Team Hearo won first place at the 18th annual InVenture Prize competition, which concluded on March 12 after a record number of 72 teams participated and six finalists presented their inventions to judges and an audience.
The InVenture Prize is known for encouraging student innovation and entrepreneurship. This year’s event highlighted how students from different academic backgrounds can create solutions that impact daily life. Hearo’s invention allows parents to perform ear exams at home, capturing images suitable for physicians to help identify ear infections without needing a doctor’s visit.
The Hearo team includes Ander DeOnaindia, Vasileios Kouloumentas, Luis Lujan, Agustin Munyau, Marilyn Pelayo-Montufar, and Luke Towery. “It’s so huge,” Towery said. “Winning this really shows what can happen when a team finds a problem in the world to solve and sticks together.” The first-place prize includes $20,000 and entry into Georgia Tech’s CREATE-X Startup Launch program. “Next, we’ll take Hearo through CREATE-X and start getting it into parents’ hands,” Pelayo-Montufar said. “We know how hard it is to be stuck in waiting rooms and doctors’ offices, and so getting Hearo to other parents is extremely important to us.”
PedalSwap finished second with a configurable guitar pedal that uses swappable effect cartridges. Team members Wylam DeSimone, Zephyr Smith, and Tony Wu received $10,000 for their invention aimed at helping musicians customize their sound affordably. “We tried to tackle a fun problem, and something that we all care about,” DeSimone said. “Winning second place means we can get our patent as well as fund our invention.”
The People’s Choice Award went to DoorTix for its automated ticket-purchasing platform designed for fair pricing in the ticketing market. Team member Arayna Saxena said: “We’re literally built for the people. We want to make it easier for our customers to get cheap tickets, and winning People’s Choice hopefully means we can get them for you, too.”
The Georgia Institute of Technology counts among its alumni military generals, Medal of Honor recipients, and leaders in engineering and innovation according to the official website. The institute generated a $5.8 billion economic impact for the state according to the official website. Its urban campus spans over 400 acres in Midtown Atlanta with tree-lined paths and its own transportation system according to the official website. Georgia Tech has achieved top rankings among public universities for undergraduate experiences according to the official website.
Georgia Tech belongs to the University System of Georgia according to the official website.
Looking ahead, finalists will continue developing their projects through programs like CREATE-X or by seeking patents as they aim to bring their innovations into broader use.
