Innovate@BU First-Year Innovation Fellowship 2019-2020 Cohort
CONTENTS First-Year Innovation Fellowship Video + Overview...........................................................3 Meet the Cohort Members................................................................................................4-5 Project Previews:..............................................................................................................6-39 • Madhubani Art Classes: Anindita Lal • Airflow Seating Systems: Cooper Shifrin • DostFit: Krish Kapadia, Krish Sapru • ExoMovement: Odin Francis • Glove Recycling: Maddie Harris • Ignite: Emily Osurman • Kinetic by Kenz: Kenzie Morris • Bike Hub Components: Max Pounanov, Nelson Gaviria • Recycled CFRP: Mia Metni • Dental Education Ambassador: Monica Shipman • Seagreen Co.: Libby McClelland, Emily Hardy, Sonja Poe, Ananya Metha • Shower Anywhere: Matthew Spak • Sisters: Junia Janvier • Sustainable Labs: Kyle Hsu • The Internship Initiative: Christopher Wang • Portable 3D Printer: Eve Langenbrunner • Youth Media Initiative: Kreiver Zhou, Kaye Chin, Sum Yue Guan
Meet the Inaugural First-Year Innovation Fellowship The First-Year Innovation Fellowship (FYIF) is a special program for first-year students to work on a passion project or venture in a dedicated community of peers. Participants may apply with a concept already in the works or with a new idea. Students are encouraged to work in teams with other FYIF participants, other BU Terriers, or friends from home. Launched in the 2019-2020 academic year, students participated in exclusive workshops and networking events, and received seed grants to help them launch or grow their ideas including a zero-waste campus convenience store, an athletic clothing company, an external device to support those who are paraplegic and quadriplegic, and so many more. Learn more about the inaugural cohort by watching the video above, reading about their projects and teams in this lookbook, and by visiting our website.
The FYIF Experience Testimonials :..................................................................................40
2
3
2019-2020 COHORT
4
Kaye Chin (Wheelock’23)
Odin Francis (ENG’22)
Nelson Gaviria (Questrom’23)
Sum Yue Guan (CFA’23)
Sonja Poe (CAS’23)
Max Pounanov (ENG’23)
Krish Sapru (CAS’23)
Cooper Shifrin (ENG’21)
Emily Hardy (Questrom’22)
Maddie Harris (CAS’23)
Kyle Hsu (CAS’23)
Junia Janvier (ENG’23)
Monica Shipman (CAS’21)
Matthew Spak (ENG’23)
Christopher Wang (CAS’23)
Kreiver Zhou (ENG’23)
Krish Kapadia (ENG’23)
Anindita Lal (CAS’23)
Eva Langenbrunner (ENG’23)
Libby McClelland (CAS’23)
Kenzie Morris (Questrom’23)
Ananya Metha (Questrom’23)
Mia Metni (ENG’23)
Emily Osurman (ENG’23)
5
Madhubani Art Classes I want to hold a series of classes where I teach the basics of Madhubani art. This art form has several characteristic elements, such as the use of double outlining, hatching, borders around each painting, and many more. The classes would entail teaching all these to the students and then giving them some time in which to create a piece using what they learned in my classes while combining it with their own favorite art style. The result would be a fusion exhibition combining multiple art styles.
Anindita Lal (CAS’23)
The Impact I Hope To Achieve Is Ever since it was first practiced in ancient times, Madhubani art has been mostly forgotten, classifying it as a dying art form. Folk art forms such as Madhubani hold such tremendous significance in the cultures they’re from because of the traditions and integral values they represent, as well as contributing to the diversity and overall creativity of the artistic community. For example, Madhubani art originated in rural northern India and was practiced by women in ancient times. While their husbands and sons were out working in the fields, the women would teach their daughters this art and pass it from generation to generation. Over time, it was adapted to become a second source of income and a means of independence and empowerment for the women who practiced it. Through my project, I’m hoping to bring awareness of Madhubani to other artists and produce some fusion work as a way to integrate an older, traditional art form with some more modern styles. By doing so, I can do my part to help keep this classic art form alive and flourishing.
Fun Fact! I have had the honor of exhibiting my art at the Lowell Folk Festival!
