CONRAD CHALLENGE INNOVATION SUMMIT

Students from around the world have continued extraordinary collaboration without borders, proving that nothing will slow down this next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs. This year we are excited to return to Space Center Houston for our in-person Summit! All Finalists, Judges, Alumni, and other members of the Conrad Community will come together for a four-day event filled with dynamic workshops, tours, community sessions, speakers, and of course, innovation pitching to a live panel of judges!

Teams are scored and provided on-the-spot feedback from the judging panel, just like on the hit TV show “Shark Tank.” The winning teams receive scholarships, patent assistance and other services to fine-tune their innovations to create companies or license their IP to top-tier corporations. Through these unique events, you will gain direct exposure to industry experts, corporations, investors, and universities, and like-minded students from around the world!

WHO:

All invited Finalists, judges, alumni and other members of the Conrad Community. Keep an eye on your email for more information.

WHEN: WEDNESDAY - SATURDAY, APRIL 12-15, 2023

Finalists are required to attend all scheduled programing of the Innovation Summit. Our team is working diligently to finalize details for your memorable four-day experience and will release the detailed event schedule in the coming weeks. Below is an overview of your trip:

April 12 | Travel Day, Opening Dinner Ceremony at South Shore Harbour Resort

The Motorcoach will be located to the left in Zone 4 at Ground Transportation at William Hobby (HOU) Airport. The shuttle departure times from HOU to South Shore Harbour Resort are: 12:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. CT. Here is a link to the HOU Directory Map.

2023 Innovation Summit Schedule

WHERE: HOUSTON, TEXAS, UNITED STATES

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Space Center Houston & NASA’S JOHNSON SPACE CENTER:

A leading science and space exploration learning center, Space Center Houston is a Smithsonian Affiliate and the Official Visitor Center of NASA Johnson Space Center. Located within a 15-minute drive from the Conrad Host Hotel, Space Center Houston will be the primary location for Summit activities including Finalist Power Pitches. The center features more than 400 space artifacts, permanent and traveling exhibits and experiences, as well as theaters related to the exciting future and remarkable past of America’s human space-flight program. Participant registration covers daily admission to the center.

NASA’s Johnson Space Center has been a leader in human space exploration for more than half a century. As the nucleus of the nation’s astronaut corps and home to International Space Station mission operations, the Orion crew and a host of future space developments, the center plays a pivotal role in human space exploration and enhancing technological and scientific knowledge to benefit all of humankind. Every one of the NASA astronauts and space explorers from international partner countries who has crossed the threshold of the International Space Station or flown on the space shuttle has trained at Johnson.

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HOST HOTEL: SOUTH SHORE HARBOUR RESORT & SURROUNDING ATTRACTIONS

A luxury, tropically inspired getaway just 30-minutes south of Houston at beautiful South Shore Harbour Resort and Conference Center, the largest full-service waterside resort and conference center in Southeast Texas. Perched on glittering Clear Lake (the country’s third largest boating destination), moments away from Kemah Boardwalk, chic shopping, waterfront dining and boating galore. South Shore Harbour will serve as our host hotel and all Summit guests are strongly encouraged to stay at the property.

Summit visitors will enjoy the Texas Gulf Coast with numerous attractions within 30 miles of the Conrad Host Hotel:

Kemah Boardwalk - Home to waterfront restaurants, amusements and shopping. Just 10-minutes from the hotel!
Galveston

2023 Innovation Summit Finalists

drumroll please… we are proud TO introduce the student teams who will compete in the INNOVATION SUMMIT of the 2022-2023 conrad challenge.

The below teams received the highest scores from the judges within their categories during the Innovation Stage. Five teams in each category have been named Finalists. As a result, they will participate in the 2023 Innovation Summit. In addition, five alternate teams are listed in each category, those teams will be invited to the Innovation Summit in the event a Finalist team is unable to attend.

Congratulations to our Finalists, Alternate Finalists and all Conrad Innovators! You never cease to amaze us!

See Full list of the 521 Conrad Innovator Teams

Aerospace & Aviation

Bloomx2FM

***California, USA***
**Valley Christian High School**
**Aarna Nair & Allaire Fahy**
**Coach: Dmitry Kulshitsky**
While on deep space missions, astronauts must be able to grow fresh food to maintain a healthy diet, but there is limited space and time available to do so. BloomX2FM is a device that can emit both radio and sound waves in a controlled way to stimulate plant growth while in space and address this current challenge.

BUZ

***Republic of Korea***
**Korean Minjok Leadership Academy**
**Junseok Kang, Seongwoo Min, Yongwook Kim, Jinho Kim, Jungwoo Kim**
**Coach: Sukbum Hong**
To address the large amount of space debris currently present, SAM (Satellite Annihilation Module) is a module that removes malfunctioning satellites from orbit. This fast, light, and compact module will be installed on a satellite before its launch and can be activated when the satellite malfunctions.

