Seven innovative projects receive funding through the KCV IMPACT Competition.
Kentucky Commercialization Ventures is pleased to announce the 2023 winners of the KCV IMPACT (Innovative Mobile, Public Health, And Community-Oriented Technologies) 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.
This year, entries were received from all KCV partner institutions: Eastern Kentucky University, KCTCS, Kentucky State University, Morehead University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University and Western Kentucky University. Winners will receive up to $25,000 for their institution to bring their innovations to life.
Learn more about the winners and their innovative projects below or during the KCV IMPACT Competition Virtual Demo Day on May 19, 12 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. CT. Learn more and register for the Demo Day.
Meet the 2023 KCV IMPACT Award Winners
First Place Winners - $25,000 Each
Gill Finley
Co-Inventors / Collaborators: Dr. Theoneste Nzaramyimana
Institution: Kentucky State University
Increasing Access of Fresh Produce in West Louisville Food Desert Areas Through Sustainable Production
Read more about the winning innovation.
This is a project Led by Kentucky State University (KYSU) with the intention to work with a local lettuce producer Kentucky Greens Company to assist with local food distribution into corner stores commonly known as primary food sources in the West Louisville Community. The partners of this project consist of additional local growers and corner store owners as well an agritech company, first supplying locally produced vegetables and value-added goods. The second goal is to create a digital platform that engages with shoppers to increase nutritional knowledge. This will assist with expanding healthy food retail access, in-store marketing for decision-making, pricing incentives, food education and dietary counseling.
Dr. Chris Lennon
Institution: Murray State University
Chromatography-free Thermostable Protein Purification
Read more about the winning innovation.
I propose a general platform for thermostable protein purification that does not require chromatography or expensive reagents. Compared to currently available purification platforms, this system will substantially cut the cost of protein purification by both reducing the time and materials required. Our design takes advantage of a novel system developed recently in the Lennon laboratory, as a new means to purify thermostable enzymes. These proteins are widely used in the biomedical sciences and several theremostable enzymes are no longer under patent protection. This invention has both academic and industrial applications, with the potential to produce valuable products at a fraction of the cost of current purification strategies.
Runner-Up - $15,000
Dr. Zeel Maheshwari
Co-Inventors / Collaborators: Andrea Cardenas Echavarria
Institution: Northern Kentucky University
Development of Cost Optimization tool for Smart Integrated Renewable Energy System (SIRES)
Read more about the winning innovation.
Availability of energy is a major issue in many communities, particularly in rural areas, and it is expected that around 660 million people may not have access to electricity by 2030 due to population growth and economic challenges resulting from COVID-19. Additionally, over 2.6 billion people lack access to clean cooking facilities, and 785 million people lack access to basic drinking water. It is important to meet these basic needs in a sustainable manner to support the development and growth of rural areas. Previous attempts to address these issues have focused primarily on providing electricity through various methods, such as grid extension and microgrids. However, it is essential to find ways to meet the growing demand for reliable energy that do not harm the environment or people.
Smart Integrated Renewable Energy System (SIRES) is a proposed solution to meet basic needs in rural areas by utilizing local renewable energy resources, such as biogas, hydro, solar, and wind. These resources are often available in rural areas and can be harnessed efficiently to provide necessities such as cooking fuel, water for domestic and irrigation purposes, and electrical energy for lighting, communication, cold storage, education, and small-scale industries.
This project aims to develop an energy optimization tool with an easy-to-use external interface for partners and communities to better account for energy needs, such as biogas for cooking and domestic and irrigation water. Our system can be used to find the best combination of energy generation, such as solar panels, wind turbines, and geothermal heat pumps, thereby providing an estimated cost for a plan to use in installing SIRES for a particular rural area's energy needs..
Runners-Up - $10,000 Each
Dr. Kevin Miller
Co-Inventors / Collaborators: Dr. David Salas-de la Cruz, Rutgers University-Camden
Institution: Murray State University
Flexible Electronics and Sensors from Ion-containing Polysaccharides
Read more about the winning innovation.
