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USC Student Innovator Showcase
and Competition

Student innovators at USC come from all disciplines -- from cinematic arts, music and social sciences; to information technology, engineering and life sciences.

Presented by the USC Stevens Institute for Innovation, the university-wide USC Student Innovator Showcase gives parents and students a highly interactive glimpse into the imaginations of USC student innovators, and a sneak peak at tomorrow's world. The showcase is hosted each year during the opening day of Trojan Parent's weekend and is followed by an awards reception in Hahn Plaza at Tommy Trojan.

During the showcase the innovators are judged on criteria such as potential for societal impact, novelty, understanding of market and more. Judges select ten finalists to give a two-minute “fast pitch” presentation about their ideas. Under Tommy Trojan in Hahn Plaza, the finalists provide an audience of parents and students an overview of their ideas, discussed potential for societal impact, and shared their progress to date.

Students will be notified the first week of the Fall 2010 semester when the application is open for submissions.

2009 USC STUDENT INNOVATOR SHOWCASE

On October 23, 2009 the USC Stevens Institute for Innovation hosted the 2009 USC Student Innovator Showcase in the VonKleinsmid Courtyard in conjunction with Trojan Parent's Weekend.

Preparing with the theme, “The Creative Campus,” the 2009 USC Student Innovator Showcase displayed 44 innovation from 13 schools across the USC campus.

 

At it's heart, the goal of the USC Student Innovator Showcase is to demonstrate the creative thinking and pragmatic solutions to everyday issues that students are creating right here at USC. 

Highlights from this year's showcase include:

  • Airbooster: a low-cost, reusable rocket delivery system;
  • Cardborigami: an origami-based portable emergency housing shelter;
  • FUNDaFIELD: a non-profit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of less fortunate youth in Africa through sports;
  • Half-Cycle: a low-cost, low-environmental-impact system for building bicycles;
  • Intelligent Table Tennis Robot with Machine Vision: and intelligent robot for the sporting of table tennis players;
  • PeerDeal.com: an online marketplace for user generated content producers and media buyers to easily trade and track commercial licenses easily, efficiently and legally;
  • Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Democracy: an iPhone application for civic engagement;
  • The Singularity: an independent game label that houses and nurtures young developers while giving them the time, tools, and exposure to build their early projects and brand;
  • Z Board (SMRTBoard): a hands-free electric skateboard;
  • Stroome.com: the world's most collaborative online video editing site, reinventing the way communities visualize, experience and interact.

More information about these innovations and the additional 31 presented at the 2009 event can be found in the event program.

2009 USC STUDENT INNOVATOR SHOWCASE WINNER

Winners from the 2009 USC Student Innovator Showcase split $1500 in cash prizes and each team recieves a custom, limited-edition, USC Stevens Institute "INNOVATION" skateboard.

1st Place Runner-up Runner-up
The Singularity Do-It-Yourself Democracy Half-CycleTM
     
  • Jesse Vigil:
    Interactive Media, USC Alum
  • Sam Roberts:
    Interactive Media
  • Matt Harrison:
    USC Gould School
    of Law, JD/M.P.P
  • Christopher Mora:
    USCMarshall School of Business
  • Steven Kent:
    USC College, Economics

 

2009 PROGRAM 2009 PHOTO ALBUM 2009 STORY

click on the thumbnail to
view the 2009 presentations.


click on the thumbnail
for picturesof the showcase.


In the not-so-distant future, we may have a new model for carbon offsetting, inexpensive emergency shelters based on the principles of origami, and robotic assistants for people with disabilities. All this possible because of the creativity and pragmatism of USC students at the 2009 USC Student Innovator Showcase.

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PAST SHOWCASES
2008 USC Student Innovator Showcase: Go Global!
1st Place Runner-up Runner-up
Project:Possibility
www.projectpossibility.org
Orgoo.com Dessicated Tissue
Storage Unit
 
 
 
  • Stanley Lam:
    USC Marshall School of Business
  • Prateek Tandon:
    USC Viterbi School of Engineering
  • Sean Rad:
    USC Marshall School
    of Business
  • Shahzad Tiwana:
    PhD candidate, USC Viterbi
    School of Engineering
  • Theodore Sadler:
    PhD candidate, USC Keck
    School of Medicine
Media and Coverage
EVENT PROGRAM PHOTO ALBUM

click the thumbnail to view
the 2008 exhibits


click the thumbnail to veiw
the 2008 photos

VIDEO USC CHRONICLE STORY

click the thumbnail to
watch the 2008 video

click the thumbnail to read
the 2008 USC Chronical story
2007 USC Student Innovator Showcase: Innovation and Imagination
1st Place Runner-up Runner-up
thatgamecompany
www.thatgamecompany.com
 
Windfall Fund
http://www.windfallfund.org
Oxygen Sensors with
Solid-State Reference
for Automobiles



  • Kellee Santiago and
    Jenova Chen

    USC School for Cinematic Arts
    Interactive Media Division
  • Jeffery Askbrook:
    USC Viterbi School of Engineering
  • Kathleen Meek:
    USC Roski School of Fine Arts
  • Steven Avery:
    USC Marshall School of Business
  • Bahman Elyassi and Nasifeh Rajabbeigi
    USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Media and Coverage
EVENT PROGRAM PHOTO ALBUM

click the thumbnail to view the 
2007 showcase submisions

 
click the thumbnail to view
picture of the 2007 showcase

VIDEO LA TIMES STORY

click on the thumbnail to watch
the 2007 showcase video
 
click the tumbnail to read
the LA Time article about the
2007 showcase

 

2009 By The Numbers

More than 200 USC students applied to the 2009 USC Student Innovator Showcase

100+ students participated in the program

44 student innovations were displayed at the event

13 schools from across the USC campus are represented

10 student finalists were selected to give two-minute 'pitches' about their projects

3 winners named at the end of the day


“USC, with its depth and breadth of academic programs, its talented community, and special events like this, is creating a whole new generation of innovator.”

- Krisztina “Z” Holly, Vice Provost for Innovation and the Executive Director of the USC Stevens Institute

 

"This was a really fun day and I enjoyed seeing all the other projects. We received tons of great feedback from the judges and event attendees. It was really nice to hear positive thoughts about my project."

- Andrew Lee, 2009 USC Student Innovator Showcase participant Cubicl.com, Freshman, USC Marshall School of Business

Your Public Presentation

The showcase is a public forum, therefore, any discussion you have or any information you display will be considered a public disclosure. This means, you should consider pulling all confidential information out of the presentation if you are interested in patent protection and have not yet filed a patent application.

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Contact

Interested in learning more about the USC Student Innovator Showcase?

Contact:
Dana M. Rygwelski,
Senior Marketing Coordinator,
USC Stevens Institute

Email: rygwelsk@usc.edu
Phone: 213.740.5864