George Mason University: Accelerate 2022 Innovation Competition Announces Finalists and Winners

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November 12, 2021

George Mason University’s inaugural Accelerate 2022 conference attracted 300 attendees and awarded cash prizes to contest winners and finalists. Accelerate 2022, held at Mason’s Arlington Campus October 19-20, focused on showcasing emerging startups across the Washington, DC region. Four panels explored trends in investment and future technology development, with an overlap of global policies and national health, safety and infrastructure needs. The competition attracted entrants from all over the country and received applications from startups offering solutions in the fields of bio-health, software and sustainability. The winners received cash prizes at a gala featuring keynote speakers Paul Misener, Amazon’s vice president of policy and communications for global innovation and a Mason student, and Bobby Franklin, president of the National Venture Capital Association. The winners of the pitch are: Cyber ​​winner, sponsored by 22nd Century: Blue Vigil of Herndon, Virginia, $ 10,000 Software winner, sponsored by Maan Ventures: Humanitru of Richmond, Virginia, $ 10,000 In addition, the Cameron Rian Hays “Out of the Box “, which focused on Smart City technologies, saw teams of students from six universities compete. The competition is named after former Mason Cameron Rian Hays, BA Sociology and Anthropology ’03 and MPP ’11. When Hays suddenly passed away in 2011, the family looked for a way to honor his memory and created the contest. The grand prize and $ 5,000 went to Neal Singal and his team at Georgetown University for Globally Unified Air Quality, a low-cost air quality monitor. Find out more about his team’s project here. Second place and $ 2,000 went to Mason, systems engineering expert Mahati Malladi and his team for Optimus. The team developed an artificial intelligence (AI) decision algorithm to support the storage and personnel optimization process for autonomous and unmanned aerial vehicles in commercial and military industries. Watch their presentation here. Third place and $ 1,000 went to systems engineering expert Mason Reed Lawrence and his predictive aircraft maintenance team. They are machine learning algorithms, combined with digital twins, to develop predictive maintenance plans for facilities and transportation systems that could save companies millions of dollars. Watch their presentation here. “Despite the shadow of the 18-month pandemic, investors, businesses and corporations were eager to engage, discuss financial opportunities and generally enjoy each other’s company,” said conference organizer Paula Sorrell, associate vice president for Mason’s innovation and economic development. “We are thrilled to see the response in the ecosystem and look forward to building on this year’s success.” “Accelerate 2022 was the right entrepreneurship conference at the right time,” said Sean Mallon, vice president of marketing at the Center for Innovative Technology, the state-sponsored business support organization of Virginia. “It brought together founders, investors, economic development leaders and other stakeholders, enabling entrepreneurial magic at the end of a long hiatus led by COVID-19.” Accelerate 2022 was designed to fuel innovation-driven business growth by showcasing the best and brightest tech start-ups to potential investors to drive their development within the Washington, DC metropolitan area, shining a spotlight on the region for innovation and investment potential. In addition to Mason, sponsors included Arlington Economic Development, Belcan, Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, Gryphon Technologies, and Pangiam. Accelerate 2023 scheduled for November 2-3, 2023.

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