6
7
Airflow Seating System Bedsores remain one of the greatest concerns for people with low mobility. Due to a lack of advancement in prevention technologies, each year over 2.5 million people in the U.S. alone develop these costly and dangerous wounds. The cost for treatment of these ulcers exceeds 10 billion dollars per year in the U.S., a number excluding the painful and extensive toll that they take on patients and their families.
Cooper Shifrin (ENG’21)
Currently, the method of prevention is for caretakers and patients to attempt to rotate or move every few hours which, based on the statistics, has proven to be neither reliable or effective. Airflow Seating Systems revolutionizes pressure ulcer prevention through the use of an array of air cells that monitor and map both pressure and temperature, and then automatically moves and adjusts any pressure points removing the need for a caretaker or family member to constantly aid the patient ensuring accuracy and consistency of care. Although there is a vast market for our product, the initial target market is medical mattresses and wheelchair cushions. In addition, since the system measures and maps temperature and pressure, this can provide doctors a series of metrics that they have not had in the past, and which will allow them to diagnose many other potential health risks including infections, bone growths, fluid movement, tumor development, and numerous other complications. Our system is not just a place to sit or sleep, it is a caretaker, diagnostic tool, and cushion all in one.
Fun Fact! We were minutes away from sending components to Boston from China and Australia before BU campus was closed for the semester and our team would be in Connecticut and California.
8
9
DostFit Our idea was first developed when we realized there was no way for fitness enthusiast across the world to connect. At DostFit, we seek to create an environment where any two people can instantly connect with each other and chat about their workouts and even proceed to go on to meet for a workout or fitness related activity. Our Most Notable Milestone includes building a module from scratch in Adobe XD with the help of BU Spark. Another milestone was the creation and design of our logo and name, which we brought to life in the fall semester, after which we soon received our funding. We have also been involved with the Innovation Pathway and hope to move forward with that in our sophomore year. As freshman, the knowledge we took from the experience was more than any milestone we could have possibly achieved. While we met individuals with unique ideas, we could share and work together with some of the most talented minds at Boston University.
Krish Kapadia (ENG’23)
Krish Sapru (CAS’23)
Our Proudest Moment was building the Adobe XD model for the app from scratch at Spark!
Fun Fact! We called up a tech support company in India to help us with app development.
10
11
ExoMovement Paralysis is a fact of life for many people; in fact, 1 in 50 Americans, totaling 5.4 million, are currently suffering from paralysis. As the ExoMovementTM team, we are developing a fully versatile, load bearing, noninvasive, exoskeleton. Our goal is to give some of those 5.4 million people the ability to be autonomous without having to go through an expensive, high risk, invasive surgery. Our exoskeleton is unique as it combines upper and lower body motion into a single system, whereas similar teams seek to design for only one facet of motion. On top of that, our secondary goal is to make our design efficient to produce and affordable for all patients in need.
Odin Francis (ENG’23)
Our project has already placed in several research competitions in the Northeast region. Currently we are in the prototyping phase and are waiting for the next version of the spine to be manufactured. Our device will help millions of people get back to a normal life and the funding from this competition would help us further our development. Impact I Hope to Achieve Is We are developing an exoskeleton suit for those who are paralysis victims, specifically those who are paraplegic. It will give those who suffer from paraplegia a non-invasive method of regaining the ability to walk, bend over, and pick up items, in order to give them more independence and improve their quality of life.
Fun Fact! We are currently making and selling 3D printed masks to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
12
13
Glove Recycling In doctor’s offices, scientific labs, and even sometimes at home, we put on a pair of nitrile gloves and throw them out because they’ve done all they can for us. Recent data has shown that 100 billion disposable gloves end up in landfills each year. I have an idea to change this.
Maddie Harris (CAS’23)
In healthcare settings, there are instances where gloves understandably go into hazardous waste bins, but there are plenty of gloves that are clean enough to be recycled. There are a few recycling programs out there already, but they only accept clean gloves and then basically enter them into a standard recycling stream to produce other plastic products. This process is better than landfills, but we can do better. My idea takes old gloves and turns them into new ones. I have a system that would sterilize, melt, and remold gloves to supply an endless supply of fresh gloves. It would create more eco-friendly labs and hospitals and could even prevent glove shortages. I still have testing to do, but if successful, my project could change the glove industry and help create a more sustainable world. My Proudest Moment Was My proudest moment was when I was working with an engineering professor during our monthly FYIF meeting. I presented my idea and he supported it, so he helped me narrow down ideas, figure out what I needed, and even gave me permission to use the engineering lab to develop my project. I felt like a true innovator!
