2/18/2011
Three finalists for the $30,000 Lemelson MIT-Illinois Student Prize were recently chosen by a distinguished panel of scientists, technologists, engineers, and entrepreneurs from across the campus and the community.
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Three finalists for the $30,000 Lemelson MIT-Illinois Student Prize were recently chosen by a distinguished panel of scientists, technologists, engineers, and entrepreneurs from across the campus and the community.
A winner will be announced and awarded the prize at a ceremony scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on March 9, in the auditorium of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA; 1205 W. Clark, Urbana). The awards ceremony is open to the public, and will be immediately followed by a brief reception for all attendees.
Finalists for the 2011 $30,000 Lemelson MIT-Illinois Student Prize include:
Scott Daigle – Graduate Student – Mechanical Science & Engineering, College of Engineering
Scott Daigle's company, IntelliWheels, Inc., is rapidly developing into a wheelchair innovation house with multiple products. Daigle is currently working on IntelliWheels, a new product that replaces wheelchair wheels and adds automatic gear shifting to reduce the amount of effort required to push the chair. Similar to the way that people ride bicycles, gear shifting can make going up and down hills, over long distances, and over rough terrain more ergonomically efficient. In order to gain this same advantage, IntelliWheels automatically shifts gears by sensing how hard one is pushing, how fast one is going as well as the tilt of the wheelchair. In addition to the IntelliWheels system, Daigle's company is rapidly developing into a wheelchair innovation house with multiple products, including Caster-Skis—small skis that clip onto the casters and allows a wheelchair to roll over pavement and slide over snow—a simple, but incredibly useful product currently in the prototype stage.
Colin Lake – Senior – Industrial Design, College of Fine and Applied Arts
Lake created the Beacon—the first fire safety device for the hearing impaired that falls within an affordable price range. The device plugs directly into a wall outlet and its strobe light is activated by the beeping frequency of a standard smoke detector. The Beacon has a back-up battery that powers three LEDs in the event of a power outage. This portable device can travel with the user throughout their various living situations (dorm, apartment, house), or for overnight stays at a friend's house, hotel, or vacation place.
Zeba Parkar – Graduate Student – Materials Science & Engineering, College of Engineering
As a PhD candidate in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Parkar focuses on the creative applications of materials. This interdisciplinary work has provided a perfect channel to accomplish her scientific goal—to create advanced materials that have a tangible benefit to society. Parkar is working on SilverScreen, a refrigeration-free technology for preserving milk. Scientific research indicates that silver inhibits the activity of a wide variety of microorganisms, including bacteria and viruses. Parkar has re-engineered silver-based water purification materials under the guidance of University of Illinois Professor, James Economy, inventing an activated form of silver supported on an inert substrate.
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Contact: Stephanie Larson, Technology Entrepreneur Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 217/265-5456.
If you have any questions about the College of Engineering, or other story ideas, contact Rick Kubetz, editor, Engineering Communications Office, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 217/244-7716.