HUBRIS (Halbach Universal Brain Resonance Imaging System)

***Arkansas, USA***
**Bentonville West High School**
**Nayana Swain & Sangamitra Reshmy**
**Coach: Ean Nebel**
It is proven that astronauts' brains undergo structural changes after spending significant time in space. To address these challenges, HUBRIS, a portable, affordable, lightweight MRI was created exclusively to be installed inside a space station and utilized in real-time while in space to monitor these changes.

Orbnet:
Nested Netting Whipple Shield Technology

***United Kingdom***
**Oxford High School**
**Katharina Mills, Matilda Harrison, Alice Millar**
**Coach: Adrian Kewell**
Orbital debris as small as a micrometer can cause significant damage to space hardware which is costly to companies and can greatly impact mission timelines. Orbnet slows down and collects small pieces of orbital debris in a reusable way, thereby reducing the risk of damage to satellites.

Xena Airspace

***Texas, USA & Puerto Rico***
**Baldwin School of Puerto Rico, Lake Belton High School**
**Meghna Pramoda, Siona Pramoda, Jillian Webb, Rachel Kim**
**Coach: Krupa Srinivas**
Globally, airlines are responsible for about one billion tons of CO2 emissions (projected to triple by 2050). Real-time route optimization (cloud software) can offset emissions and cost without compromising safety. Xena Airspace is a cloud-based calculation engine that delivers optimal routes between requested cities and pairs into customers' flight systems.

AEROSPACE & AVIATION ALTERNATE FINALISTS:

Aviora Solutions
Clear cosmos
locus
Sagorf Industries
s-asid: semi-Autonomous Spacecraft inspection drone

Cyber-Technology & Security

Presented by: Dell Technologies

Drive Drippy

***Arizona, USA***
**Hamilton High School, Basis Mesa**
**Chloe Zhan, Baochan Fan, Rachel Kan, Andy Ma, Vinesh Kothari**
**Coach: Vinay Kothari**
Every year, there are over 500,000 accidents involving trucks and buses, approximately 52% of which involved driver fatigue or drowsiness. Drippy’s NeuroDrive provides a noninvasive method to mitigate this risk through a wearable monitor that can accurately detect and alert the driver to drowsiness within seconds.

Locket Health

***Virginia, USA***
**Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology**
**Kushaan Vardhan, Anika Gulati, Shikha Raghuram, Mihir Kulshreshtha**
**Coach: Gaurav Kulshreshtha**
Locket Health is a revolutionary period tracking app built on a peer-to-peer blockchain framework, ensuring complete security and privacy for our users. The app allows users to securely and privately track their menstrual cycles and fertility, with the added benefit of using blockchain technology for added security and reliability.

NeuLit

**California, USA**
**Evergreen Valley High School, Presentation High School, Silver Creek High School**
**Tvisha Irigi, Amulya Dussa, Neha Parthasarathi**
**Coach: Srinivasa Irigi**
Literature plays a quintessential role in our lives, especially among the youth, containing endless knowledge not only academically but also creatively. However, not many platforms provide users with a sustainable and secure way to publish or consume this media. Neulit is a platform dedicated to building that marketplace for literature giving users the ability to publish their works into NFTs, as well as view and buy published works from other creators.

NeuroSole

**California, USA**
**Monta Vista High School**
**Mridula Srinivasan & Shridhula Srinivasan**
**Coach: Gayathri Padmanabhan**
Currently an accurate and affordable diagnosis system for Parkinson’s Disease does not exist and near 30% of the time the disease is misdiagnosed. NeuroSole is a portable, cheap, non-invasive, and easy-to-use early diagnostic system. This product consists of an insole and an app that utilizes artificial intelligence to detect Parkinsonian gait in patients.

SIREN

**California, USA**
**Gunderson High School, Mission San Jose High School, Monta Vista High School, Santa Clara High School**
**Rebecca Wang, Audrey Wang, Swarnya Srivastava, Caitlin Nguyen**
**Coach: Adamya Srivastava**
In response to the surge of school shootings, SIREN accurately detects gunshots and immediately calls law enforcement with a network of sensors placed throughout a school. It also alerts students, faculty, administrators, and parents and provides real-time mapping of the suspect’s location through SMS text communication.

Window Net

***Republic of Korea***
**NLCS Jeju**
**Jinwoo Chun, Junghwan Choi, Sehun Jeong, Joonseok Kang, Yongwon Cho**
**Coach: Dominic Atherton**
To gain more control over the ventilation and security of a building, the Window Net is an interlinked network that provides wireless access to windows and air conditioners through a novel Bluetooth-mesh network. This network addresses numerous challenges including lower costs to the user, reducing waste, and easily enforcing environmental measures to business operations.
* UNABLE TO ATTEND
THE 2023 INNOVATION SUMMIT

CYBER-TECHNOLOGY & SECURITY ALTERNATE FINALISTS:

ADMAS
HABIT CASH
SALUS ARMOR
Universal Messaging

Energy & environment

ASK

***Texas, California, USA***
**Stanford Online High School**
**Sumedha Katakam, Keshav Narang, Andrew Mullikin**
**Coach: Janet Keating**
Designed to provide an easier transition to renewable solar energy, ASK is a revolutionary solution that integrates advanced photovoltaics, energy storage, and thermal absorbers into a single unit. The design eliminates the need for external batteries, reduces energy loss and increases efficiency by up to 20%.

