 On
Friday, winners of the Michigan Collegiate Innovation Prize were awarded more than $100,000 at Stamps Auditorium on the University of Michigan's North Campus in Ann Arbor. In addition to monetary compensation,
participants also received intense startup training based on the National Science
Foundation’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program. This is the first time the
I-Corps curriculum was available to undergraduates.
Winning overall in the contest as well as the health category, was team GENOMENON. Team members Mark Kiel, a pathology resident in the U-M Medical School, and pathology professors Megan Lim and Kojo Elenitoba-Johnson received $40,000 in total. Team GENOMENON received support from U-M's Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization for Life Sciences Program (MTRAC) program.
 “GENOMENON software essentially democratizes genome sequencing interpretation,” Kiel said.
Other prizes included:
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The Michigan Energy Institute prize awarded to Michigan State University team Black Pine
- The Web/IT prize awarded to Wayne State University team DragAroundMe
- The Best Product was awarded to University of Michigan team Berry Logistics
- The MASCO undergraduate prize was awarded to Grand Valley State University team Fluition
The Michigan Collegiate Innovation Prize strives to boost the Michigan economy and train the next generation of high-tech entrepreneurs, as a statewide contest. Aimed to arm university students with the resources and skills to launch successful startups in the state, talent stays in Michigan.
 By training future entrepreneurs from across the state, organizers say the program could help keep talent in Michigan. Teams reached out to more than 1,000 potential customers for market research, networking and establishing roots surrounding their communities.
More than 81 teams applied from more than 16 colleges and universities across the state. Judges interviewed teams and selected participants based on their technology, how they differentiate their venture in the marketplace, team experience and commitment.
Of 23 other notable teams selected, some included:
- Safe Sense: A head-impact sensor to help detect concussions in football players is the goal of this student team from Western Michigan University. They’re developing printed sensors that could be stuck to both rigid and flexible surfaces.
- Carbon Cash: This app to help students reduce their carbon footprint is being developed by Michigan State University students. It allows users to monitor a building's electricity use, learn ways to minimize usage, and compete with peers to be the most energy efficient. Saving carbon dioxide also earns them discounts, gift cards, and merchandise from retailers through an environmental rewards platform.
- Savant: Hidden in patients’ DNA are data that could help make cancer treatment more effective, and a team from the University of Michigan is working to reveal it. Savant has created a way to mine individual patients’ genetic information for clues about which treatments would be most effective.
- iSuture: This surgical simulator from the University of Michigan would train surgeons in the best ways to stitch after abdominal surgeries.
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