Click on the picture above or the link below to find out more about the 2014 InVenture Prize competition! Relive all the exciting moments by watching the recorded broadcast. Click on each team name to learn more about the competitors and their inventions.

Competing Teams

Safichoo

Safichoo
1st Place
People's Choice
Jasmine Burton
Industrial Design
Dunwoody, GA
Erin Cobb
Industrial Design
Atlanta, GA
Brandie Banner
Civil Engineering
Alpharetta, GA
The Safi Choo is an inexpensive, mobile toilet that lowers fecal-oral contamination and reduces stress on the body while maintaining the cultural practices of squatting and anal cleansing, in order to bring relief to refugees in the developing world.

"The CDC's water and sanitation researchers are interested in implementing our design in refugee camps in Africa contingent upon us receiving funding for materials for protoypes and further research. Therefore, winning InVenture would not only mean bringing our product to the global market, but it would also ignite potential careers for our team since we are all passionate about ultimately becoming humanitarian designers and engineers."

Sucette

Sucette
2nd Place
Rachel Ford
Biomedical Engineering
Powder Springs, GA
Esteban Ongini
Biomedical Engineering
Miami, FL
Will McAllister
Biomedical Engineering
Charlotte, NC
The Sucette Smart Soother is a modernized pacifier tailored to fit the growing dentition of infants, decreasing the adverse dental, skeletal, and speech deformations associated with extended use of current designs. Being "smart", the pacifier changes color when infant fever is detected as a simple diagnostic tool for parents.

"InVenture Prize will afford us the capability to reach a wider audience of parents to promote Sucette's name and product; winning would provide the resources necessary to pursue a manufacturing scale-up and funds to begin experimental trials. Above all, winning InVenture Prize would validate the team's devotion to our product, and demonstrate the passion we have towards pediatric device design!"

Better Walk

Better Walk
Partha Unnava
Biomedical Engineering
Dublin, OH
Frankie Swindell
Biomedical Engineering
Grayslake, IL
Andrew Varghese
Biomedical Engineering
Suwanee, GA
The Better Walk Crutch is a premium assistive device that provides users with more comfort when rehabbing a lower leg injury.

"Winning the InVenture Prize would be a huge step in putting our products into the hands of people whose lives could benefit from it. We're ready to make an impact on the world and show how innovation can come from anywhere, even students."

Guitar Guys

Guitar Guys
Richie Choy
Computer Engineering
Alpharetta, GA
Jacob Howard
Electrical Engineering
Alpharetta, GA
Ian MacKensie
Electrical Engineering
Dahlonega, GA
Garrett Wade
Electrical Engineering
Warner Robbins, GA
Enlighten Music Trainer is an effective learning tool that utilizes interactive LED technology to change the way people learn to play the guitar.

"Winning the InVenture Prize gives our idea the resources and traction necessary to become a reality within a competitive market."

Lights Out

Lights Out
Geries AbuAkel
Electrical Engineering
Duluth, GA
Michael Duke
Biomedical Engineering
Atlanta, GA
Saranya Karthikeyan
Biomedical Engineering
Cary, NC
Dershika Patel
Biomedical Engineering
Covington, GA
Sleepwell Sleepwear by Lights Out is a night shirt which reduces snoring and symptoms of sleep apnea to improve overall sleep quality using automated positional therapy.

"Winning the InVenture Prize would mean giving us the opportunity to bring millions of people one step closer to finally obtaining a good night's sleep."

Upsadazy

Upsadazy
Charlsie Lemons
Mechanical Engineering
Alpharetta, GA
James Hess
Mechanical Engineering
Acworth, GA
AJ Yllander
Electrical Engineering
Warner Robbins, GA
Zachary Churney
Mechanical Engineering
Marietta, GA
Upsadazy is a stair-capable baby stroller with safety features that protect the stroller from tipping while on the stairs.

"For the product, it would mean that we would have the resources to fully finish the prototype and the IP to start marketing the idea to stroller companies. For the team, winning the InVenture prize would represent the culmination of years of hard work and sacrifice at Georgia Tech, combined with the support of our family and friends, in the pursuit of becoming successful engineers and inventors."

Judges

Behrooz is a high-tech industry entrepreneur, who has taken on numerous operational, executive, and board director roles, and has invested in several private and public companies. Several of these companies have been acquired, creating over six billion dollars of cumulative value. Since 2012, he has been CEO and President of InvenSense, Inc. (NYSE: INVN), a world leading provider of sensors for smart phones, drones, wearables, smart homes and automobiles. In December 2016, InvenSense agreed to be acquired by TDK Corporation for $1.3B, where Behrooz serves as the President of the MEMS Business Group, as well as CEO of the InvenSense subsidiary. Prior to InvenSense, Behrooz was Executive Vice President and General Manager at NetLogic Microsystems (NASDAQ: NETL), a leader in intelligent semiconductor solutions for the Internet, acquired by Broadcom in 2011. Before that, he was the President and CEO of RMI Corporation, which he merged with NetLogic in 2009. Before joining RMI, Behrooz served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of CDMA Technologies at Qualcomm, Inc., a provider of wireless technology and services. Prior to joining Qualcomm, he held several operational and engineering leadership positions at Motorola, Inc. As Vice President and General Manager for Motorola Semiconductor’s wireless mobile division, he contributed to building many wireless technologies, and participated in the early growth of consumer cell phones, earning him Motorola’s Distinguished Innovator Award. Behrooz holds a BSEE from Montana State University, and MSEE from Georgia Institute of Technology, and has over 20 patents in chip design, software, and sensors.

Hosts

Headshot

Faith Salie is an Emmy-winning contributor to CBS Sunday Morning and a regular on NPR’s Wait Wait...Don’t Tell Me!  She’s also host of the new podcast “Real Good.” She’ll debut Off-Broadway later this year in her solo show, Approval Junkie, based on her memoir of the same name. She's a storyteller for The Moth with her story viewed over 2 million times and included in the New York Times bestseller Occasional Magic.  Faith’s hosted five seasons of the PBS show Science Goes to the Movies, but perhaps her biggest science cred was her role on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which got her beamed up and landed her on a trading card worth hundreds of cents. Faith grew up in Atlanta and is a Rhodes scholar who graduated from Harvard, aka the GA Tech of the North. She lives in New York City, where she continues to say “y’all" and often bakes Coca-Cola cake.