STEM COLLEGE STUDENTS ARE CHALLENGED TO CREATE AND INNOVATE WITH NASA-PATENTED TECHNOLOGY
Challenge to Innovate: NASA Edition is a student competition that invites those majoring in engineering, computer science, or related fields to participate with a chance to win prizes from US $1K to US $2K.
San Juan, Puerto Rico – Monday, January 11th, 2021 – Puerto Rican undergraduate students majoring in electrical, mechanical, computer, agricultural, or industrial engineering, as well as computer science, will have the opportunity to participate in the student competition Challenge to Innovate: NASA Edition, an initiative of the pre-acceleration program pre18 and the Technology Transfer Office (TTO), both programs of the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research (PRSTRT), together with the innovation center Engine-4, where participants will have a workspace to build solutions with NASA technologies.
Students interested in participating have until Monday, February 8th, to apply here: bit.ly/ctinasa. At the end of the open call period, the 60 chosen participants will have access to six NASA technologies for 12 weeks. Pupils will develop and evaluate a unique commercialization plan for solutions in the agriculture and pharmaceutical manufacturing industries during this time.
“Our parallel18 and the Technology Transfer Office programs have worked hard for months together with NASA to define all the logistics of this competition, which will provide Puerto Rican college students access to innovative technologies. This represents an exceptional opportunity for participants since they will not only work hand in hand with NASA technology, but they will also be able to meet with the creators of said technologies and receive mentorship while working from Engine-4, a workspace that has been a catalyst for innovation on the island,” highlighted Lucy Crespo, Chief Executive Officer of the PRSTRT.
“At parallel18, through our pre18 program, we are very excited to be able to provide undergraduates with the necessary tools to incentivize them to innovate. More so knowing that they already have the technical knowledge required for this challenge. What we want is to upscale and develop their potential and capabilities to develop innovative solutions with technologies already created. Solutions which could eventually become commercial products in the market,” said Eduardo Padial, Operations Director at parallel18.
“With Challenge to Innovate: NASA Edition, we want to provide students the opportunity to research, build, and learn about how they can create a business or monetize their research projects. The challenge aims for participants to create hardware solutions for the pharmaceutical or agricultural manufacturing industry to prepare them to present and explore the possibility of selling or creating a company derived from their projects,” highlighted Laura Delgado, Startup Executive at parallel18.
Throughout the program, students will receive training and mentorship from pre18 experts. Participants will also receive support from the PRSTRT’s Tech Transfer Office (TTO) to better understand patents and technology. All the while, they will have access to Engine-4 in Bayamón, which will provide them with a workplace to prototype.
Among the technologies that students will be working on during the competition are manufacturing technologies for the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry such as: Passive Smart Container (MSC-TOPS-36); Precision Low-Speed Motor Controller (MSC-TOPS-76); and Improved Infrared Contrast Analysis and Imaging (MSC-TOPS-34); as well as technologies for agriculture such as: Microwave-Based Water Decontamination System (MSC-TOPS-53); Multi-Stage Filtration System (GRC LEW-TOPS-93) and Flash Pose (GSC-TOPS-102). Students will also have the opportunity to meet with the inventors of these technologies during the process.
“With this initiative, the Technology Transfer Office wants to provide undergraduates with all the necessary tools to learn about technology transfer, develop, and eventually commercialize their products. Any student who goes through this competition will come out with all the capabilities to do so,” said Josiah Hernández, Technology Manager at TTO.
On the other hand, Luis Torres, co-founder of Engine-4, noted that: “Since 2018 programs and collaborations between large and small private businesses have been increasing. A collaboration between all of us—Engine-4, parallel18, TTO, the PRSTRT—to sponsor the incubation and development of projects built with patents granted by NASA will be a great experience for our organizations. In turn, it will showcase the development of Puerto Rico’s tech and scientific community as well as exhibit the talents found in the different universities on the island. It’s a great honor for me to work with these entities while making our 5G laboratory and NB-IoT available for the group of students and mentors that will participate in this great project.”
The 12 weeks of the program will run in a hybrid format: six weeks of virtual learning, and six will be partially face-to-face with all the required security measures at the Engine-4 innovation center in Bayamón. Upon completing the program, students will have the opportunity to present their projects at an Industry Day to interact with potential clients within the pharmaceutical and agricultural industry to validate and create their value propositions. Participants will also be pitching their solutions with a chance to win four cash prizes, ranging from US $1K to $2K.
The challenge targets college students majoring in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, electronics, and other similar fields at any university in Puerto Rico, who wish to develop hardware products that venture into clean technology (cleantech) and water quality applied to agriculture. The competition targets students who want to understand how to sell or start science-based product startups.
For more information about Challenge to Innovate, you can access bit.ly/ctinasa and fill out the application. You can also find information on pre18’s social media channels @pre18startups.
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About parallel18 and the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust, TTO, and Engine-4
Parallel18 is a business support initiative with a social mission: to offer entrepreneurs around the world access to high-quality business education, financing, and networks to help them expand globally, while positioning Puerto Rico as a strategic hub for business. technology-based innovators. Created in 2015 by the Puerto Rico Science, Technology, and Research Trust, parallel18 stands out for its high-caliber, results-focused pre-acceleration and acceleration curricula.
The Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust, as described in Public Law 214, is a non-profit organization created in 2004 to promote the participation and creation of jobs on the Island in the global knowledge economy by promoting investment and financing of research and development of science and technology. It invests, facilitates and develops the capacities that continuously advance the economy of Puerto Rico and the well-being of its citizens, through companies based on innovation, science and technology and its industrial base. With the goal that by 2022, Puerto Rico will be a center of global recognition that develops and retains scientists, companies and entrepreneurs of world excellence, to boost our competitiveness and creativity. She is also responsible for Puerto Rico’s public policy for science, technology, research and development, and public health. For more information: www.prsciencetrust.org
The Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust Technology Transfer Office (TTO) was designed and created to implement an agile and effective approach to foster the commercialization of locally developed scientific inventions and discoveries.
Engine-4: An innovation center where students, academics, and entrepreneurs can go to learn, develop solutions, and create their own businesses. In addition, Engine-4 has the first Internet of Things (IoT) Lab in the Caribbean. It is the largest coworking space in Puerto Rico, located in the center of the municipality of Bayamón.