2018 Cycle II Energy
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Santanu Bag
Founder and CEO
AsterTech LLC
Dayton, OH...AsterTech LLC proposes a highly-efficient, low-cost, and light-weight photovoltaic (PV) technology that is based on the 3D additive manufacturing of hybrid perovskite materials.Finalist
Carlos Munoz
Chief Operating Officer
Ateios Inc.
La Jolla, CA
...
Ateios Inc., has developed a platform technology based on a nano-composite ink to develop the first printable, stretchable battery that can be printed at a low cost enabling ubiquitous and conformal electronics.
Finalist
Vanessa Clark
Co-Founder and CEO
Atomos Nuclear and Space
Denver, CO
...
Atomos Nuclear and Space is developing a fission power system for high-power space applications, pioneering the commercialization of nuclear technologies for space exploration and development through a robust business model.
Finalist
James Smoot
Founder
Environment and Energy Benefit Co.
West Sacramento, CA
...
Environment and Energy Benefit Co., is a developing a novel class of fuels generally described as alkyl alkoxyalkanoates.
Finalist
Ivan Smalyukh
Professor of Physics at University of Colorado BoulderiFeather
Boulder, CO
...
iFeather invented a transparent insulating film to significantly improve energy efficiency. The film can be manufactured in-situ, allowing NASA or others to bring a miniature "factory" aboard a space flight and make as much area of the aerogel as needed.
Winner
Christian Ruud
Graduate Research Assistant
Pennsylvania State University
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
State College, PA...
The Pennsylvania State University is focusing on lightweight monolithic microcell concentrating photovoltaics (CPV) that can increase efficiency and reduce the cost of solar power systems in space.
Finalist
Grayson Zulauf
President and CEO
Stanford University
Department of Electrical Engineering
Stanford, CA...This Stanford University team is developing technology for wireless charging of electric vehicles on Earth, and eventually, Mars.Winner
Al-Thaddeus Avestruz
Assistant Professor of
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
University of Michigan / Unified Solar Corporation
Ann Arbor, MI
...
The University of Michigan Unified Solar Corporation Collaboration is developing photovoltaic cell-level power balancing using intrinsic energy storage for high-efficiency, high-reliability solar power.
Finalist
Peter Petit
Founder
V-Glass
Milwaukee, WI
...
V-Glass is developing affordable vacuum insulating glass, a flat and transparent thermos bottle for windows. It uses a flexible aluminum seal cold-welded directly to glass for an elegant, minimalist design, just ¼ inch thick.
Finalist
Bo Varga
CEO and
Vice President of Marketing
WBGlobalSemi Inc.
Silicon Valley, CA
...
WBGlobalSemi Inc., is developing a new class of high power, wide band gap silicon carbide bi‐polar junction transistors (BJTs) and power modules for use in high power industrial applications such as aerospace, main grid, micro-grid, traction and the military.
Winner2018 Cycle I
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Hants Williams
Co-Founder
BioVirtua
San Francisco, CA...BioVirtua sequences human movement, both in-person and remotely, without using wearable sensors in order to unlock quantifiable insights for rehabilitation, human performance and telehealth encounters. Human movement can be non-invasively collected and assessed on earth, or elsewhere.Finalist
Timothy Morrissey
Co-Founder and
Chief Technology Officer
Dimer UVC Innovations
Los Angeles, CA
...
Dimer UVC Innovations has created a germicidal UVC-emitting robot, offering a turnkey solution for infection prevention and emergency preparedness in air travel and for other industries.
Winner
Felipe Gomez del Campo
Founder and CEO
FGC Plasma Solutions
Boston, MA
...
FGC Plasma Solutions is developing a plasma-based control system which enables a clean, compact, low emissions combustor for future jet engines. The technical progress made on this work through a Phase I SBIR contract has led to collaboration with a major engine manufacturer for their Phase II SBIR proposal.
Winner
Sonya Davidson
Founder and CEO
H2 Energy Now
Boalsburg, PA
...
H2 Energy Now is developing technology that utilizes electromagnetism to separate the water molecule into hydrogen and oxygen gas. Hydrogen is a perfect energy storage medium and when recombined in a fuel cell, electricity and water are the outputs. Water is a perfect solution for energy storage in space using solar energy.
Finalist
Dirk Ahlborn
Co-Founder and CEOHyperloop Transportation Technologies
Los Angeles, CA
...
Hyperloop Transportation Technologies has developed an augmented window technology to mimic traditional travel experiences, while mitigating psychological issues that passengers may have with enclosed transportation systems, and layering their visual experience with information and entertainment.
Finalist
Luke Joseph
Founder and CEO
iFirst Medical Technologies
Honolulu, HI...
The iFirst in vitro diagnostics platform helps save lives by pushing critical patient information from the field to the treating facility, reducing treatment times, and facilitating precision medicine
Finalist
Chase Million
Founder and CEO
Million Concepts
Lemont, PA...Million Concepts is continuing development of the Arisian Lens, a hardware technology that can quickly turn many existing digital cameras into very high magnification microscopes with significantly less bulk, complexity, and expense than existing compound microscope solutions.Finalist
Bill Bruner
CEO
New Frontier Aerospace
Livermore, CA
...
New Frontier Space is developing affordable, powered recovery for small launch vehicles, and more speed for drone customers. By enabling rockets to land like drones, they can reduce launch costs.
Finalist
David Rice
President
Rice Technology LLC
Milwaukee, WI
...
