Innovation Challenge: History
The Innovation Challenge was the brainchild of Michael F. Malone, Dean of the College of Engineering and the Ronnie and Eugene Isenberg Distinguished Professor of Engineering, and Soren Bisgaard, the Eugene M. Isenberg Professor of Technology Management in the Isenberg School of Management, who established the Challenge in 2005. The competition is one among many initiatives in a campus-wide strategy to develop technological innovation and to bring that intellectual property to the private sector. For more information on the vision of the Isenberg Professorships, including the most recent Eugene M. and Ronnie Isenberg Professorship in Integrative Environmental Science, visit the following link - http://umass.edu/umhome/news/articles/11223.php.
Winning Teams
Academic Year 2008/09
The May 2009 Final Business Plan Competition grand prize of $35,000 was won by team QD Tech for proposal to produce quantum-dot‐based materials designed to improve solar cells. QD Tech aims to increase solar cell power output by adding a quantum dot active layer to increase existing solar cells’ efficiency. Their proprietary quantum dot synthesis method allows them to do this at relatively low cost, when compared to the traditional quantum dot synthesis.
The prior round Executive Summary & Elevator Pitch Competition, held in December of 2008 for a $5,000 grand prize, was won by Bug Power, a biotech company planning to produce a talented strain of bacteria that can simultaneously clean up waste, eliminate odor and generate electricity in portable toilets.
Academic Year 2007/08
The May 2008 Final Business Plan Competition grand prize of $55,000 was won by team Therapeutic Systems, a concept business that will market a novel “deep-pressure vest,” developed in the UMass Amherst Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, that improves the quality of life for people with mental illness, especially autism, by providing a “portable hug.” An estimated three to four million patients suffer from developmental disorders such as autism and the portable vest helps them self-soothe.
The prior round Executive Summary & Elevator Pitch Competition, held in December of 2007 for a $5,000 grand prize, was won by team Rentabilities an early stage, disruptive application service provider for the rental industry which streamlines rental operations by providing stores with online stores and point of sale systems. Rentabilities is already providing rental companies with a sophisticated web site presence, a built, tested, and proven online store and an integrated point-of-sale system that works in concert with the online store.
Academic Year 2006/07
The May 2007 Final Business Plan Competition grand prize of $45,000 was won by team Condition Engineering for their proposal of a new company that would monitor and provide failure warning systems for earthen structures. Current monitoring techniques are limited to visual inspections and specialized sensors and equipment that are expensive and provide limited information. Condition Engineering would deliver a novel set of sensor units embedded in the ground, with tens of thousands of these sensors providing a widespread monitoring and early failure warning system. This technology would be versatile across many markets and applications, including construction sites, railroad beds, flood control systems, landfills and bridges.
The prior round Executive Summary & Elevator Pitch Competition, held in December of 2006 for a $5,000 prize, was won by team Diamond Innovations. Diamond Innovations is a new company that would produce diamond-coated, long-lasting artificial joints and thus lower the number of painful, follow-up surgeries for implant recipients. Diamond Innovations is currently seeking a patent for a new technique in which diamond can be created from polymer precursors. Thin, smooth diamond films created through this process can then be coated onto objects of different shapes and sizes.
Academic Year 2005/06
The May 2006 Final Business Plan Competition grand prize of $45,000 was won by team Pharma Solutus for their proposal of a new company that would develop drug delivery platforms for targeting cancer and making chemotherapy more effective. Pharma Solutus focuses on novel drug delivery nanotechnology which will allow providers to concentrate drugs at the tumor site, thereby reducing side effects, and to control and sustain the release of the anticancer drug.
The prior round Executive Summary & Elevator Pitch Competition, held in the December of 2005 for a $5,000 prize, was won by team HydroMatrix which plans to commercialize a nanostructured polymer technology designed to rebuild healthy cartilage in damaged or degenerated human joints.