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Our team is growing! Our new George Hacks 2019-2020 team has been working hard this summer, and we can’t wait to get this fall semester started! We’ve got some exciting events coming up this semester, and, of course, stay tuned for more info about our 3rd Annual Medical Solutions Hackathon on January 25th-26th! Follow us on Instagram and Facebook to stay up to date on the latest George Hacks upcoming news.
Alright then! Let’s meet some of the faces behind our operations!
The GW Summer Start-up Accelerator (GWSSA), run by the GW Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, is the accelerator for top student startups at the George Washington University. This 9-week summer program engages student entrepreneurs who want to develop a startup venture. The program provides the students with funding, mentorship, and resources.
Three George Hacks affiliated teams were accepted into this intensive program. We are so proud of all their hard work and with them the best of luck this summer!
Our co-founder and former director, Michael Ready, is a member of Vaulted Vinyl, the Premium POP! Vinyl Protection Company, which offers top-tier protection for Funko Pops all over the world.
Sam Bunger, our web developer, is one of the engineers behind Voxion, a user-friendly and cost-effective solution for consumer-facing businesses to build custom voice applications.
Two former George Hacks participants, Jagan Doodala and Christian Trummer, are the founders of WATTerWagon, which increases water carrying capacity and eliminates strenuous labor for hundreds of millions living in rural water-scarce regions.
The GW Summer Startup Accelerator (SSA) will hold its Showcase and Demo Day on July 18, 2019 in Duques Hall on the Foggy Bottom campus of the George Washington University. We’re excited to see how they all progress!
Our very own Social Media Chair and former George Hacks participant, Christianne Chua, has been named a 2019 Barry T. Goldwater Scholar, the highest national-level award for outstanding undergraduate researchers in STEM.
Christianne is the only SEAS student (and one of three GW students) to receive this prestigious award. Her research is in the field of cardiac optogenetics in Dr. Emilia Entcheva’s laboratory; she was trained by and worked closely with PhD students Julie Han and Weizhen Li.
We are so proud of you, Christianne, and keep up the hard work!
Last Thursday night, four George Hacks affiliated teams won big at the 11th Annual GW Office of Innovation & Entrepreneurship’s New Venture Competition Finals. 216 teams entered into the competition back in January and only 12 teams advanced all the way to the finals round. We are so proud of all their hard work and wish them the best of luck moving forward!
Congratulations to our director, Caitlyn Pratt, and her team, Takin’ it Easy, which won Runner-Up in the Technology Ventures track ($5,000). Takin’ it Easy is a user-friendly, cost-effective automated pill dispenser providing medical safety and autonomy for users and families.
Congratulations to the Mobility Innovators team, who won Runner-Up in the Social Ventures track ($5,000). The team developed a compact tray designed for U.S. veteran wheelchair users. Their problem statement was originally provided by the Veterans Health Administration Innovation Ecosystem at the 2019 George Hacks Medical Solutions Hackathon.
Congratulations to the Voxion team, who also competed in the finals round and was awarded an Honorable Mention ($2,500). Voxion is a user-friendly and cost-effective solution for consumer-facing businesses to build custom voice applications.
Congratulations to two former George Hacks participants, Jagan Doodala and Christian Trummer, founders of WATTerWagon, which won the Quinn Prize for Best International & Social Entrepreneurship Venture ($7,500). WATTerWagon increases water carrying capacity and eliminates strenuous labor for hundreds of millions living in rural water-scarce regions.
This week, three George Hacks affiliated teams advanced to the final round of the GW Office of Innovation & Entrepreneurship’s New Venture Competition. 12 teams remain out of 216 that entered. We are so proud of all their hard work and wish them the best of luck moving forward!
Our director, Caitlyn Pratt, is CEO of her company Takin’ It Easy, which developed an automatic pill dispenser to alleviate the burden placed on caregivers when taking care of their loved ones. The venture was first developed last November at VCU HealthHacks.
Giavanna Corazza, a George Hacks Ambassador, continued to work on her pitch provided by the Veterans Health Administration Innovation Ecosystem at the 2019 George Hacks Medical Solutions Hackathon. Her team, Mobility Innovators, developed a compact tray for U.S. veterans who are wheelchair bound and lack independence.
Sam Bunger, the George Hacks web developer, is one of the engineers behind Voxion, a user-friendly and cost-effective solution for consumer-facing businesses to build custom voice applications.
George Hacks founder, Brianna Cathey, and Sofian Obaid, working with Dr. Igor Efimov, are the first authors in paper published January 24 in Scientific Reports. This paper presents an open-source platform for optocardiography, in which both software and hardware are open to the public via open-source license. Hardware can be printed on a 3D printer, and the platform will be useful in research and education of the heart.
The citation for their paper is: B. Cathey, S. Obaid, A. M. Zolotarev, R. A. Pryamonosov, R. A. Syunyaev, S. A. George, and I. R. Efimov. “Open-Source Multiparametric Optocardiography,” Scientific Reports, Vol. 9: 721 (2019).
A recent GW Today article, “SEAS Students Design 3D-Printed Optical Mapping System,” further explains their research and its implications.
The team of Caitlyn Pratt, Sydney Bailes, Shirali Nigam, and Trish Mikolajczyk—all from the BME Department—took Third Place and a $750 cash prize in the Undergraduate track at this year’s Pitch George Competition, held November 17 in Duques Hall. The all-female team pitched their novel pill dispenser product, which targets the population over the age of 65 who may be dealing with problems like arthritis or juggling more than five medications a day.
The team is also one of the founding teams of the George Hacks Innovators in Action Program. They were mentored by BME alumnus Konstantin Mitic, who co-founded the George Hacks organization and worked with the team as their adviser between rounds of pitches at the competition.
George Hacks launched the Innovators in Action program two weeks ago when we sent 7 students to VCU’s 3rd Annual HealthHacks. This was the event that inspired our founding team to start George Hacks and we were so excited to be able to send more students to compete this year!
In 2017, George Hacks founder, Konstantin Mitic ‘18, attended the annual VCU medical hackathon. During the event, he developed a solution that went on to receive a medal, but he didn’t know how to further implement these ideas. He wanted to continue the innovative process even after the event was finished, but didn’t know how. The solution was simple: George Hacks.
Contact us to learn more and see how you can get involved in our Innovators in Action program.
Thank you to the women entrepreneurs from the Saudi Arabian Halcyon Incubator Intensive for hosting George Hacks at their Pitch Competition and for sharing their mission with George Hacks and GW Innovation Center.
Check out “Three Innovation Insights for MENA Entrepreneurs” to learn more.
George Hacks congratulates Konstantin Mitic, Paige Botie, Tania Singh, Trisha Talapatra, and Sarah Sopher for their first place win at the 2018 Pelton Award for Outstanding Senior Design Project competition. The title of their project is “Patient Transfer Sling and Hip Stabilization System”. Watch them describe their research.
