MSIM Mid-Point Presentations: Sprint into Spring

Students in the M.S. in Innovation & Management program presented their mid-point Innovation Sprints to a panel of industry experts yesterday. While some groups continued development of the ventures initially incepted during the Fall 2018 semester, some students revealed new products within this session. Here's an insider's look into each Innovation Sprint!

AnAn

An easy to use, pocket-sized device that detects and neutralizes hidden cameras, targeted to the Chinese market, in order to prevent invasions of privacy. In today's high-tech world, hidden cameras can be incredibly small and challenging to locate, particularly if placed by someone with malicious intent. AnAn strives to be the technological barrier setting boundaries between a victim and those illegally violating their privacy.

Team Member: Jianquan Wang

CoCoVault

Based off of the revolutionary vacuum-sealed technology from last semester's award-winning Innovation Sprint, VacuuSafe*, CoCoVault is a device designed to preserve coffee both in terms of flavor purity and shelf-life. While other products on the market are able to store coffee with one-way valves (similar to Tupperware or sealed paper bags), CoCoVault is the first to actually remove the air from within the coffee's container.

Team Members: James Aronson, Chang Ge, Ottillia Ni, Ted Yuan

CS Labs

Researching potential markets for a startup based out of Virginia, CS Labs' presentation focused on a security breach of 30 major U.S. companies, including Amazon and Apple, by Chinese spies' physically implementing an invasive device. The act of espionage in question took place at Supermicro, where motherboards and other hardware were implanted with a device as tiny as the tip of a pencil. CS Labs' work specializes in x-ray tomography for hardware inspection, detecting potentially minuscule changes within hardware.

Team Members: Chad Goldberg, Nico Pollack, David Pyne

Elementum

Have you ever wanted to customize your fashion purchases to really reflect your personal style?  Elementum's concept features affordable, personalized apparel that allows consumers to design all elements from color and style to included elements, like shirt colors and pockets. The US market for street apparel is currently sized at 80 billion, and Elementum would offer these shoppers a platform to experience truly authentic design.

Team Member: Chunting Song

Heat Sink Optimization for Reduction of Energy Consumption

There currently aren't available approaches to simultaneously optimize the many heat sinks found within a device's circuit pack. Existing technologies require long leadtimes, ranging from multiple hours to full days, which proves to be inefficient for the needs they're trying to solve - whereas faster technologies are similarly missing key elements in the process. To combat this, CFM could be a solution to hybridize two commonly used techniques, each with their unique benefits, into one streamlined software product.

Team Member: Beverly Kodhek

HeroPatch*

A continued development from last semester's Innovation Sprint, HeroPatch is revolutionizing medicine by introducing disruptive drug delivery technology for immediate pain relief. By wearing a flexible bandage of microneedles, infused with pain medication such as ibuprofen, a user is able to receive a quick and efficient dosage right where they need it. An additional advantage to HeroPatch is their seamless manufacturing process, which eliminates many costly steps required by existing microneedle production companies.

Team Members: Lulu Li, Jake Lombardo, Robert Treiber, Konstantinos Tzortzakis

Kandula*

Named for the inspirational, ancient Sri Lankan war elephant involved in the country's unification, Kandula is an alcoholic kombucha beverage that provides a healthier option for social drinkers. Tapping into a popular market full of spiked seltzers and low-cal grain alcohol drinks, Kandula (initially developed last semester) instead uses the alcohol naturally found within the kombucha brewing process. In addition to providing the natural health benefits of kombucha, Kandula comes in at only 104 calories per can.

Team Members: Divya Joseph, Alfred Naayem, Julia Novakoff, Bota Sakhiyeva

Potentia

In a time where the treatment of international refugees is a hotter topic than ever, Potentia seeks to improve the English-language learning services available in the Massachusetts area by partnering community volunteers with those in need of the services. Barriers are currently substantial, including funding, staffing challenges, and accessibility. As such, Potentia, a non-profit organization, aims to mitigate transportation costs and incentivize available service offerings.

Team Members: Firas Mouasher, Amanda Wang, Jun Hyung Yoon, Ted Yuan

REDOX*

Continuing their venture begun in Fall 2018, the REDOX team is accelerating drug discovery and development. In the current landscape, research & development is typically exorbitantly expensive and can take an average of 10+ years - and still may not result in a drug actually going to market. By generating a REDOX Metabolic Profile through imaging and analysis, the pipeline of drug development will see increased efficiency.

Team Members: Alex Christenson, Michael Geiger, Kushant Sunkara, Laura Taraboanta, Danhui Zhang

RYaN Robotics

Tapping into innovative research originating in the Human Robot Interaction Lab at Tufts University, RYaN Robotics combines natural language dialog processing and physical robotics development. With this integration, real-world robots will be able to quickly learn new terms and actions that can improve their behavior and productivity. In terms of target markets, RYaN Robotics is first breaking into crisis management, such as police and military fields, and those with accessibility needs, such as the visually impaired community.

Team Members: Nicolas Fan, Rodney Liao, Yuxuan Wang

VASERA Male Contraceptives

While women currently have a variety of contraceptive products available for purchase, albeit with ranging effectiveness, the options are rather limited for their male counterparts. To remedy this, VASERA (a continuation of last semester's Innovation Sprint project) has developed a non-hormonal silk-based hydrogel that acts as a one-year contraceptive. Men can receive this non-invasive injection from their doctors, and go about their daily lives without fear of unintended pregnancy with their sexual partners - with the freedom to reverse the process at any time.

Team Members: Sophia Atik, Nadia Ferrer, Tyler Leong

*Selected as a semi-finalist in the 2019 $100k New Ventures Competition, hosted by the Tufts Entrepreneurship Center