AROUND CAMPUS
Right on Target 2018 InVenture Prize-winning inventions from Tech undergraduates include an advanced archery scope, an affordable guitar-effects pedal and an acid-reducing coffee filter. BY LAURA DIAMOND
KOLBY HANLEY won Georgia Tech’s 2018 InVenture Prize for his invention STARLIGHT, a first-of-its-kind aiming device that combines a lightweight scope with integrated light for competitive archery. His victory earned him $20,000 plus a free patent filing and a spot in Flashpoint, a Georgia Tech business accelerator. Hanley, a materials science and engineering student, transferred to Tech just last year. StarLight is the latest product developed by his company, UltraView. He started running the company from his dorm room. In total, six inventions and teams vied for this year’s InVenture Prize. PEDALCREATOR came in second and won $10,000, a free patent filing and a spot in Flashpoint. Their device, DISRUPTION, is an affordable guitar effects pedal that gives musicians the freedom to create distortion sounds. Professional musicians are already using the invention and offering feedback. The inventors are Dallas Condra, mechanical engineering; Jeremy Leff, mechanical engineering; and Vanya Padmanabhan, industrial design. The People’s Choice Award and $5,000 went to PHAM. These students designed a filter to reduce coffee’s
the
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Undergraduate student Kolby Hanley developed the Starlight scope system out of his Tech dorm room.
acidity. They incorporated a mineral blend into the structure of the filter paper, which reduces the acidity of the brewed coffee without negatively affecting the taste. Four materials science and engineering majors—Michele Lauto, Tyler Quill, Aaron Stansell and Lucas Votaw—invented this product.
$12.8 Million
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The three other Georgia Tech InVenture Prize finalists included: MEMEOIS. This team designed an allmeme social media platform that crawls the internet for memes and uses machine learning to curate a personalized feed for meme lovers.
VALUE OF CONTRACT awarded to Georgia Tech cybersecurity researchers to improve detection and fixes of computer network infections