Student Innovation on Display at Science and Technology Showcase

Seven student teams took home prizes at the 11th Annual Science and Technology Showcase (STS) co-hosted by the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship and the student-run Science and Engineering Business Association (SEBA).  The showcase provides University of Washington students with the opportunity to pitch the potential of their science- and technology-based innovations. Seattle-area entrepreneurs and investors served as judges and provided in-person feedback and critique.

The event preceded a team formation night as students of all disciplines prepare to compete in upcoming competitions from the Buerk Center including the Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge (March 1), the Alaska Airlines Environmental Innovation Challenge (March 30), and the UW Business Plan Competition.

The Buerk Center and SEBA wish to thank this year’s sponsors: Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA), NanoString Technologies, Davis Wright Tremaine, and WRF Capital.

And congratulations to this year’s STS award winners:

$1,000 WTIA GRAND PRIZE: A-ALPHA	A-Alpha developed the patent-pending Pharma-seq for providing high-throughput protein interaction characterization. The goal is to provide a solution to the costly innovation bottleneck facing the pharmaceutical industry as it develops drug compounds that are functionally on-target and specific.
$500 NANOSTRING TECHNOLOGIES SECOND PRIZE: PLAYGAIT	PlayGait is a non-electronic exoskeleton designed to increase the walking time for children from 3 to 6 who are managing neurological disorders such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida, or strokes. PlayGait is passive and assists forward motion with an exotendon running from the hip to the ankle.
$250 WRF CAPITAL THIRD PRIZE: EPI FOR ALL	EpiForAll has created an affordable solution for epinephrine delivery with the world’s first glass ampule autoinjector designed to work with an existing medical infrastructure. Glass ampules are the most common and cheapest form of epinephrine, and the EpiForAll device can be sold for less than $5 a dose.
$100 DAVIS WRIGHT TREMAINE MOST INNOVATIVE AWARD: SMART DX	The SmartDX App improves in-office rapid diagnostic tests using real-time analytics from the cloud to improve patient outcomes, avert expensive lab tests, and enable test makers to market increased performance of existing diagnostic products. Software under development will also apply contextual information in the interpretation of physical test results.
$100 DAVIS WRIGHT TREMAINE BEST COMMUNICATOR AWARD: SAFEFLAME	SafeFlame provides a service solution to hundreds of millions of people who use wood- or coal-burning cookstoves by directly installing low-cost biodigesters into customers’ households. The digesters break down organic content to produce biogas that can be used to prepare meals, which cuts down on the release of dangerous chemicals into the air.
$100 DAVIS WRIGHT TREMAINE BEST MARKETING STRATEGY AWARD: INDIE HARVEST	IndieHarvest’s nutrient blend technology grows greens in a small footprint, without the need for soil or even sunlight, to achieve the goal of addressing poor nutrition and food scarcity. The growing system can be used in apartments or other types of housing where soil or sunlit balconies may not be available.
$100 DAVIS WRIGHT TREMAINE MOST ENTHUSIASM AWARD: ISSUE COUNSEL	IssueCounsel aggregates arguments and quotes related to issue debates into a comprehensive report with competitive intelligence, decision-support tools, and communications and consulting services. Issuecouncel.com is an existing site and a for-profit extension of Debatepedia.org.
$100 DAVIS WRIGHT TREMAINE BEST POSTER AWARD: PLAYGAIT	(See description above).