Fun Fact! While doing research for my project, I learned that latex glove factories are one of the creepiest things on Earth.
14
View the brochure
15
Ignite My idea is to create a series of STEM project-based and tutorial-style digital curricula. I am doing this as a build-off of Ignite, a non-profit under my alma mater, `Iolani School. Ignite was established as a nonprofit in the spring of 2019, but had been in the works for a couple years prior. Ignite comes from the fact that not all students have access to STEM education, especially engineering. The vision of Ignite is to be a student-powered organization creating systemic change in public education. We hope to do this by creating tutorial-style curriculum and collaborating with communities to create unique programs for them to successfully implement that curriculum. Overall, we hope to ignite passion in young students to open their eyes to the world of possibilities that STEM provides.
Emily Osurman (ENG’23)
The Impact I Hope To Achieve Is in line with the world of modern technology that is only growing, I want to change the way STEM and engineering are taught in public schools to make it more accessible and inexpensive. I want to create sustainable programs that are powered by STEM-experienced students teaching educators, who then go on to teach younger, less experienced students. My Biggest Challenge Was finding curriculum topics that would keep the activities as free and inexpensive as possible because the only resource I was sure public schools would have for their students are Chromebooks. This meant coding was one of the only things they could do strictly digitally. I then expanded the restrictions to include common classroom materials to make the Engineering curriculum.
Fun Fact! One version of our logo was created by drawing various arrangements of triangles on a scratch piece of paper.
16
17
Kinetic by Kenz Athletic apparel is expensive, it is exclusive, but it is of the same quality. The reality is that women end up paying for the brand and not the product. However, the cheaper brands do not have clothing that has empowering statements on them. It is exclusive and unnecessary. I am hoping to tap into a new market of buyers that are willing to pay for the brand of women empowerment instead of an exclusive gym brand. I am hoping to meet needs of the girl that goes to her college gym and runs straight to class in the same leggings feeling the same motivation all day for what she is wearing. Additionally, I am making tie dye lounge wear (hoodies and crewnecks). These pieces will go with the active wear and be stylish and comfy while girls go through their everyday.
Kenzie Morris (Questrom’23)
The Impact I Hope To Achieve Is to make girls feel comfy and confident in their Kinetic by Kenz apparel. Girls should be able to wear Kinetic by Kenz to class and all day. I want our generation to realize that you can feel cute and still feel comfy. Additionally, I have made my line affordable to strive away from people paying for the branding when items are of the same quality. I want to provide college girls with apparel that fits within their budget and is still in trend. The fact remains that a lot of brands upcharge, some brands over 10 times the cost of what they wholesale for. My products are cost efficient. My Biggest Challenge Has Been sourcing during the quarantine. A lot of factories are not open during this time period. I plan to overcome this challenge by waiting until everything ships out before starting on the final products. Right now I am working on my methods of tie dying and reworking the prototypes that I can play with.
Fun fact! When I was younger, I used to sew and embroider, so this business is only bringing me back to those skills. This has been exciting because I have refreshed my old skills and picked up new ones. View the lookbook
18
19
Bike Hub Components We are working on a company which focuses on creating unique bike components. In particular, a new hub which allows a rider to switch between a fixed gear and single speed bike seamlessly, without getting off the bike. This would cater very well to a large portion of cyclists who enjoy riding a flip-flop hub but cannot commit to either freewheel or fixed gear riding exclusively. It also provides a safety net for fixed gear riders should they lose control of their pedals and for freewheel riders who may have suddenly lost traction in snowy or wet conditions and need more control over breaking. Our Biggest Challenge Has Been creating a design that works and is at the same time cost effective. Overcoming this will take iterations of design considerations of manufacturing costs during development.
