Highlights From Innovation Week 2019
Over the last 10 days, BU Terriers have pitched, cooked, performed, tested, toured, networked, danced, and collaborated! Thank you for celebrating Innovation Week at BU with us at over 46 events across the entire University. Check out a few of the highlights from an incredible week at BU.
The New Venture Competition came to a close on Friday as the 12 finalists made their last closed pitch to judges. Congratulations to the two grand prize teams that each took home $18,000–Pangissimo (Tech Track), a team of BU engineers that have created modular surround-sound speakers, and Bruzd Foods (Social Impact Track), co-founded by Saloni Shah (CAS’19), offers imperfect produce subscription boxes.
The Global Impact Challenge: Health & Human Rights Hackathon ended with four finalist teams pitching their solutions for some of the world’s biggest challenges and social issues. With just two weeks to finesse their idea and pitch, Every Hand Is A Hero won the grand prize–the remaining spot in the BU Summer Accelerator including a $10,000 stipend. The team’s mission is to develop and launch a media campaign that directs sex trafficking victims and bystanders to resources and encourages more reporting.
On Wednesday, April 24, Jordan Gutt and Sydney Gullet led Scaling Up: BU Women in Entrepreneurship (below), featuring COM seniors Fiona Whittington, founder of TechTogether, and Emma Johnson, founder of EmJohn Jewelry.
During the IMPACT Arts and Film Festival on Thursday, April 25, students showcased their own photography including underwater shots of coral and ocean life to microscopic cells to a hospital music program in Vietnam. Six students also submitted 90-second films about a person, place, thing, or idea that creates impact. One of the films included original music and lyrics, another about BU’s Relay for Life team, and the film voted “most inspirational” was about a program to help students socialize while studying to deter the popular feeling that they must sacrifice one for the other.
BU’s Gastronomy and Nutrition programs teamed up to host Draw Your Food: An Interdisciplinary Workshop (below), hosted at the BUild Lab. Students with varying drawing skills spent 90 minutes sketching, drawing, and painting ingredients while discussing their personal perceptions of different foods and recipes.
On Friday afternoon, BU’s Culinary Director Christopher Bee led a live cooking demo using imperfect produce. While whipping up fresh gazpacho, Chef Bee shared easy tips for reducing food waste while cooking.
During BU Innovators Night, Questrom senior Shena Lohardjo (below) was awarded Student Innovator of the Year for her incredible work to help launch and oversee the Innovation Pathway program. BU overseer and alumni Cynthia Cohen was presented with the Henry Morgan Award for her ongoing support for innovation and entrepreneurship programs across Boston University. Not only has she provided funding to make the Innovation Pathway program possible, but she dedicates countless hours to mentor BU student and alumni venture teams.
