Colorado State University students, faculty, and staff presented their innovative work this past week, competing for over $20,000 in cash awards. Participants represented seven CSU Fort Collins colleges, as well as showcasing two submissions from the Institute for Cannabis Research at CSU-Pueblo. Each presenter prerecorded a 30-second introduction and a 3-minute talk for the virtual audience, and included a digital poster on the custom poster showcase platform. Presenters with a technology that could be demonstrated had the option to upload a 5-minute demonstration video of their innovation.
This year’s event included three lunchtime seminars –
Technology Transfer and the Land-Grant Mission: Engaging in a Culture of Innovation at CSU.
Panel members included Vice President for Strategy Jenelle Beavers, Vice President for Research Alan Rudolph, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs Susan James, and Vice President for Technology Transfer, Richard Magid.
Innovation at CSU Spur.
Panel members included Panel members included Associate Vice President for Spur Strategy James Bradeen, College of Agricultural Sciences Chief of Staff and Operations Paula Mills, Professor and Animal Sciences Department Head Keith Belk and Professor Gregory Graff of the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
Front Range Innovation & Entrepreneurship Resources.
Panel members included CBSA President Elyse Blazevich, Innosphere Ventures Executive Director Ben Walker, Energy Institute Associate Director Jeff Muhs, Assistant Vice President for Strategy and Executive Director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship Scott Shrake and Meghan Suter, director of the Research Acceleration Office.
Winners were announced at the in-person event on Wednesday evening, in a joint ceremony with the Institute for Entrepreneurship’s Venture RAMS Business Showcase. The collaboration was held at the Translational Medicine Institute and included a 45-minute networking session where the Pitch Competition teams and Demo Day participants networked with community members and judges. The Institute then showcased the seven finalists with live pitches and Q&A from the judges, followed by the awards ceremony highlighting Demo Day winners and Business Showcase awards.
We encourage all community members to join the Demo Day community and check out the innovative work at demoday2022.csuinnovates.org. The platform will be available for a full year after the event – open to continued networking and viewing of the innovative content.
CSU Demo Day would not have been possible this year without the time and generous support of our sponsors, CSU leadership, our industry judges, and the countless faculty, students and staff that make the event successful. Please join us in taking a moment to view the winning submissions and congratulate the outstanding innovators.
Award Winners
All awards are $1500 unless otherwise specified.
Excellence in Innovation – CSU Pueblo:
Inhibitory Effects of Hemp-fiber-blended Toothpaste on the Colonization of Oral Bacteria
Sanghyuck Park, College of Natural Sciences
Institute of Cannabis Research
Innovation in Agricultural Sciences
A sustainable solution to protect the century-old tradition of Colorado peaches from replant disease
Derek Newberger, department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture
Advisor: Jorge Vivanco
Innovation in Engineering:
Rapid and Energy-Efficient 3D Printing of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites
Carter Dojan, School of Advanced Materials Discovery
Advisor: Mostafa Yourdkhani
Innovation in Health & Human Sciences
CSU Architectural Virtual Library
Sara Bovaird, department of Design and Merchandising
Advisor: Maria Delgado
Innovation in Liberal Arts
Weather Water Watts
Diego Pons, department of Anthropology & Geography
Climate Change Adaptation
Innovation in Natural Sciences
Rapid and Sensitive Diagnostic Device for Covid-19
Melissa Schenkel, department of Chemistry
Advisor: Alan Kennan
The Institute for Entrepreneurship Game Changer Award
Boomers Custom Hearing Solutions
Joel Helbling, Brian Macke, Greg Fleck, and Andy Flick
Innovation in Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
Managing Non-Pregnant Cows Earlier: Got OCT?
Carolina Gonzalez-Berrios, department of Biomedical Sciences
Advisor: Thomas Hansen
Innovation in Augmented or Virtual Reality
Designing Affordable Tiny Homes on Wheels (THOWs) that Support Aging in Place
Rebecca Graese, department of Design and Merchandising, College of Health & Human Sciences
Advisor: Maria Delgado
Innovation in Software
System for grocery shopping recommendations based on one’s health profile
Moe Huss, department of Systems Engineering
Advisors: Daniel Herber and Mike Borky
Excellence in Interdisciplinary Human-Centered Design Thinking
Not a Drop to Drink: Safer Water Sources Through Accessible Point-of-Need Bacterial Testing
Jason Boes, department of Chemistry, College of Natural Sciences
Advisor: Alan Kennan
Innovation in Programmatic or Educational Outreach
Reviving Rural Communities with User-Centered Design & Virtual Reality
Cynthia Urresti, department of Design and Merchandising, College of Health and Human Sciences
Advisors: Maria Delgado, Jenna Vigil, Jeremy Johnston
Excellence in Energy (2 awards)
First Place ($500): Light Driven Chemistry as a Synthetic Tool for a Greener Future
Alex Green, department of Chemistry, College of Natural Sciences
Advisor: Garret Miyake
Second Place ($300): Rapid and Sustainable Manufacture of Smart Composites
Iman Naseri, department of Mechanical Engineering, Walter Scott, Jr., College of Engineering
Advisor: Mostafa Yourdkhani
People’s Choice (2 awards)
First Place ($500): Probiotics as Vaccines: Increasing Protection at the Site of Infection
Benjamin Swartzwelter, department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Advisor: Gregg Dean
Second Place ($250): Discovering de-novo stable organic radicals for aqueous redox flow batteries
Shree Sowndarya Santhanalakkshmi Vejaykummar, department of Chemistry, College of Natural Sciences
Advisor: Robert Paton
