Entrepreneurial spirit making a difference

Staff Reports

The InVenture Prize, ’s annual undergraduate innovation competition that allows students to present their inventions in an "American Idol" style show, reaches its Georgia Public Broadcasting televised conclusion Tuesday in a showdown of six finalist teams.

The competition to select the top student innovation/business begins at 7 p.m. and will be co-hosted by New York Times technology columnist David Pogue.

Past winners include weighted sports apparel, software that assists consumers and musical devices that aid in the creativity of performing.

One of this year’s finalists has a software assisted home-use hand assessment and rehabilitation device that will assist weak-handed individuals regain their strength.

The student entrepreneurs are seeking a $15,000 top prize, and the top two receive a free U.S. patent filing worth $20,000. A place in Georgia Tech’s Flashpoint program for start up companies is also on the line.

In addition to airing on GPB, the InVenture Prize competition will be streaming online at www.gpb.org. The event is free and open to the public and see here for more information. 

Also Tuesday night, a $5,000 “People’s Choice” award, provided by the Georgia Tech Research Corporation, will be presented. The live audience and broadcast viewers will have the opportunity to help select the winner of this award by voting on the Internet or texting in their favorite finalist.

This year’s finalists are:

• Entripic Wake: A rigid, portable, and customizable obstacle/rail system for extreme water sports

1. Graeme Wicks – Polymer, Fiber and Textile Engineering, Louisville, KY
2. Spencer Price – Industrial Design, Appalachian State University, Salisbury, NC

• Re-hand: Software assisted home-use hand assessment and rehabilitation device

1. Alkindi Kibria - Biomedical Engineering, Rockville, MD
2. Elizabeth LeMar – Biomedical Engineering, Roswell, GA
3. Kunal Dean MacDonald - Biomedical Engineering, Macon, GA
4. Daphne Vincent - Biomedical Engineering, McDonough, GA

• CourseShark: An online system for creating and sharing college class schedules

1. Gregg Cobb – Computer Science, Mountain View, CA
2. James Rundquist – Computer Science, Acworth, GA

• CardiacTech: Chest retractor for bypass surgery

1. Kevin Parsons - Mechanical Engineering, Sugar Hill, GA
2. Mathew Lee – Biomedical Engineering, Atlanta, GA
3. Priya Patil – Biomedical Engineering, Atlanta, GA
4. Benji Hoover – Mechanical Engineering, Flowery Branch, GA
5. Josh DeVane – Mechanical Engineering, Atlanta, GA

• Stylii: An extraordinarily precise and pressure-sensitive capacitive stylus

1. Matthew Stoddard – Industrial Design, Clarksville, TN      
2. Christopher Vollo – Electrical Engineering, Alpharetta, GA

• DEfT Pad: Touchscreen device giving guitarists the functionality of a distortion pedal

1. David Burke – Computer Engineering, Canton, GA
2. Bradley Keller – Electrical Engineering, Gainesville, GA
3. Sarosh Ali Shahbuddin – Electrical Engineering, Rock Hill, SC
4. Michael Barrington Stone - Electrical Engineering, Augusta, GA
5. Jarred Vallbracht – Electrical Engineerig, Covington, GA