Announcing Velocity Pitch Competition Semi-Finalists
Twenty-four student teams from all University of Waterloo faculties advance to the Velocity Pitch Competition semi-finals
A record number of student teams put their hats in the ring in hopes of winning their share of $20,000 at the Velocity Pitch Competition fall 2023 term.
The semi-finals see the teams take the stage and present their innovative business idea live for a chance to win one of four $5,000 grants. Each semi-finalist team representative will have three minutes to pitch and captivate a panel of expert judges, convincing them of the potential and viability of their business idea.
The below 24 teams will pitch over two nights November 15 and November 16 at QNC0101.
Meet the teams
Pitching Wednesday November 15
ace it is an app that helps educators in k12 create gamified content in 30s or less. Submitted by Pashan Sidhwa, undergraduate in Faculty of Engineering, and Jai Mansukhani.
Birbl is a secure way for enterprises and governments to host and connect to AI models on-premises or on cloud, allowing organizations to use AI without compromising company data. Submitted by Azim Hamza, Om Gandhi.
A rapid web-based flood mapping solution. Submitted by Robert Chlumsky, PhD candidate in Faculty of Engineering, and Bryan Tolson and James Craig, professors in Faculty of Engineering.
A myoelectric prosthetic hand that enables users to train customizable hand gestures directly from their phone, providing more functionality and a greater sense of connection with their prosthesis. Submitted by Wallace Lee, Holden Ford and Aaron Jumarang, undergraduate students in Faculty of Engineering.
A platform that connects food processors to small farmers and provides analytics for sustainable farming operations and traceability for the supply chain in Africa. Submitted by Kwaku Owusu Twum, PhD candidate in Faculty of Environment, and Daniel Buston Yankey.
OneBuy is a group purchasing platform designed for SMBs, integrating advanced procure-to-pay features. Our platform simplifies business purchases, drastically reducing procurement costs. Submitted by Yahya Rao, undergraduate student in Faculty of Arts, and Suyash Unnithan, undergraduate in Faculty of Engineering.
An autonomous unmanned surface rescue vehicle to aid a drowning victim in water and provide ergonomic floatation before bodily harm occurs while waiting for a rescue team. Submitted by Gordon Fountain, Shahed Saleh, Maximo van der Raadt, John-Paolo Casasanta, Megan Gooch, undergraduate students in Faculty of Engineering.
Plantal Support offers innovative solutions to provide optimal plant care with minimal effort from plant parents. Submitted by Doris Wenbo Yi, undergraduate student in Faculty of Math.
A novel compliant support mechanism design for spinal implants to provide more natural motion and reduce adverse events. Submitted by Jonah Leinwand, undergraduate students in Faculty of Engineering, and engineering professor Stewart McLachlin.
A mobile platform that automatically transcribes patient interviews and generates standardized documentation, which is then integrated with the patient’s data in EMRs. Submitted by Brian Li, Charmaine Lam, undergraduate students in Faculty of Engineering, Derek Kwok, Faculty of Engineering alumni, and Yoobin Lee and Mado Ghazal.
Reccs bridges the gap between dance and mental well-being, offering personalized dance coaching to boost self-confidence and promote positive mental health through engaging step-by-step dance instructions and feedback for beginner dancers. Submitted by Matthew Lam, undergraduate in Faculty of Math, Eric Kim Faculty of Math alumni, and Lagan Bansal, undergraduate student in Faculty of Engineering.
Increasing the safety and efficiency of helicopter rescue operations by designing a mechatronics system to stop the uncontrolled spinning of helicopter hoisted payloads. Submitted by Jia Sheng (Jerry) Lu, Samuel Roberge-Arnott, Cooper Cole, and Phillip Shahviri, undergraduate students in Faculty of Engineering.
Simplifies student moving needs by picking up their belongings, storing them on a per-item basis, and delivering them back after co-op periods and summer terms. Submitted by Santiago Bohorquez Alvarez, undergraduate student in Faculty of Arts, and Felipe Bohorquez Alvarez.
Pitching Thursday November 16
Software product which automatically submits the required tax forms for contract construction companies, having been tested and accepted by the CRA. Submitted by Justin Du, undergraduate student in Faculty of Engineering.
Organizing and formalizing recreation and street cricket with the goal of reducing the barriers to entry & participation to the sport (cricket). Submitted by Wahaab Ali, undergraduate student in Faculty of Health.
Building a modular platform to allow teams to easily manage networking and IT, dynamically implementing network policies over any network infrastructure, owned by anyone, in any location. Submitted by Alexander Stratmoen, undergraduate student in Faculty of Engineering, Luca Bastone-Mohabir, undergraduate student in Faculty of Math.
An empowering web-based game that provides teens with informative and engaging content on the menstrual cycle, making learning both fun and captivating. Submitted by Vedanshee Patel and Janvi Ganatra, undergraduate students in Faculty of Engineer, Mia Isakovic and Katrina Wohlgemut, undergraduate student in Faculty of Math.
Design Copilot is a generative AI-based assistant for manufacturing design optimization, like what GitHub co-pilot is for coding—use Design CoPilot to evolve designs based your performance metrics. Submitted by Tharindu Abesin Kodippili, and Erfan Azqadan, PhD candidates in Faculty of Engineering.
Technology that will revolutionize ECG capture in wearable devices by enabling hands-free, continuous signal monitoring that can be integrated into existing form-factors. Submitted by Waterloo alumni Salam Gabran, Faculty of Engineering PhD, and Ashirbad Pradhan, PhD candidate in Faculty of Engineering.
PatientCompanion is a software application that improves communication between patients and nurses, allowing patients to specify their requests and nurses to prioritize alerts based on priority and departmental preferences. Submitted by Christy Lee, an undergraduate student in Faculty of Engineering.
Project PeeZe strives to develop a pregnancy test for ovarian cancer, using urine to monitor cancer-related markers in real time and effortlessly share results with both patients and doctors. Submitted by Mansi Katarey, undergraduate student in Faculty of Engineering, and Ciara Sejour.
Proteeny aims to produce cheap, high quality, sustainable protein from microorganisms and food waste. Submitted by Tori Popowich and Adam Lopes, undergraduate students in Faculty of Science.
QuantOS helps investors make sense of the financial markets through AI assisted research and visualization. Submitted by Ibraheem Azhar, undergraduate student in Faculty of Science and Hashim Ahmed.
A smart vent that eliminates hot and cold spots in houses effortlessly. Submitted by Aidan Bowers, Aaron Dyck, Jayden Hsiao, Abby Chan, undergraduate students in Faculty of Engineering.