Max Pounanov (ENG’23)
Nelson Gaviria (Questrom’23)
The Impact We Hope To Achieve Is to create a company which designs and creates useful and high quality bicycle components for customers.
Fun Fact! The test bike we are using was at one point cut completely in half and then welded back together.
20
21
Recycled CFRP Approximately 9,000 tons of carbon fiber goes to landfill every year. Yes, the same carbon fiber that you pay top dollar to have in your car or golf club will end up in the trash. Most go-green practices are risky for smaller corporations. That is why we need to alleviate market concerns surrounding greener products and production. Re-introducing recycled carbon fiber to the economy can do just that. Our product, recycled and recyclable Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic, will help do this. This material, CFRP, will be used as an affordable, high-performance filament across all industries like finding usage in the exotic car racing industry (F1), the field of prosthetics, and biomedical devices.
Mia Metni (ENG’23)
There are three key drivers as to why we need to and should reintroduce recycled carbon fiber in this way back into the economy. 1. Affordability: Turning dead-weight, end products into something profitable makes these new carbon fiber composites and filaments more affordable. We are essentially pulling revenue out of thin air. 2. Supply chain security: Making new products from pre-existing products has its benefits. Right now, we have an increasing amount of CF waste from car-manufacturers with a simultaneously increasing need for CF. Our source for production is virtually endless. 3. By supporting this product–buying, manufacturing it, endorsing it, or investing in it–we are fulfilling our legislative and environmental responsibility that we have ignored in the past. And of course, who doesn’t want see a shredded Porsche GT3 be reserviced into a prosthetic. Nevertheless, a feasible and sustainable one at that?
View the pitch deck Fun Fact! We loved using the BUild Lab as a study and work area. Pavement Coffee being nearby was also very nice.
22
23
Dental Education Ambassador My goal is to educate young children about the importance of maintaining proper oral health and equipping them with the tools to do so. To begin, I would start with workshops or pop-up events wherever I can get the news out about my vision. It would be my way of integrating myself into the community around me, making connections and networking, as well as helping and educating those I come across.
Monica Shipman (CAS’23)
After that I want to get directly involved with a program or school with children specifically in low income areas or those who do not have access to the tools they need for their teeth. I would equip them with the tools and education they can implement for the rest of their lives. Eventually, I want to partner with local dentists to set up clinics where families can get procedures done at little to no cost. The Impact I Hope To Achieve with this work is to make these positive behaviors a lifelong practice. Oral health affects the whole body, so teaching young children (and adults) how to care for their bodies now could prevent issues such as heart disease and periodontal disease in the future. In addition, I want to make people confident in their smiles. Many people do not realize the power of a smile, but I know that not feeling confident in your smile can affect many areas of life. We smile for pictures, we smile when we laugh around friends and family, and if I can help someone truly feel good about their smile so they can enjoy life to the fullest, then I have accomplished my goal. This is why I want to become a dentist.
Fun Fact! My inspiration behind my project is my mother, because as a health care professional I have seen her help so many people throughout her career, and I want to help people through dentistry.
24
25
Sea Green Co. We are a five student innovation team working to create a zerowaste store for college campuses. We believe that it is incredibly important for schools to provide access to sustainable product options and educate students about green living. Students are keen to make a difference but more often than not they are unable to easily change the way that our society operates. A real and concrete way that students can make a difference, however, is by cutting down their personal waste contribution and supporting companies that create sustainable products instead of purchasing unsustainable mainstream products. Since students currently do not have easy access to sustainable and plastic free product options, our team decided that it was crucial to create an on-campus system through which students can purchase green products.
Libby McClelland (CAS’23)
Emily Hardy (Questrom’22)
The Impact We Hope To Achieve is by providing easy access to green products, we hope to raise awareness about conscientious consumerism and to empower students to do something about their own environmental impacts Our Biggest Milestones Are having competed in the New Venture Competition and the Hult Prize, held three pop-up sales on campus, and are in the legal works of creating an LLC.
