Syracuse University students Alec Gillinder ’20 and Quinn King ’20 (College of Visual and Performing Arts, School of Design), have made it to the final five for tonight’s ACC InVenture Prize Competition. The elite finalists, selected yesterday from a field of ACC university semi-finalists by a panel of industry experts and investors, will face off “Shark-Tank” style in a live PBS show, televised from NC State tonight at 8 p.m. They are:
- MedUX (Syracuse)
- DeLive (Notre Dame)
- Ethos Medical (Georgia Tech)
- InnoHealth Diagnostics (FSU)
- MIST (UVA)
The one-hour show, dubbed “The Battle of the Brains” between ACC universities, will be streamed live tonight, starting at 8 p.m., via this URL: http://www.gpb.org/acc-inventure-2019
SU fans can help the home team by watching the live stream and voting for MedUX tonight in the People’s Choice Award. Text-In Number: (770) 637-3005 and use keyword MEDUX to vote by text or on line at URL: http://accinventureprize.com/vote
Voting will open around 8:40 p.m. after the last team has presented, and remain open for approximately 5 minutes, so vote quickly! One vote per device.
For those missing the live action, local outlet WCNY will broadcast it Sunday afternoon across the New York State public broadcasting network.
The ACC InVenture Prize is a talent search for top student innovators at the 15 colleges and universities that are part of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Academic Consortium. The competition plays off the spirit of the ACC, with an emphasis on big ideas. While ACC teams regularly battle it out on athletic playing fields, the InVenture Prize offers the chance for students to meet on the innovation playing field.
This is the second time a Syracuse University team made it to the final five. Kate Beckman ’17, G’18, founder of FreshU, (Newhouse), made it to the final five in 2017.
The Blackstone LaunchPad powered by Techstars at Syracuse University Libraries coordinates the campus qualifier, and also mentors and coaches the teams that compete for the coveted title of top inventor.
Caption: Alec Gillinder and Quinn King working on their second prototype at the SU Nancy Cantor Warehouse in the VPA School of Design
MedUX developed their concept for a portable intravenous wearable at Invent@SU last summer, and worked this past year with the LaunchPad on a commercialization strategy. They have built a prototype, raised seed funding, won $47,000 in campus competitions, assembled an advisory team of industry, medical and product development experts, filed two provisional patents, and developed strategic relationships with FDA consultants and commercialization partners who are ready to help take the product to market. They are currently filing their non-provisional patent, and seeking mission-driven investors to help take them through the FDA Class I process, usability testing, and production.
SU’s participation is supported by the Provost’s Office to help students go toe-to-toe with their ACC peers for prize money to launch their next venture.
In addition to Syracuse, the 15 ACC institutions are: Boston College, Clemson University, Duke University, Florida State University, Georgia Tech, North Carolina State University of Notre Dame, University of Louisville, University of Miami, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, University of Pittsburgh, University of Virginia, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University and Wake Forest University.