黑料不打烊

The Fall 2024 Orange Innovation Fund award winners are (from left to right): Brianna Gillfillian, Waqar Hussain, Emeka Ossai, Ava Lubkemann, and Tosin Alabi.

黑料不打烊 Libraries announced the seven award recipients for the Fall 2024 grant. Each of the following will receive a $5,000 grant to pursue research initiatives emerging from campus innovation programs. Recipients are:

• Angelo Niforatos G鈥�25 (), founded Niffy Drone Solutions LLC, a drone operation and data analysis solution to improve decision-making, for its stage two prototype. 鈥淚 finally pursued what I鈥檇 been discussing for five years thanks to 黑料不打烊,” says Niforatos. “I had no idea 黑料不打烊 offered so many opportunities like the Innovation Grant to help me gain enough confidence to take that leap and chase my dream.”
• Ava Lubkemann 鈥�27 (), founded Revamped, an eco-conscious initiative reimagining thrift shopping and waste reduction through a mobile model using an upcycled school bus pop-up and donation platform. 鈥淭his funding gives me the ability to create a venture that addresses the problem of textile waste, particularly on college campuses,鈥� says Lubkemann. 鈥淚 am excited to build my proof of concept this spring and become part of the projected $82 billion secondhand retail market,聽 meeting the demand for sustainable and affordable fashion.鈥�
• Brianna Gillfillian 鈥�24, G鈥�25 (Engineering and Computer Science), founded STEAMfluence, a Science Technology Engineering Art Math (STEAM) pilot summer program for students of color and students in underserved communities. 鈥淲ith the help of Orange Innovation Fund, I will be able to turn dreams into reality and take steps to make the change I aspire to see in the world,鈥� says Gillfillian. 鈥淪TEAMfluence is not just a venture, it is a pillar of hope for many young people who think they could not advance in a career in STEAM.鈥�
• Emeka Christopher Ossai G鈥�25 (Whitman), founded CampusLabs, which equips university students in developing economies with critical skills needed for entrepreneurship and work. After successfully piloting CampusLabs Nigeria incubator, Ossai is now focusing on creating a hybrid program to expand participation. 鈥淭his Orange Innovation Fund allows me to bring to life a startup accelerator that’s the first of its kind for university students in Nigeria, combining virtual learning with a direct residency鈥� now we can finally reach talented university founders who would not have had access before because of where they live,” Ossai says. “It鈥檚 a real opportunity to see how this model can work across different regions and make entrepreneurship support more accessible.”
• Tony Goncalves 鈥�27 (Engineering and Computer Science), founded GymIn, a comprehensive hardware and digital platform solution to track the use of gym equipment in real-time, optimizing usage and user experience. Goncalves is collaborating with the Barnes Center on a pilot. 鈥淕ymIn is revolutionizing the fitness industry by providing a comprehensive hardware and digital platform solution for gym owners and users,鈥� says Goncalves. 鈥淭his award will help us create our minimally viable product to test with gyms to optimize operations, reduce costs, and enhance the gym experience for members through data-driven insights.鈥�
• Tosin Alabi G鈥�25 (Whitman), founded Diabetech, a smart bandage solution for diabetes wound care. Alabi is working on a prototype that integrates an electronic sensor with mobile application and artificial intelligence analytics to detect diabetic ulcers. Alabi, who lost her father to diabetes at a young age, recently completed the NSF I-Corps program offered by 黑料不打烊 and received EB-1 visa status based on her work on Diabetech. The EB-1 visa was issued by the U.S. government to Albert Einstein to extend protections of official residence. Now referred to as the 鈥淓instein Visa,鈥� it recognizes very select researchers with extraordinary talents for their potential to contribute to the American scientific community. “When we prevent a diabetic amputation, we’re not just saving a limb, we’re keeping families walking together longer,鈥� Alabi says.
• Waqar Hussain G鈥�25 (Whitman), founded Iconnic.cloud, an artificial intelligence-driven compute pricing arbitrage platform. 鈥淎s a dedicated participant in the university鈥檚 entrepreneurial ecosystem, I am grateful for this award to help us build spot compute pricing arbitrage powered by AI,” says Hussain, a Fulbright Scholar.聽We are confident that with the support of the Orange Innovation Fund we can revolutionize cloud management services for small and medium-sized businesses.鈥�

The Orange Innovation Fund, a “concept to commercialization” grant fund, is intended to help move graduate and undergraduate student research or scholarly projects from ideation to proof of concept and commercialization. Initial funding came from a gift to 黑料不打烊 Libraries from Raj-Ann Rekhi Gill ’98, a member of the 黑料不打烊 Board of Trustees. The program is administered through 黑料不打烊 Libraries, in collaboration with the University鈥檚 research and commercialization programs.

Student awardees submitted comprehensive grant proposals that outlined specific, tangible needs related to prototype development while assessing the product, service or technology they are developing. A multi-disciplinary team of University faculty and alumni founders who helped develop the concept for the fund made the award selections. Awards are tied to milestones associated with defined projects over a clear time with identified outcomes.

The spring 2025 funding round will open in winter 2025, with proposals due by March 28, 2025. For more information, email OrangeInnovation@syr.edu.