2024 TCO Innovation Competition and NAI Induction Ceremony
Wednesday, April 3, 2024, 1:00 – 5:30 pm
City View Room
1957 E ST NW
Washington, DC 20052
The George Washington University Technology Commercialization Office (TCO) showcased promising and impactful GW research with commercial potential. This event provided a forum for GW inventors to pitch to a panel of judges that included experienced entrepreneurs, investors, and industry professionals. Presenters had an opportunity to win a combined total of $35k in prizes. In addition to the competition, this year’s event also featured the induction of new members to the GW Chapter of the National Academy of Inventors.
Prize money was for the development of a prototype or proof-of-concept. Prizes were awarded in 2024 for the top 3 pitches in both the life sciences and physical sciences tracks. $10,000 for first place, $5,000 for second place, and $2,500 for third place.
Applicants must have an unlicensed invention submitted to TCO at the time of application. Inventions were required to be submitted through the GW Inventor Portal (entry via single sign-on) prior to application. All participant teams had to include a GW inventor.
Participants were asked to submit a 10-minute slide presentation with notes and a 3-5 sentence elevator pitch for the technology. TCO chose finalists from preliminary pitches. All application materials were due by February 2nd.
To participate in the next event and for more information, email us at tco
gwu [dot] edu (subject: Innov.%20Comp.%202022%20Application) (tco[at]gwu[dot]edu). TCO will also help you improve your application before the deadline!
2024 Innovation Competition Winners
- Life Sciences
-
$10,000 prize
Oxytocin for reversing respiratory depression from opioids and other drugs of abuse for the treatment of opioid overdoses involving fentanyl and xylazine laced fentanyl (MI). Joan Escobar, Olga dergacheva, David Mendelowitz*
$5,000 prize
Melanocortin receptor 4 agonist, setmelanotide, in opioid-induced respiratory depression for a potent respiratory stimulant, which can treat OIRD. Vsevolod Y Polotsky*, Mateus R Amorim, David Mendelowitz
$2,500 prize
Malaria mRNA vaccine for the development of mRNA vaccines targeting malaria transmission and infection. Nirbhay Kumar*, Drew Weissman, Clifford Thomas Holeski Hayashi, Yi Cao
- Physical Sciences
-
$10,000 prize
Chemical-free direct lithium extraction from brines for the method to production of lithium hydroxide from Geothermal Brine. Xitong Liu*, Lingchen Kong
$5,000 prize
Height-controlled mirror (HCM) for 3D super-resolution nanoscopy for a novel height-controlled mirror with increased accuracy, and detection rate. Inhee Chung*
$2,500 prize
Self neutralizing air breathing plasma thruster for the development of an air-breathing plasma thruster, which ionizes and neutralizes the air particles at the same instant. Michael Keidar, Anmol Taploo*, Li Lin
2022 Innovation Competition Winners
- Life Sciences
-
$10,000 Finalist prize
3D Bioprinted Anisotropic Cardiac Patch for the treatment of myocardial infarction (MI). Lijie Zhang, Haitao Cui, Timothy Esworthy*
$5,000 Finalist prize
Plasma Discharge Tube (PDT) for Brain Tumor Treatment. Michael Keidar*, Li Lin, Jonathan Sherman, Vikas Soni, Dayun Yan, Xiaoliang Yao
Audience's choice poster ($5,000 prize)
CytoCapture of Immune Cells to Detect Internal Infections. Richard Wargowsky*, Faisal Al Munajjed*, Timothy McCaffrey (accepted award but declined prize money). Prize went to runner-up: Apoptosis resistant stem cell therapy in diabetic kidney disease. Sabyasachi Sen*
- Physical Sciences
-
$10,000 Finalist prize
Pipe Dream: Low-cost Renewable Jet Fuel. Adelina Voutchkova-Kostal*, Diana Ainembabazi, Darren Dolan, Jonathan Horlyck
$5,000 Finalist prize
A Hardware-based Cyber Deception Framework Against Malware. Guru Venkataramani, Preet Derasari*, Kailash Gogineni*
Audience's choice poster ($5,000 prize)
AI-Driven Real-time Nerve Detection and Visualization for Surgical Precision. Chung Hyuk Park*, Baijun Xie*, Gary Milam Jr.
* Presenters