2019 Final Awards

Congratulations to UMass Lowell's 2019 $50K Idea Challenge Winners! Challenge categories and winners are as follows:


Rist Campus-Wide DifferenceMaker (Sponsored by Kim and Brian Rist '77, Manning School of Business)

Benji Ball - $6,000

Baseball training tool that will be composed of a bat and ball with the ball having multiple sides, each side showing the different outcome of an at bat. The bat has a bigger barrel since this game/training tool is designed for children and people with disabilities to be able to learn the game of baseball in a fun and simplistic way.

  • Gavin Donohoe, Sophomore, Engineering
  • Benjamin McEvoy, Sophomore, Business
  • Edward Morante, Sophomore, Education

Significant Social Impact

VotED - $4,500

Voting education app that informs voters about what is on their ballot in the upcoming election and will notify them when there is an upcoming election. Users can also decide if they want to learn about town meeting and other political events in their town.

  • Michael Dignan, Sophomore, Business
  • Gillian Inglis, Senior, Business
  • Olivia Reposa, Senior, Business

VotED is a team made up of Middlesex Community College students through the DifferenceMaker/MCC Partnership. This is our second year partnering with MCC. MCC does a competition in the fall, and their top winner gets to move into our Preliminary Pitch-off (April 10). From there, VotED was chosen to move into the final Idea Challenge!


Contribution to a Healthier Lifestyle (Sponsored by Circle Health)

ECG for Me (Electrocardio Athletic Patch) - $4,500

Designed wireless electrocardiopatches that work with the Apple Series 4 watch to display an ECG capable of detecting underlying heart conditions.

  • William Bizilj, Graduate, Biotechnology
  • Rachel Harrington, Graduate, Biotechnology
  • Taylor Mellen, Graduate, Biotechnology

Sutherland Innovative Technology Solution (Sponsored by Andrew Sutherland '94, Manning School of Business)

USe Cart -$4,500

This future shopping cart will make a customer’s shopping experience faster and easier. This product will push the self-checkout experience to a whole new level. This smart shopping cart will create a better overall grocery shopping experience, and will reduce the time that customers spend in a store and in line.

  • Moya Alhayek, Junior, Electrical Engineering
  • Daniel Falcone, Senior, Business
  • Shanice Kelly, Junior, Mechanical Engineering
  • Max Ushakov, Graduate, Electrical Engineering

Jack. M. Wilson First Product to Market Award (Sponsored by Jack Wilson, President Emeritus)

Jamfuze (Music Web Platform) - $4,500

Creating a music website/marketplace connects local artists with the services they need to build and accelerate their music careers. These services will range from finding local studios, engineers, videographers, beats, and much more. The key is eliminating the search cost for these artists by providing a one-stop shop platform.

  • Michael Adrien, Senior, Sound Recording Tech
  • Nicholas Bedard, Alumni, Business
  • Christopher Sinclair, Junior, Business Administration
  • Stephen Wahome, Alumni, MBA

Honorable Mention

EV SmarT - $2,000

Looking to solve the problem of EV owners worrying about range and charging. By creating an app to connect nearby EV owners with people in need of charging we solve exactly that. With the hardware in place for Vehicle-2-vehicle communications as well we can have short-range and long-range communications either between mobile phones and users or cars between cars.

  • Omkar Bhandakka, Alumni, Energy Engineering
  • Hamza Ehsan, Junior, Computer Science
  • Rajvi Shah, Senior, Computer Science

For a disabled scuba diver, this terrain makes it even more of a challenge. I have developed a device that would either assist the diver by moving the diver's gear to the water or even move a disabled diver to the water or even into the water.

  • Ian Ramsdell, Senior, Business Administration


A faster and safer method to withdraw from an ATM that will save Americans and ATM companies millions of dollars per year. Our method requires a minor integration to the ATM user interface that will help prevent potentially all card skimming and PIN theft that occurs at ATMS.

  • Mohammad Musawer, Freshman, Computer Engineering
  • Conrad Nelson, Junior, Chemical Engineering
  • Jenna Olander, Senior, Art
  • Tatiana Tompkins, Sophomore, Business

This project aims to address the opioid epidemic by preventing fatal overdose. The project consists of a wearable auto-injection system to administer Naloxone to those suffering from a drug overdose. This will help decrease the number of fatal overdoses that tragically occur, and hopefully combat the overall epidemic.

  • Derek Jamieson, Freshman, Undeclared
  • Nicholas Lydon, Senior, Chemical Engineering
  • Alison Michell, Senior, Chemical Engineering

Ambulatory Innovations (CAT Mat Product: An outdoor simulation mat) - $2,000

This product is a mat that will allow physical therapists to treat their patients' deficits throughout the body, from the musculoskeletal system to sensory systems. It will simulate walking outdoors to help patients prepare for community ambulation.

  • Michelle Mailloux, Graduate, Physical Therapy
  • Katherine Muise, Graduate, Physical Therapy

Fan Favorite

Bar Scene - $1,000

The Bar Scene app will act as a one-stop shop for nightlife information in Lowell, including prices, events, and how crowded each bar is in real-time.

  • Thomas Kiley, Senior, Computer Science
  • Hannah Wright, Alumni, Marketing and Entrepreneurship