Innovation in Action Winners

Congratulations to our 2022 finalists!

VIDEO: To watch all Final Showcase presentations, view the playlist here.


Innovation in Action Winners:

First Place — WILD

WILD (whether in life or death) is an all-in-one destination that offers users a new and better way to plan for funerals. We empower you to take control of your life by thinking about and planning for the inevitable, which reduces time, money, and stress.

Team Members:

Danni Xiao, School of Information
Maura Mclnerney-Rowley, Ross School of Business
Saniya Shahid, College of Engineering
Jiming Song, School of Information

Second Place — Sea-Spider

Our goal is to improve the identification of ghost nets in sensitive coral reefs in order to assist volunteer organizations in their ocean clean ups. We aim to remove harmful fishing nets and conserve the environment.

Team Members:

Adam Zhang, College of LSA
Flora Luo, College of LSA
Joe Huang, College of Engineering
Joseph Vogelpohl, School of Information
Rim Bououdina

Third Place — Grow Together

Our team is committed to alleviating the widening wealth gap by beginning with access to financial education resources in a way that is culturally relevant and easy to understand.

Team Members:

Steph Wong, Ross School of Business
Yasmin Abdulhadi, Ross School of Business

Audience Choice Award — FUSE

The FUSE team is committed to empowering refugees to find their way in the US financial system and take control of their new lives: by allowing users to visualize and manage their financial assistance, find additional sources of income, and take advantage of additional financial orientation — when they need it, wherever they need it, and in any language they speak.

Team Members:

Christian Neubacher, School of Public Policy
Margo Steinhaus, School of Public Policy,
Pisacha Wichianchan, School of Public Policy, School of Information

Poverty Solutions Best Innovation in Economic Mobility — Eatclusive

Eatclusive aims to implement a NASA technology to grow cultural produce that is inexpensive, portable, and low maintenance to food pantries who can provide and communicate with local community members through an app.

Team Members:

Faizan Darsot, College of Engineering
Jihee Yoon, College of Information

IiA Honorable Mention — Girrup & Equityish

Girrup

Our team focuses on addressing the accessibility and sustainability challenges in outdoor recreation by leveraging the power of the shared economy. Through our peer-to-peer platform we connect owners that have underutilized gear to adventure-seekers that otherwise might miss out.

Team Members:

Jake Calzavara , Ross School of Business
Vaibhav Mummalaneni, Ross School of Business
Manvendra Singh, Ross School of Business

Equityish

Equityish calculates a candidate’s salary wage through transparent personalized data to maximize pay equity in an organization.

Team Members:

Catherine Lumanauw, School of Information
Chris Jubinsky, School of Information
Leen Habbal, School of Information
Pawanrat Pasawongse, Ross School of Business

To read about all the teams that competed this year, visit our Teams page.