Rice Technology LLC is creating a smart, real-time, multipurpose sensor with the capability to detect phosphorus, bacteria, viruses, and total dissolved and suspended solids in real-time. It can behave as a “canary in the coal mine,” enabling rapid response to process failure in water treatment systems.
Finalist
Shantanu Bala
Co-Founder and CEO
Somatic Labs
Denver, CO
...
Somatic Labs is creating tactile interfaces for augmented reality to enhance communication — a haptic platform that delivers information to you through rich tactile patterns to make information more accessible and intuitive.
Winner2017 Cycle I
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Nisha Witt
Co-Founder and CEO
Aesop Technologies
Hampton, VA...Aesop Technologies is creating a compelling and uniquely scalable solar-powered product, reducing not only energy consumption but the need for excessive space per square foot.Finalist
Samuel Avery
Co-Founder
Audacy
Mountain View, CA
...
Audacy is creating a seamless and on-demand satellite communications architecture, dramatically improving satellite communications infrastructure by deploying a highly multi-user commercial space relay network to efficiently allocate spectrum.
Finalist
Herbert Ryan
Co-Founder and CEO
Bitome Inc.
Boston, MA
...
Bitome Inc., makes a non-invasive monitor for body hydration based on clinical MRI, in order to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare expenditures.
Finalist
Jeff Stevens
Co-Founder
Context AI
Santa Clara, CA
...
Context AI is creating diagnostic digital biomarkers for assisted medical decision making, including a wearable biosensor array that turns the body’s vibrations, sounds and bioelectric impulses into actionable intelligence to identify heart problems at very early stages.
Winner
Giovanni Minelli
Faculty Research AssociateNaval Postgraduate School
Monterey, CA
...
The Naval Postgraduate School is automating and optimizing the mission operations component for small satellite constellations that number in the hundreds or thousands.
Finalist
Peter Kim
Founder
Omniboros
Washington, DC...
Omniboros (now ACTIV Surgical) is creating an advanced platform for surgeon-supervised intelligent autonomous robotic surgery, which reduces human error and eliminates complications during minimally invasive procedures.
Winner
Steven Nelson
Vice President ofBusiness DevelopmentRetiredPacific Scientific Energetic Materials Company
Chandler, AZ...In order to overcome the disadvantages and problems of currently available systems, PacSci EMC is creating a new and novel solid state propulsion and ACS system.Finalist
Frank Byrum
Co-Founder
QuantumStack
Suffolk, VA
...
QuantumStack is building and operating a decentralized global computer exchange on the scale of the Bitcoin network, suitable to provide efficient petaflop or greater resources.
Finalist
Hadi Ghasemi
Assistant Professor of
Mechanical Engineering
University of Houston
Houston, TX
...
The University of Houston is working to build biologically-inspired adaptive anti-icing surfaces. These adaptive surfaces perform normally at ambient temperatures but become an anti-icing surface when exposed to extreme cold.
Winner2016 Cycle I
Cynthia Burzell
Founder and
Chief Scientific Officer
Aequor Inc.
San Diego, CA...Aequor Inc., is leveraging non-toxic molecules added to the water system to prevent and remove existing biofilm that develops on the water filtration system on the International Space Station, reducing contamination in life support systems and improving crew health. NASA scientists at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center have been working with Aequor to test their molecules and the results have been successful.Winner
Hans Zachraum
Senior Project Manager
Airbus DS Space Systems
MAPT Team
Webster, TX
...
Airbus DS Space Systems MAPT Team's new radiation monitoring technology combines the advantages of currently available dosimeter and spectrometer technologies into one compact device.
Finalist
Edwin Kan
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY
...
Cornell University is building a broadband harmonic MIMO radar with opportunistic channel fading, angle-of-arrival (AoA) estimation and naïve beamforming [6, 7] on a free-moving vest to perform RF body imaging with below millimeter and 0.1s resolution.
Finalist
Richard Yen
Founder and CEO
Fiplate Inc.
Las Vegas, NV
...
Fiplate Inc., is developing a technology to drive tissue regeneration after radiological and acute trauma in space, a countermeasure for radiation damage in space.
Finalist
Ronald AngSiy
Co-Founder and Senior AdvisorInnaMed Inc.
Anaheim, CA
...
InnaMed Inc.'s "Sensing Blood" testing device can run a complete blood count, is fully portable and is capable of performing diagnostic functions with six droplets of blood and 93 percent accuracy, transmitting data in approximately five minutes.
Winner
Gregory Keeley
Co-Founder and
Chief Operating Officer
Liberty Biosecurity LLC
Arlington, VA...
Liberty Biosecurity LLC is developing TMSMs — molecules to safely protect against DNA damage caused by ionizing radiation in space.
Winner
Venkat Kamavaram
Senior Materials Engineer
Oceanit Laboratories Inc.
Honolulu, HI...Oceanit Laboratories Inc., is developing a novel Al-Teflon-GAP nanoenergetic propellant chemical propulsion system.Finalist
Jeffrey Watumull
Director of Artificial Intelligence
Oceanit Laboratories Inc.
Honolulu, HI
...
Oceanit Laboratories Inc., is working to construct and codify the Noetic Mathematical Engine (NoME) to function as a virtual medical staff (Autonomous System).
Finalist
Pak Kin Wong
Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Surgery
Pennsylvania State University
SLIPS Lab Team
State College, PA
...
A zero-power, biochemical analysis platform for health monitoring, this Pennsylvania State University project will develop a versatile biochemical analysis platform, SLIPS-LAB, which is reusable, reconfigurable and ultra-sensitive, using zero-power consumption.
Finalist
