The Summer Sprint 2018 kicked off with an exciting agenda that included orientation, discussion on customer development, value propositions, and customer discovery. Frank Rimalovski, the executive director at NYU Entrepreneurial Institute, and Rebecca Silver, assistant director, led the initial discussions. All the teams also had an opportunity to give a 2-3-minute presentation.
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Top Left: Ballotbox: Sebastian Jimenez, Vanessa Chestnut, and Tomasz Bachosz presenting.
Top Right: G-Ware: Paramjot Kaur, Girish Palteru, and Rhea Patel presenting.
Bottom: Frank Rimalovski and Rebecca Silver discussing customer development.
Sponsored by the Convergence for Innovation and Entrepreneurial (CIE) Institute as part of the National Science Foundation I-Corps Site Program, the Summer Sprint program consists of 2 to 3-week summer accelerators to help NYU student and postdoc teams find solutions to problems. Of the15 teams, 9 teams will participate in the 2-week long sprint while 6 will engage in the 3-week long sprint. The students represent 13 NYU schools and included Masters, Undergrads, alumni & researcher participants. Each team is also provided with AWS Credits, legal advisement, and stipends of $350 for 2-week and $700 for 3-week participants.
In addition to the structured program that includes discussion on specific topics, teams are also provided with significant additional resources. Six coaches will work closely with the teams. There are sessions scheduled with external mentors, at least twice a week for 1 hour as a requirement for all teams. “The mentors represent somebody who has been in your shoes”, Rimalovski states. The CIE Institute is also conducting a study on mentorship and how it influences the teams as part of the NSF grant. The data from this program will be used to support that study.
The following 2018 Summer Sprint teams introduced themselves:
BALLOTBOX:
An all in one event management software for political campaigns and grassroots movements to help organizers run successful communities without the need for capital or centralized structure.
-Sebastian Jimenez (Stern ‘18)
-Vanessa Chestnut (CAS ‘18)
-Tomasz Bachosz (Abu Dhabi ‘18)
DIGISTRIPS:
For producing digitized and rapid home-use diagnostic to detect Urinary Tract Infection.
-Deniz Vurmaz (Tandon ‘20)
-Sayli Modak (Dentistry ‘15)
-Shruti Warhadpande (Dentistry ‘14)
-Kritika Srinvasan (Medicine ’19)
ECKSTEIN GUIDEWIRES:
A variable stiffness endovascular guidewire for cardiovascular surgeons to solve the problems of guidewire exchange.
– Nengi Charles-Ogan (Tandon ‘19)
– Daniel Eckstein (Tandon ‘18)
– Octavia Larentis (Tandon ‘19)
G-WARE:
A smart wearable for senior citizens to live more independently. Members were Amanda, Paramjot, Girish, Rhea, and Sachin.
– Paramjot Kaur (CAS ‘18)
– Girish Palteru (Tandon ’18)
– Rhea Patel (CAS ‘18)
GOVERN FOR AMERICA:
To train, recruit, develop and connect recent graduates to key roles in state governments across the nation through a two-year fellowship program to help talented and service minded individuals find a pathway into high impact roles and design systems around the needs of everyday Americans.
– Kyleigh Russ (Wagner ’19)
– Octavia Abell
HEALTH HUDDLE:
An application to help nurses manage patient information during handoffs
-Sabina Braverman (Wagner ‘18)
-Andrew Dempsey (Tandon ‘19)
NEXTGEN BOOTCAMP:
Is a computer science education tailed to high school and college students offering summer, after school and online courses to help students to prepare for their college and the workforce.
-Zach Cohen (Gallatin ‘20)
PEBLIO:
An instructional tool and lesson sharing platform to help middle-high school computer science teachers find, adapt and manage class resources.
-Esther Hersh (Tisch ‘17)
-Mathura Govindarajan (Tisch ‘17)
-Regina Vetka (Tisch ‘17)
PEPPER:
Develops bras that finally fit women with small busts.
-Lia Winograd (Stern ’19)
-Jaclyn Fu
SABAI DESIGN:
Aims in providing affordable, convenient and chic furniture without long-term financial commitment. They are creating assured disposal and offer a second line of refurbished furniture. -Phantila Phataraprasit (Law ‘20)
-Caitlin de Lisser Ellen
-Cecily Waud
SMARTFIRE TECHNOLOGY:
Aims to create trackable(firearm) magwell-lockout device to deter firearms theft and aid in recovery primarily for FFLs.
– Richard Vo (Tandon ‘19)
– Eirik Humlen (Tandon ‘19)
SOURCE:
Is a Web 3.0 Software collaboration platform with token incentives and programmable repositories.
– Hao Jün Tan (Stern ‘20)
– Carlos Santos (Stern ‘19)
– Yonatan Medina (Gallatin ‘18)
THE DIVERSITY ORG:
Aims to combat social issues by uniting people together through education, media content and community service.
-Joshua Pierce (Tisch ‘18)
-Daniel Rodriguez (CAS ‘18)
-Claire Laugeois
MERCILESS MOTORS
Aims to build an improved electric motor that is 90% more efficient, 33% more powerful, and 20% more lightweight than current electric motors. Merciless Motor can potentially add another 40 miles of range to an electric vehicle.
– Nader Ahmed (Tandon ‘19)
– Anna Eva Kotyza (Gallatin ‘18)
WE ARE THE NEW FARMERS:
Are targeting the next generation of an urban farm that grows crops for specialty food markets in NYC that seek a consistent supply of local produce and spirulina for vegan restaurants looking for unique protein alternatives.
-Jonas Guenther, (Tandon ‘18)
-Michael Udovich, (Tandon ‘18)
-Daniel Bernstein
YDK CHINESE:
Is a mobile keyboard application that helps intermediate and advanced Chinese learners practice and perfect correct pronunciation.
– Yifei An (CAS ‘19)
– Denis Kaydanov (Tandon ‘19)
The composition of the STEM-based teams is noticeably diverse with 52% being women or underrepresented minority—a key goal for the NSF I-Corps Sites Program. With solutions ready at hand, the teams are off to a great start!