tweet: MicrobeBlaster eliminates catheter-borne bacterial infections before they begin and will save hospitals thousands of lives and billions of dollars. The antimicrobial titanium dioxide mats line catheters, kill microbes on contact, and stop the cycle of antibiotic resistance.

 

Qualtags: Harsha Prakki (operations and information management)

In a tweet: Qualtags supplies the food and beverage industry with functional NFC-based technology deployed as small, low-cost tags to be placed on individual units of consumer-packaged items to provide end-to end supply chain monitoring and create marketing opportunities for brands.

 

Judges: Allen Au, Melissa Castro, Laura Teicher, Victor Woolridge

Up Next: Innovation Challenge: The Final | Wed., April 7, 2021

Sponsors: EY, The Heiser Family, Norman “Bud” Robertson, Kumar Ganapathy, Jeff Glassman (Darn It!), John & Sally Burke, Joe Suyemoto, Jerry O'Connor, Valerie Post (Engel & Volkers, Boston), Larry Post '75 (Post Hospitality Group)