2021 eGames Winners Announced

On Tuesday, April 13, the NC State entrepreneurship community gathered virtually to watch the 2021 eGames Award Ceremony emceed by NC State alumni and Fox Sports reporter, Amanda Busick.

Launched in 2009 by NC State Entrepreneurship, the eGames has become NC State’s largest startup competition awarding over $100,000 in cash prizes to NC State entrepreneurs. In 2020 the eGames ranked in the Top 20 University Entrepreneurship Competitions in the nation by Times of Entrepreneurship, and this year the competition broke a record awarding $113,000 in cash prizes. “The students’ entrepreneurial spirit is infectious and it inspires us to make this competition bigger and better each year,” said Dr. Tom Miller, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Outreach and Entrepreneurship and McPherson Family Distinguished Professor.

Students were able to compete in two categories – the “Think” and “Do” categories. The “Think” category is for students with an idea or business in the early stages. The ”Do” category is for students with an established startup that is generating revenue, has received investments or has licensed IP. All participating student teams – including finalists and non-finalists – were also able to compete for Extraordinary Impact Awards in Social Impact, Environmental Impact, Design and Prototype, Arts, and IBM Built on Cloud. 

Officially registered startup companies who have licensed NC State intellectual property in the past three years were allowed to compete in the Daugherty Endowment track, offering $60,000 in cash prizes. 

If you missed the award ceremony, you can watch the teams in action below!

“The students’ entrepreneurial spirit is infectious and it inspires us to make this competition bigger and better each year. “

-Dr. Tom Miller, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Outreach and Entrepreneurship and McPherson Family Distinguished Professor

Below is a recap of all the 2021 eGames winners. We thank all the contestants for their enthusiastic participation and their creative efforts to improve their communities and the lives of many people.

EXTRAORDINARY IMPACT AWARDS 

These awards are given to teams showing exceptional promise or impact in four particular areas: Social & Environmental Impact, the Arts, IBM Built on Cloud, and Design & Prototype.

$2,000 Social Impact Award: Seadrone 

Seadrone is a remote-controlled quadcopter that can be deployed to an endangered swimmer and inflate upon arrival. The Seadrone utilizes flight to rapidly reach drowning victims and deliver flotation equipment.

Team members: 

James Wittenborn,  Product Design | B.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Leah Pursell, Quality Analyst |B.S. Mechanical Engineering

Nolan Joyce, Hardware Architect |B.S. Computer and Electrical Engineering

Megan Rettino, Product Manager | B.S. Mechanical Engineering

Benjamin Gray, Software Engineer |B.S. Computer Science and Chemical Engineering

$2,000 Environmental Impact Award: Flux Hybrids

Flux Hybrids offers a hybrid conversion system that financially justifies electrification with cost savings that exceed its total cost during its lifespan making its total cost of ownership a net positive.

Team members: 

Micah Ulrich, CEO | M.S. Mechanical Engineering

Clay Dowdey, COO | M.S. Mechanical Engineering

$2,000 Arts Impact Award: Lykke 

Lykke is a source for locally-curated gift baskets filled with hand-made goods from in and around Moore County, North Carolina. 

Team members:

Hayden Wempe | Poole College of Management

$2,000 Arts Impact Award: Hexerate

Hexerate is building Approach, an app that will help people navigate new locations and businesses at a glance. 

Team members:

Caleb Davis | Engineering

Matthew Agustin | Engineering

Ivey Floyd | Engineering

Asa Latta | Engineering

Quoc Vu | Engineering

$2,000 IBM Built on Cloud Impact Award: Mac Health

Mac Health is developing software to offer medical billing and revenue management systems for small to medium-sized physician offices in order to avoid medical billing errors.

Team members:

Timothy McKay | Poole College of Management

$2,000 IBM Built on Cloud Impact Award: Extruo

Extruo’s products are garments that have integrated sensors that track the position of a person’s limb in space relative to other anatomical landmarks (i.e. hip). Gathered sensor data is extracted and converted into a visual representation of their run. This visual aid will be able to slow down an athlete’s movement to provide coaches and athletes more in-depth conversations about areas of improvement.

Team members: 

Dakota Batch, Supply Chain, Product Development | Ph.D. in Textile Technology Management

J’den Williams, Web Development & Marketing | Ph.D. in Textile Technology Management Branding & Marketing

$2,000 Design & Prototype Extraordinary Impact Award: Extruo  

Extruo’s products are garments that have integrated sensors that track the position of a person’s limb in space relative to other anatomical landmarks (i.e. hip). Gathered sensor data is extracted and converted into a visual representation of their run. This visual aid will be able to slow down an athlete’s movement to provide coaches and athletes more in-depth conversations about areas of improvement.

Team members: 

Dakota Batch, Supply Chain, Product Development | Ph.D. in Textile Technology Management

J’den Williams, Web Development & Marketing | Ph.D. in Textile Technology Management Branding & Marketing

$2,000 Design & Prototype Extraordinary Impact Award: Seadrone

Seadrone is a remote-controlled quadcopter that can be deployed to an endangered swimmer and inflate upon arrival. The Seadrone utilizes flight to rapidly reach drowning victims and deliver flotation equipment.

