MSIM students pitch inventive and high-tech ventures during culmination of fall Innovation Sprints

The projects focused on a broad range of topics including a localized microneedle patch for pain relief, 3D imaging for metabolic readouts, and even an alcoholic kombucha.

Friday, December 7 marked the culmination of the MSIM students’ fall Innovation Sprint projects. After a full semester of ideation, iteration, and hard work, each team of students presented their final pitch to a panel of judges and fielded questions from an audience of their peers.

The projects focused on a broad range of topics including a localized microneedle patch for pain relief, 3D imaging for metabolic readouts, and even an alcoholic kombucha. Many of the ideas came out of innovative research being undertaken by researchers across departments within the Tufts community.

Cermontix

Team: Kushant Sunkara, Sophia Atik, Amanda Wang, Yuxuan Wang
Cermontix is a non-invasive cerebral monitoring device, utilizing near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) that continuously measures intracranial pressure (ICP), cerebral blood flow, and cerebral blood volume through a comfortable sensor cap in close to real-time.
“Every year in the United States, 2.8 million people suffer from a traumatic brain injury. There is a clear need for a non-invasive way to measure ICP while bringing peace of mind to patients and lowering overall costs for hospitals.”

CoPrep

Team: Beverly Kodhek, Tyler Leong, Ottillia Ni, Jun Hyung Yoon
CoPrep provides one‑on‑one technical interview coaching and personalized referrals for computer science students eager to launch their careers at top tech companies or rapidly growing startups.
“Currently, most computer science students in the US fear the difficulty of the technical interviews and are left unsure of how to best practice for it. They prepare for the technical interviews on their own and lack the in‑person input and simulation, which dramatically reduces their job application success rate.”

HeroPatch

Team: Lulu Li, Jake Lombardo, Robert Treiber, Konstantinos Tzortzakis, Jianquan Wang
HeroPatch uses microneedle technology developed at Tufts to provide a localized, reliable, and ready-to-use pain relief method.
“HeroPatch allows for targeted user customization that can be used by athletes, working professionals, and active retirees.”

Kandula Hard Kombucha

Team: Julia Novakoff, Bota Sakhiyeva, David Pyne, Nicolas Fan
Kandula is developing a high-alcohol content kombucha beverage. While the alcoholic beverage market is very saturated, no other alcoholic drinks on the market claims the many unique health benefits of kombucha.
“Kandula’s mission is to provide our drinkers with the healthiest buzz they will ever have, so they never have to give up on fun.”

Offline

Team: Nico Pollack, Nadia Ferrer, Chunting Song, Ruidi Yuan
Offline is a software platform that creates an online marketplace for students to self-promote and solicit their unique skills, talents, and abilities towards local consumers, other students on their own campus.
“Students are frequently looking for unique, convenient, and affordable services to fit into their schedule whether it’s being able to get a haircut at 11:00 pm, learning how to properly lift weights with a new friend, or simply having a 30-minute Microsoft Excel tutorial.”

Redox

Team: Alexander Christenson, Michael Geiger, Laura Taraboanta, Danhui Zhang
REDOX is a 3D imaging analysis service focused on fundamentally changing the standards of drug development and optimization, by processing animal- or human-based tissue samples through a high-resolution microscope that then feeds into an algorithm that is able to provide functional and structural metabolic readouts.
“We believe that the next disruptive technology to revolutionize scientific discovery is the ability to pinpoint and quantify metabolic processes.”

Sterilyse

Team: Anastasia Budinskaya, Chad Goldberg, Divya Joseph, Alfred Naayem
Sterilyse is a non-surgical alternative to traditional methods of spaying and neutering domestic animals. It uses an injection of a lipid nanoparticle, a delivery system developed by Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and the School of Engineering.
“With one simple injection, vets can neuter both male and female cats and dogs and save time, money, and reduce risks in the process.”

VacuuSafe

Team: James Aronson, Chang Ge, Firas Moushar, Rodney Liao
Vacuusafe is a new technology aimed at reducing lab contamination by relying on container caps and interfaces with standard vacuum lines that are found in every lab.
“The most important developments in medicine and science happen in the lab. VacuuSafe allows for the faster preservation of biological samples, allowing for the acceleration of research and drug development.”