Sonja Poe (CAS’23)
Fun Fact! Two of us happen to be neighbors with each other and two others live in the town next to one another! Ananya Metha (Questrom’23)
26
View the website
27
Shower Anywhere Think about yourself camping. What do you imagine? Sweaty, dirty, disheveled? Now, what if I told you that you could be clean and comfortable while camping? This is possible due to the utilization of my product “Shower Anywhere”. This shower system will deliver a hot shower with strong water pressure almost instantly. All that is needed is the car that you went camping with. I lived in a van in New Zealand hiking and camping for four months. Over that time, I realized the need for a better portable shower. There are solar showers now that leak and aren’t even hot. “Shower Anywhere” utilizes the electricity from your car to heat copper tubing. As the water runs through this tubing, from the water pump powered by your car, the water is heated, and out comes your hot portable shower. Gone are the days of being sweaty and dirty while camping.
Matthew Spak (ENG’23)
The Impact I Hope To Achieve Is impacting campers, hikers, or outdoorsmen to do what they love more comfortably by providing accessible hot showers for wherever their adventure takes them. My Proudest Moment Was perfecting the water heating design.
Fun Fact! I love camping so that’s where my idea came from!
28
29
Sisters Within every girl there is brilliance and a future of greatness. However, the environment plays a great role in how girls are able to showcase their talents. For me this was definitely a challenge, transitioning into a new environment where my socioeconomic status, race, and ethnicity were not as represented. Thus, in school, I constantly reinforced the importance of diversity work. These lessons resonated with me because I value my community, whether it be women of color or low-income communities.
Junia Janvier (CAS’23)
Taking place monthly, Sisters is a cohort of young girls of color with an emphasis on developing the personal whilst gaining additional support from co-facilitators and overall having a safe space outside of the traditional school week. Sisters (My Sister’s Keeper) is a program meant to uplift young girls of color to rise to the occasion of being impactful and empowered individuals, equipped with the ability to excel in higher education and in their communities. The Impact I Hope To Achieve Is for Sisters to serve as a transitional program for those entering high school and those on the brink of beginning the high school application process. Sisters aims to develop the potential of these young women through a framework of positivity and advocacy. Additionally, Sisters will encourage deep communication between our members and co-facilitators, forging long-lasting connections that extend beyond the program, therefore Sisters seeks to create a nurturing space that can create personal growth in not only attendees but mentors as well.
View the pitch deck
Fun Fact! It actually started at a Women’s Summit at Bryant University last year. Reshma Saujani, founder of GirlsWhoCode, was presenting, and so I asked for advice about starting a program, and from there I got to work with her.
30
31
Sustainable Labs A 2012 estimate by the University of Exeter found that 83% of the plastic recycled worldwide was from the world’s bioscience departments. The same study also found that bioscience research produces plastic waste equivalent to the weight of 67 cruise ships each year.
Kyle Hsu (CAS’23)
sustainability@BU current focuses on “Energy Conservation, Climate Action Planning, Green Building Design, Recycling and Waste Reduction, Communications and Outreach, Food, and Transportation” to become waste free by 2030. When defining “Waste Reduction,” BU broadly means day-to-day waste such as plastic bottles, furniture, and paper. Science laboratories’ waste, one of the biggest offenders of the plastic epidemic, have not been effectively regulated at BU. Institutions in the United Kingdom such as the University of Leeds and the University College London are pledging to be waste free by 2023 and 2024, respectively. Other Boston institutions such as Harvard University, MIT, and Northeastern University have implemented goals to specifically reduce laboratory waste while BU has not yet done so. The impact of plastic use and its lack of regulation should be evident to many due to the large BU student population. I plan to work with sustainability@BU members to develop a division of laboratory waste reduction to reduce plastic waste in research laboratories. My Biggest Milestone is that I have enhanced my ability to convey my plans in a manner that is understandable to many audiences My Proudest Moment Was I came up with this idea after talking Gabriela Boscio Santos during the Terrier-to-Terrier dinner night. Before that, I was still unsure what my final project would be.
Fun fact! I came up with this idea after talking to Ms. Gabriela Boscio Santos during the Terrier-to-Terrier dinner night. View the brochure 32
33
The Internship Initiative Our mission is to help connect high school students looking for internships with companies looking for qualified interns. To do this, we use a proprietary algorithm that sorts and matches companies with students who have the desired high school courses and other qualifications.
