Prepare / Innovation Quest (iQ)

Past Winners

Cal Poly CIE's Innovation Quest 2024 competition participants

2024 Winners

1st Place Innovation Award: ODIN – a portable headset with ocular tracking technology that rapidly and accurately diagnoses concussions. Created by engineering student Cory Garlinghouse, biomedical engineering student James Bell, computer engineering student Wilman Li, economics student Connor Heffler, and business administration student Jeremy Tai.

2nd Place Rich and Jackie Boberg Innovation Award: GamRewired – a mobile app aimed at replacing a person’s gambling addiction with healthy habits. Created by business administration student Austin Hatfield and computer science student Diana Koralski.

3rd Place Award: The Infantry – a single-use device aimed to create a safer alternative for mothers and their infants during shoulder dystocia complications from vaginal births. Created by biomedical engineering students Rachel Rowe, Madeline Mumford, and Jenna Eissmann.

2023 Winners

1st Place Innovation Award: BioGlyph — a software that streamlines the process of biologic, or medicine, development and iteration — as well as user modification tools — by allowing researchers to easily shift between visual, markup, and serial representations of medications developed from living organisms. Created by biology senior McClain Kressman and Nico Galin, a computer science student at UC Berkeley

2nd Place Rich and Jackie Boberg Innovation Award: Instaboard — a digital whiteboard that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to allow users to illustrate their ideas and collaborate with others. Created by computer science senior David Chen, an international student from China; recent art and design graduate Alina Chiu of Mandeville, Louisiana; and Andy Zhou, a University of Rochester finance and applied mathematics student.

3rd Place Award: Spikeless — a wristband to test whether a drink has been drugged. Created by Logan Hughes of Brookline, Massachusetts, and Jensen Jalufka, both business administration seniors with a focus on entrepreneurship, and engineering seniors Elisa Horta (mechanical engineering) and Justice Radler (industrial engineering).

Brett & Leslie Eldridge Environmental Impact Award: ENTEIN— a startup that grows black soldier fly larvae off of food waste and then sells the larvae as a protein supplement in animal feed. Created by William Burns, a materials engineering senior minoring in entrepreneurship.

2022 Winners

1st Place Innovation Award: Adapted Mobility – a startup developing compact, capable and intuitive mobility devices from commercially available electric unicycles.

2nd Place Rich and Jackie Boberg Innovation Award: Fem Forward – a startup creating leak-proof period shorts for women to wear when sleeping during their menstrual cycle.

3rd Place Award: Grip Safe – a startup developing a patented firearm safety device for AR-15s, which will ensure firearms are secure for storage, legally-compliant transport and safe shoot, all through an interchangeable grip attachment.

2021 Winners

1st Place Innovation Award: FEARLESS Fitness Kids – a startup developing immersive video games with exercise as its core mechanic, to keep children healthy, active and entertained.

2nd Place Rich and Jackie Boberg Innovation Award: ARTIFEX – a startup leveraging developments in machine learning and Light Detection Ranging (LIDAR) sensors, a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure variable distances, to create clear and usable drawings of the build environment.

3rd Place Award: Large Round Bale Handler – an implementation device which loads large round hay bales onto a standard flatbed equipment trailer for transport.

Brett & Leslie Eldridge Environmental Impact Award: PERCH Sensing – provides real-time wildfire weather and detection alerts to power utilities and first responders in high-risk areas.

2019 Winners

1st Place Innovation Award: Buteo – technology uses autonomous fixed-wing drones that will help vineyard managers and berry farmers protect their crops from birds and gain data feedback on the health of their vines.

2nd Place Rich and Jackie Boberg Innovation Award: Santronics – provides an automated, adaptable and caregiver-oriented hand hygiene compliance monitoring system for hospital infection control teams.

3rd Place Award: HealthBlock and Tulum Cosmetics tied for the third-place prize.

HealthBlock – is a code-free platform allowing health researchers to create and deploy remote studies while securely connecting them with consenting participants.

Tulum Cosmetics – is a direct-to-consumer brand of matte liquid lipstick containing the medical treatment to heal and conceal cold sores.

2018 Winners

1st Place Innovation Award: Massive Obstetric Hemorrhage Indication (MOHI) Device – The devices indicate if a patient is unable to clot during hemorrhage after childbirth.

2nd Place Rich and Jackie Boberg Innovation Award: Clove – Automated smart appliance to grow fresh herbs and produce at home.

3rd Place Award: Lost Coast Surf Tech – A surf company that develops premiere equipment.