Click on the picture above or the link below to find out more about the 2015 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

EQIP

EQIP
Adam Szaruga
Computer Science
Lawrenceville, GA
Shehmeer Jiwani
Computer Science
Snellville, GA
EQIP is a native try-before-you-buy marketplace that lets musicians experiment with expensive audio tools before committing to purchasing them.

"As musicians we're very aware of how underserved the music production community is, so we're setting out to fix many of the problems that the community faces. Winning the InVenture Prize would mean we can turn our passion for music into our careers while simultaneously helping musicians make better music worldwide."

Shortweb

Shortweb
Miguel Oller
Mechanical Engineering
Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
Ricardo De Andrade
Industrial Engineering & Computer Science
Caracas, Venezuela
Shortweb is a social productivity platform that delivers the most important information online through in-page, crowdsourced, highlights.

"As avid online readers, we understand that lack of time is a major problem when trying to find content online. We currently have a small pool of alpha testers giving us great feedback and asking for more features. Winning the InVenture Prize would give us the resources to accelerate the development of our product and to build the components necessary to scale our solution and make it available to millions of users."

FlameTech Grill Defender

FlameTech Grill Defender
1st Place
Alex Roe
Computer Science
Cumming, GA
Scott Schroer
Mechanical Engineering
Dunwoody, GA
Will Sweet
Business Administration
Newnan, GA
The Grill Defender is a life safety device for gas grills that alerts users when gas levels have reached an unsafe threshold.

"Safety is our greatest concern, and winning the InVenture Prize would give us the capital and credibility to get our safety technology into the hands of grillers and grill manufacturers as soon as possible."

Haplit

Haplit
People's Choice
Philip Bale
Computer Science
Hockessin, DE
Megan Fechter
Business Administration
Augusta, GA
Chandler Matz
Computer Engineering
Cumming, GA
Haplit is an interactive and responsive learning device for the braille writing system that is targeted at those born blind or with degenerative diseases.

"Haplit was born out of the dream of making the world a better place for those subjected to visual impairment. As a technical device, however, we need capital for development and manufacturing. Winning the InVenture Prize would allow our team to professionally produce Haplit on a large scale and effectively deliver our product to market in a timely manner."

QuantaBrew

QuantaBrew
Jack Breen
Mechanical Engineering
Encino, CA
The QuantaBrew is an airtight container that dispenses a set amount of coffee grounds each pour, simplifying the process of making coffee every morning.

"Winning the InVenture Prize will allow us to work with an industrial design firm who can help improve QuantaBrew’s design as an easy-to-use, inexpensive product that could be sold to coffee drinkers looking to save time in their morning routine."

OculoStaple

OculoStaple
2nd Place
Mohamad Ali Najia
Biomedical Engineering
Danvers, MA
Jacquelyn Borinski
Biomedical Engineering
Alpharetta, GA
Drew Padilla
Biomedical Engineering
Tampa, FL
OculoStaple is a revolutionary new surgical device to safely correct for drooping eyelids.

"With safety in mind, we at OculoStaple are committed to correcting for drooping eyelids and restore patients' vision - most of whom are elderly. Our revolutionary new product vastly improves patient outcomes when compared to current surgical techniques. Winning the InVenture Prize will give us the support needed to get this product in the hands of surgeons and improving the daily lives of patients."

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.