Kentucky Commercialization Ventures is pleased to announce the 2024 winners of the IMPACT Competition.
The goal of the competition is to encourage ideation relevant to the improvement of the social, health, or economic conditions and highlight the value of innovators from across the state of Kentucky. Winners receive up to $25,000 for their institution to bring their innovations to life.
Learn more about the winners and their innovative projects below
Meet the 2024 IMPACT Award Winners
First Place Winners - $25,000 Each
Dr. Nicholas Caporusso
Institution: Northern Kentucky University Collaborators: Rita Ghimire, Olivia Kennedy, Oshan Maharjan, Will Pond, Logan Hart, Leo Foy, My Doan, Bhuwhan Bhandari, Rajani Khatri
A conversational agent for providing mental health therapy to underserved populations
Read more about the winning innovation.
Eric Wooldridge, PE, RA, MsEng
Institution: Somerset Community College (KCTCS)
Development of an Integrated Anchoring System in 3D Printed Concrete Walls for Traditional Roofing and Foundation Connections
Read more about the winning innovation.
Runner-Up - $15,000
Dr. Anindita Paul
Institution: Morehead State University
Energy Harvester to charge a power bank for energizing Biomedical Electronic Appliances from human physical activities
Read more about the winning innovation.
Runners-Up - $10,000 Each
Dr. Sungjin Im
Institution: Western Kentucky University
Collaborators: Dr. Sally Kuhlenschmidt, Dr. Sean Joo
Automatic symptom checker of mental disorders
Read more about the winning innovation.
Boaz Burnett
Institution: Murray State University (student)
CineSolo
Read more about the winning innovation.
Runners-Up - $5,000 Each
Dr. Heba Elgazzar
Institution: Morehead State University
Collaborators: Yori Patrick
SmartVisualAssist: An Innovative Emotion Detection System for Visually Impaired People using Deep Neural Networks
Read more about the winning innovation.
Dr. Kouroush Jenab
Institution: Morehead State University
Individualized Mixed Reality Environments to Aid Autistic Child Development
Read more about the winning innovation.
Dr. Shahid Noor
Institution: Northern Kentucky University
Blockchain-Enabled Economic and Health Monitoring System: A Grant Proposal for Innovative Tracking Solutions
Read more about the winning innovation.
If you'd like to learn more about these innovators or their technologies, please reach out to KCV@kstc.com.