Team members: 

James Wittenborn,  Product Design | B.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Leah Pursell, Quality Analyst |B.S. Mechanical Engineering

Nolan Joyce, Hardware Architect |B.S. Computer and Electrical Engineering

Megan Rettino, Product Manager | B.S. Mechanical Engineering

Benjamin Gray, Software Engineer |B.S. Computer Science and Chemical Engineering

DAUGHERTY ENDOWMENT AWARDS 

The Daughtry Endowment awards ventures that have licensed NC State technology in the past three years. This category is made possible through The Richard and Marlene Daugherty Entrepreneurialism Endowment and the Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology and Sciences and is held in partnership with NC State’s Centennial Campus’ Office of Partnerships and Economic Development and the Office of Research Commercialization.

$25,000 First Place (tied): Indago

Team members:

Tim Pitts | CPA

Paul Franzon | Ph.D.

W. Shepherd Pitts | Ph.D.

Kirti Bhanushali | Ph.D.

$25,000 First Place (tied): Gradient

Team members:

Michael Sano | Ph.D.

Darren Basburg | MBA, B.S, M.E.

Matt DeWitt | Ph.D., BME

Chris Fesmire | B.S.

Ross Petrella | Ph.D., BME

$10,000 Third Place: Baynano 

Team members:

Milad Abolhasani | CSO

Aram Amassian | CTO

Charles Tse | CEO

STUDENT AWARDS: “THINK” 

Teams in the “Think” category are in the early stages of startup development. These teams may just have an idea or are currently seeking customers or further business validation. 

$9,000 First Place: VertiBra 

Using patented technology, VertiBra includes different sensors which are incorporated wirelessly into the bra thanks. The sensors enable customized calibration to detect incorrect posture, provide haptic feedback, and implement pain relief therapies such as massage and heat treatments.

Team members:

Jeanine Fry, CEO | M.S. Textile Technology

Daniel Olson, Operations | M.S. Biomedical Engineering

Bryson Boettger, Technology | M.S. Biomedical Engineering

Marta Pasqualini, Research | M.S. Biomedical Engineering

$7,000 Second Place: DEVO 

DEVO will use a patent-pending cell-optimization process discovered at NC State to make cells produce plasmids at a 25-100x higher rate.

Team members: 

Eli Moskowitz, CTO | M.S. Biomanufacturing

Andrew Buchanan, CFO | MBA

Erik Andersen, BSN, RN, Chief Communications Officer | M.S. Biomedical Engineering

Olivia Wedegaertner, COO | Ph.D. Animal and Poultry Science

Miracle Walters, CIO | M.S. Biomedical Engineering

$4,000 Third Place: iVlo Medical

iVlo Medical is creating a device that allows the paramedic to manually set the drip rate, alert the paramedic or other emergency personnel of any changes in the IV drip rate, and by including an onboard display of the established drip-rate.

Team members:

Brady Anna, CEO | M.S. Biomedical Engineering

Daniel Olson, COO and Head of Product | M.S. Biomedical Engineering

Alex Nadimi, CIO and Software Development |B.S. EE

STUDENT AWARDS: “DO” 

The “Do” category represents student teams that are looking to grow or scale their venture. These teams may have investment, customers or working product they are looking to bring to market at scale. 

$10,000 First Place: Flux Hybrids 

Flux Hybrids offers a hybrid conversion system that financially justifies electrification with cost savings that exceed its total cost during its lifespan making its total cost of ownership a net positive.

Team members: 

Micah Ulrich, CEO | M.S. Mechanical Engineering

Clay Dowdey, COO | M.S. Mechanical Engineering

$8,500 Second Place: Extruo

Extruo’s products are garments that have integrated sensors that track the position of a person’s limb in space relative to other anatomical landmarks (i.e. hip). Gathered sensor data is extracted and converted into a visual representation of their run. This visual aid will be able to slow down an athlete’s movement to provide coaches and athletes more in-depth conversations about areas of improvement.

Team members: 

Dakota Batch, Supply Chain, Product Development | Ph.D. in Textile Technology Management

J’den Williams, Web Development & Marketing | Ph.D. in Textile Technology Management Branding & Marketing

$6,500 Third Place: Valish 

Valish is a water-based, solventless, odorless, and durable nail polish that is applied similarly to traditional nail polishes. It only requires a one-step application and is cured faster than traditional and gel polishes with visible light rather than air drying or UV light.

Team members:

Grace Carrell, Head of Business Development and Co-founder | M.S Microbial Biotechnology and MBA

John McGarrahan, Head of R&D and Co-founder | M.S. Materials Science & Engineering

Thanks to our sponsors

The eGames is made possible thanks to the financial support of IBB, Carimus, Eastman Chemicals, The Variable, SDE Software Development Europe, NC State Arts and the Daugherty Endowment with funding partnership from the Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology & Science and collaboration with the NC State Office of Partnerships and Office of Research Commercialization. We also thank Raleigh Founded for their in-kind prizes. 

We also thank our wonderful judges who volunteered their time to make the eGames judging possible. 

To learn more about the eGames visit go.ncsu.edu/e-games.

This post was originally published in Entrepreneurship News.