This project will build on recently discovered work in which novel, flexible electroactive materials, using cellulose as a building block, can be manufactured through the electrospinning of fibrous mats (ion containing fibers, textiles) or in the formation of thin films (sensors, membranes). Cellulose is functionalized with an ionic group, which could constitute an ionic liquid group (single or multiple) or a polymer composed of an ionic liquid group(s) in the repeating unit of the polymer. Very recently, films formed from these cellulose-based materials have exhibited shape-memory behavior, which could be applied in reusable sensors and flexible batteries. Synthesis of the ion-containing cellulosic materials is being conducted at Murray State along with initial proof-of-concept experiments and conductivity. Rutgers-Camden will evaluate fibrous mats and films for their morphology, sensory, and gas separation capabilities. While our experienced team has the capabilities to synthesize, analyze, and test these
materials, assistance is needed in directing the commercial impact of the proposed applications, namely flexible electronic sensors, batteries, gas separation membranes, and/or fibrous mats/masks.
Dr. Mahdi Yazdanpour
Institution: Northern Kentucky University
Development of a Gesture-based American Sign Language (ASL) Translation System
Read more about the winning innovation.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 5% of the world's population experiences severe hearing loss. Approximately 9 million people in the U.S. are either functionally deaf or have mild-to-severe hearing loss. We have developed robotic gloves that pair with a gesture-based translational interface to turn American Sign Language (ASL) into text and speech in near real-time. These wearable gloves recognize hand gestures that correspond to letters, numbers, and words in American Sign Language.
We use combination of flex and tactile sensors, and accelerometers to record hand and fingers positions, movements, and orientations. All signals will be captured by a microcontroller, will be sent out to our translation interface, and then will be compared with the patterns available in our dataset. For any matched gesture, the associated letter or number will be shown on an embedded display and the voice will be generated by the text to
speech conversion module.
This project aims to develop an accessible, low cost, and easy to use solution to help individuals who are deaf or have speech impairment problems to communicate directly to non‐signer people who do not know American Sign Language.
Dr. Sherif Rashad
Institution: Morehead State University
An Innovative System for Real-Time Translation of American Sign Language using Machine Learning
Read more about the winning innovation.
Millions of people globally use some form of sign language in their everyday lives. There is a need for a new method of gesture recognition that is as easy to use and ubiquitous as voice recognition is today. The proposed system introduces an innovative method to solve the problem of automatic real-time conversion from American Sign Language (ASL) to English using a motion controller and machine learning algorithms to capture and analyze hand movements in real time, then converting the interpreted signs into spoken word. We seek to build a system that is easy to use, intuitive to understand, adaptable to the individual, and usable in everyday life. This system will be able to work in an adaptive way to learn new signs to expand the dictionary of the system and allow higher accuracy on an individual level. It will have a wide range of applications for healthcare, education, gamification,
communication, and more. The proposed software system will utilize an optical hand tracking piece of hardware, the motion controller, to capture hand movements and information to build supervised machine learning models that can be trained to accurately recognize American Sign Language (ASL) symbols being signed in real time. Experimental results of the initial phase show that the proposed method is promising and provides a high level of accuracy in recognizing ASL gestures. A Recurrent
Neural Network (RNN) algorithm will be used in the next phase of the proposed system to build a deep learning model for translation of complete sentences.
Runner-Up - $5,000
Eric Wooldridge
Institution: KCTCS, Somerset Community College
Life-Tags: Embedded Smart Chip Technology in 3D Printed Applications
Read more about the winning innovation.
Somerset Community College (SCC) has merged Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology and 3D printing to create the Life-Tag. Life-Tags are the combination of customizable 3D printed materials with embedded NFC technology and allow for a great range of appearance and data-based customization. Using the device is easy and hassle free, by simply swiping a Life-Tag across one’s smartphone, it can take users to any type of data. Life-Tags can be attached to a keychain or resemble a coin, and customers can put whatever information on them they may desire such as medical information in case of an emergency, a business’s website, a frequently listened to podcast, the options are endless.
Additionally, Life-Tags can be custom produced using additive manufacturing, allowing for a range of materials, textures, and artistic designs to be incorporated for personal use, or represent the novelty of a particular business. Because of the technology and shape, the tags allow for businesses to have a lighthearted method of reminding clients to use or schedule their services. For example, a Life-Tag with
a barber shop's logo embossed on it is attached to one’s keychain. It serves as a visual reminder of the need for a haircut, and in response to that reminder, the user simply swipes the tag across their smartphone to effortlessly schedule an appointment.
If you'd like to learn more about these innovators or their technologies, please reach out to KCV@kstc.com.