On November 11, Temple students and faculty swarmed to the Undergraduate Commons to watch the finalists present their ideas, Shark Tank style. Our panel of judges, Bethany Edwards, Glen Gaddy, Fred Berg and Zachary Thomson, came ready to fire the tough questions at our finalists. It was an exciting atmosphere to be a part of.
Our grand prize winner, Stephen Peduto of the College of Engineering, presented his idea of Quick Stabilizing Carbon. He wants to create a carbon fiber sleeve that can be used on broken bones rather than a traditional stint. His target customers included the armed forces and athletic associations, as they would benefit from the immediacy of this product in an emergency injury situation. One of the judges’ biggest questions was whether or not this product was a one size fits all solution.
Ka Bom Designs by Olawunmi Thomas-Quarcoo of Fox took home the 1st Place Graduate, Faculty, Staff or Alumni prize. Through her idea, Olawunmi wants to create a global centralized marketplace for women artisans from Ghana to sell African fashions to women in different countries. This would also serve as a platform for all female users to connect with one another. The judges were very curious about Olawumni’s choice to incorporate women from Ghana in the idea, along with how these goods would be created and sold.
Séverine Bandou of Fox presented her idea, Myjé- Premium scented mist for curly hair at the Awards Presentation. As a women with curly hair, she had always struggled to find a hair product that made her hair fragrant without drying it out. Her product would fix both of these problems quite easily. She also discussed plans to create a “make your own” formula that allows women to use their favorite fragrances. The judges were concerned with the competitors in this highly saturated market, along with the potential issues patenting the product. At the end of the night, Séverine won the 2nd Place Graduate, Faculty, Staff or Alumni Prize for Myjé.
Tyler Stoltzfus of the Fox School of Business won the 1st Place Undergraduate Prize for his company, Seed Dyes. Seed Dyes is a local and sustainable fabric company run out of Lancaster, PA. Tyler and his partner source eco-friendly fabrics, dye them in a handmade greenhouse with eco-friendly materials, and ship off the final fabrics to their clients. After his presentation, the judges questioned the location and cost of his business, as he is quite far away from textile manufacturers and more expensive than traditionally dyed fabrics.
Winning the 2nd Place Undergraduate Prize was Sabrina Zouaghi of the College of Science and Technology for her Self-Stabilizing Gloves idea. In her presentation, she shared that her motivation to create these gloves was her mother. Her mother suffers from terrible tremors and she wanted to create these to help her do simple everyday tasks with ease. The judges asked her a series of questions that ranged from the comfort and fit of the gloves to the types of competitors she found in her research.
Camille Bell (SMC ’15), won the Global Innovation Award for her idea, Pound Cake. At the Awards presentation, Camille opted to describe her idea in a video. She would like to create a website and store that sells matte lipsticks for every woman of every skin tone. After a standing ovation from a few audience members, judges were quick to question the choice of matte lipstick as opposed to other types of lipstick. One judge also jokingly asked, “why would you ever want to open your own store!?”
At the culmination of the event, attendees were encouraged to vote for their favorite idea for two People’s Choice Awards. Ka Bom Designs by Olawunmi Thomas-Quarcoo took home the 1st Place People’s Choice Award and Self Stabilizing Gloves by Sabrina Zouaghi took home the 2nd.
After the judges deliberated, the winners were announced and many photos were captured! Everyone celebrated a bit longer and enjoyed some more food. Overall, the 18th Annual Innovative Idea Competition was a success!
To check out a full list of our winners, please click here.