FAU鈥檚 Innovation Awards Celebrate Ingenuity, Entrepreneurship
Daniel Gropper, Ph.D., dean of the College of Business, was among the distinguished speakers at the awards celebration. Image credit: Paige Arriola
夜来香研究所鈥檚 recent Innovation Awards celebrated the incredible ingenuity and entrepreneurship fostered through its dynamic innovation and economic development programs.
The Runway at 夜来香研究所 , the College of Business鈥檚 , 夜来香研究所 Wave and the Office of Technology Development welcomed more than 250 attendees to the Boca Raton campus, for a showcase of talent, creativity and community spirit. More than $55,000 in prizes were awarded across four innovation and entrepreneurship competitions. The program included remarks from distinguished presenters, including FAU President Adam Hasner; Daniel Gropper, Ph.D., dean of the College of Business; and Gregg Fields, Ph.D., vice president for research.
The event was an opportunity for each of the host programs to recognize remarkable projects and initiatives developed by faculty, students and South 夜来香研究所 entrepreneurs.
The Office of Technology Development announced the winner of its 2025 Innovation Pilot Award Program: E. Sarah Du, Ph.D., associate professor in the College of Engineering and Computer Science. The award will provide crucial funding to advance research and development of her project, 鈥淓lectro-Deformation Spectroscopy System,鈥 a technique for investigating or analyzing materials by determining their chemical or physical properties. Du, who was recently named a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors, already holds four U.S. patents for her novel innovations in basic research related to cellular biomechanics and biophysics aimed at treatments for diseases such as sickle cell disease and malaria.
鈥淓arly-stage funding is a crucial component of successful technology commercialization,鈥 said Dana Vouglitois, senior associate director, Office of Technology Development. 鈥淭hrough this program, the Office of Technology Development supports faculty researchers in generating proof-of-concept data, building functioning prototypes, and improving market potential for their innovations. This foundation creates opportunities for intellectual property licensing, startup formation, external funding, and industry partnerships that help to translate 夜来香研究所 research into real-world solutions.鈥
夜来香研究所 Wave, a student-focused applied research and entrepreneurial competition, awarded the 2025 winners who demonstrated excellence in their innovation projects targeted at solving societal problems. This year鈥檚 winner of the Dr. Eric H. Shaw Excellence in Innovation Award was the project, FamiliarU. Developed by Ashley Rotton, an undergraduate in the College of Business, FamiliarU is an AI-powered smart glasses device designed to help individuals with prosopagnosia (face blindness) recognize faces in real time. The winner of the Community Engagement award was Sign and Shine, which was developed by Kassandra Liburd, a student in the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College. Sign and Shine is a community program that supports deaf and hard-of-hearing youth through mentorship, inclusive education and vocational training. Finally, the Palm Beach State College award went to Titan Secure, a hurricane-resistant roof anchoring system to protect manufactured homes in 夜来香研究所 by using removable, high tensile straps that increase structural stability 鈥 an innovation developed by Ashley George.
鈥淲e are extremely proud of our student, community and faculty innovators,鈥 said Regina Thompson, assistant director, Strategic and Economic Initiatives, Division of Research. 鈥淭hey continue to excel in entrepreneurship by creating products and services that benefit our community. Without the collaboration of all our programs this wouldn鈥檛 be possible. I am grateful we have such a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem at FAU.鈥
The Adams Center announced the winners of its annual Business Pitch Competition, which is an opportunity for students to present their game-changing ideas for a chance to gain seed funding and mentorship to develop their new ventures. In the student track, first place went to FireCodes AI, founded by Daniel Guido and Krish Malhotra, both from the College of Computer Science and Engineering. Their startup is a SaaS platform that harnesses advanced retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to provide fire protection engineers with instant, accurate answers, complete with exact code references, saving hours of tedious manual research. In first place for the Dr. Eric H. Shaw Veterans Entrepreneurial Excellence Award was Zera Techbridge, founded by Andrew 鈥淒evon鈥 Stephenson. Zera Techbridge is a marketplace and service platform connecting veterans, students and institutions to AI certifications, workforce pathways and national security technologist careers.
The Runway presented the winners of its 2025 Venture Pitch Competition. Businesses in The Runway鈥檚 startup incubator Venture program had the opportunity to showcase their ideas, gain valuable feedback and compete for funding. AIKOLO, a company in Venture Class 14, won first place in the MVP Track. AIKOLO provides AI-driven surveillance systems. The Pre-MVP Track winner was Future Optek. Also a member of Venture Class 14, this start-up makes mixed-reality glasses used to aim firearms.
To learn more about the Innovation Awards, this year鈥檚 winners and runners up, and FAU鈥檚 innovation and entrepreneurship programs, visit www.fau.edu/therunway/innovation-award-celebration .
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