Christopher Wang (CAS’23)
Our service allows us to assist company HR processes, give businesses access to hundreds of qualified candidates, and give high school students access to companies who are changing their industries. Our application can be found on our website, interninit.com, where we also offer free courses and blog posts on internship applications, resumĂŠ writing, job interviews, and basic job skills. We believe our application can be useful to high school students because they would only have to fill out one application and could apply for many internships using that one application. The Impact I Hope To Make Is by connecting high schoolers with internships that are otherwise unavailable. By doing so, we introduce teens early to jobs before they have to commit to majors in colleges, allowing them to test out new fields and reducing the barriers to employment and opportunity in America. My Proudest Moment Was getting interest from the Shrewsbury, Massachusetts school district which gave us the opportunity to do business with potentially 17 local businesses in Shrewsbury.
View the website Fun fact! We started this organization high school.
34
35
Portable 3D Printer FIRST robotics is a club dedicated to inspiring kids from K-12 to join the STEM community, there is 660k students, 330k mentors, and 20 Million volunteers in 110 plus countries. This organization has transform the STEM outreach and inspired many other STEM clubs to prosper. These kids search for opportunities to learn and one of the biggest tools they use are PLA 3D printers. However, because of the expansion of the club teams travel great distances for competitions. 3D printers are expensive and important to the kids on the team.
Eva Langenbrunner (ENG’23)
When are part breaks printing a new one saves time and they use the printers to create toys for kids. To protect what helps change STEM outreach communities I have been researching and developing a portable 3D printer. The Impact I Hope to Achieve Is to help the STEM outreach and inspire the community.
Fun Fact! Figuring out how to get CAD software for free was my proudest moment.
36
37
Youth Media Initiative There is no denying that high schoolers often do not get a job or internship due to lack of work experience. This is especially severe for low-income students because they lack access to work opportunities in the first place. Nonprofits rely heavily on social media to spread awareness, but they usually lack the resources to invest in quality social media management to reach donors and acquire funds effectively. To solve these problems, we, the Youth Media Initiative, are creating a program that provides youth with specialized social media management skills and professional job training, placing them in paid internships with nonprofits who ultimately benefit from quality, reliable work at a fraction of the market cost. We have already reached out to potential partner nonprofits that have expressed interest in our program, such as the Boys and Girls Club. When you support us, we fill two needs with one deed. The Impact We Hope to Achieve is to empower a diverse community of young people through paid work experiences and serve nonprofit organizations with social media management expertise. By providing youth real work experience and skill based job readiness, we hope to equip them for the changing workforce of the digital age and allow youth to feel confident in making an impact for non-profit organizations. We also hope to help non-profits expand their reach and utilize social media professionally to further their mission. Our Proudest Moment Was during our freshman year was pitching the Youth Media Initiative at the 1st Round of the New Venture Competition.
Krevier Zhou (ENG’23)
Kaye Chin (Wheelock’23)
Sum Yue Guan (CFA’23)
View the website
Fun Fact! Our whole team can speak two or more languages.
38
39
The FYIF Experience “The FYIF program connected me the appropriate people incredibly well. I was able to talk to directors of different programs in mere weeks after I finalized my project.”
“I think it gives exposure to successful entrepreneurship and the skills needed to do well, and gives a lot of motivation to put ideas into action.”
“FYIF is very helpful in re-motivating students, guiding them in their projects, and providing them the resources to do “I believe that it gives every BU student, regardless of interest and background, the chance to explore the rewarding field of entrepreneurship. Many students come from academic and social backgrounds that may be unable to support ambitious goals. The First-Year Innovation Fellowship provides that vital support and, most importantly, networking opportunities within the large BU community to help grow what students may have thought once was an impossible dream.”
“This opportunity has been amazing in terms of seeing a vision of mine take shape. In addition, I have learned a lot about innovation, entrepreneurship, myself and the community around me. I think it’s a great program for anyone who has an idea they want to make a reality.”
“It can be very overwhelming but the constant encouragement and pushing does help get things done effectively. It made me want to keep going even when things were not easy.”
40
Innovate@BU BUild Lab IDG Capital Student Innovation Center 730 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston MA 02155 bu.edu/innovate | @innovate_bu