Bee-Bot

***California, USA***
**Van Nuys High School**
**Tyler Chiu, John James, Trenton Ayson, Connor Chiu, Hovhannes Narinyan**
**Coach: Ben Chiu**
With the decline of bee populations and 80% of the world’s produce relying on pollination, Bee-Bot supports crops and prevents food insecurity in underserved communities dependent on gardens/farms. This aerial drone is capable of pollinating crops and increasing yields by 25% - 50% using proprietary technology and leveraging computer vision (ML) to automate its flight path for increased efficiency.

BioWear

***North Carolina, USA***
**North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics & Green Level High School**
**Adithi Radhakrishnan and Manya Bhagat**
**Coach: Kat Cooper**
Due to rapidly changing clothing trends, companies are utilizing cheap materials to generate inexpensive and low-quality clothing at the expense of the environment. BioWear is a clothing company committed to converting bio-waste into bio-based fashion through environmentally friendly processing. With the use of under-utilized jackfruit waste, this sustainable fashion line utilizes biodegradable fabric that prevents waste.

Conduco

***Thailand***
**Kamnoetvidya Science Academy School**
**Doonyapat Pornpanawan, Pattaradol Leerojanaprapa, Thawin Serivivatanavongse, Pimpraewa Putharukkit, Theeraphat Trongmetheerat**
**Coach: Yutichai Mueanngern**
Fixing broken circuits in electronics can be difficult and costly. Conduco is a cost-effective and high-performing conductive carbon paste created to reduce the manufacturing cost while also providing income to local farmers with the utilization of cacao pods.

Smart Trash Station

***Florida, USA***
**American Heritage School**
**Zetian (Zion) Xu, Ke (Kirk) Chen, Jiajing Tu, Xinyue (Betty) Ying,** **Xujie Cheng**
**Coach: Mark Ma**
Replacing shopping centers’ old-fashioned trash systems, the Green Station is integrated with advanced smart waste management and advertising to not only make shopping centers cleaner but also enhance the shoppers’ experience.

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT ALTERNATE FINALISTS:

casc
Delavo
Ecohero
team amino
UVa led Water Purifier

Health & Nutrition

Anti-Tremor Utensil

***Bangkok, Thailand***
**Bangkok Patana School**
**Thomas Gao and Lucas Lim**
**Coach: James Myers**
Designed specifically for people with mobility issues such as Parkinson's disease, this utensil is powered by a chip that helps stabilize the utensil, allowing people with tremors or decreased dexterity to eat more easily. This product will improve their quality of life by increasing independence and lowering support.
* UNABLE TO ATTEND
THE 2023 INNOVATION SUMMIT

Connected Crosswalk Assistance

***Virginia, USA***
**Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology**
**Rohith Yelisetty, Arnav Bhalla, Anirudh Mantha, Adithiya Balaguru, Tanush Kallem**
**Coach: Sumeet Bhalla**
Visually impaired individuals are 46 percent more likely to get into a vehicle-related pedestrian accident when compared to individuals with perfect vision. Connected Crosswalk Assistance allows for the remote activation of crosswalks in addition to warning users of potential dangers while crossing the street.

GumShield

***Cary, North Carolina***
**Mills Park Middle School**
**Jamie Cheng, Kashika Paul**
**Coach: Jiaming Liu**
Team GumShield’s innovation will address the detrimental effects of gingivitis and periodontitis. These are gum diseases that not only result in tooth loss but also affect the general health as periodontitis is directly correlated with heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.

**The DisPATCH**

**Tokyo, Japan**
**Seisen International School**
**Kohko Kamimura, Michelle Chan, Seung Yi Han, Eon Ko**
**Coach: Charles Cabiles**
Addressing the rising cases of elderly solitary death, the DisPatch is a non-invasive means of identifying and alerting solitary deaths to relevant authorities through pulse detection technology and Bluetooth mechanisms.

UltraGrasp

***Virginia, USA***
**Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology**
**Shaurya Jain and Anish Suvarna**
**Coach: Muralikrishna Suvarna**
Current prosthetic technologies are expensive and often involve invasive procedures.
UltraGrasp is a prosthetic forearm that is not only cost-effective and non-invasive, but also comfortable autonomous, and environmentally friendly. This is completely autonomous, eliminating electromyography and providing simple attachment-removal methods for patients.

UV Shield

***North Carolina, USA***
**South Iredell High School**
**Narayani Garg, Indu Gadiraju, Sindhu Gadiraju**
**Coach: Bruce Macartney**
To address harmful UV exposure in homes, UV Shield is a shade technology that filters harmful radiation to reduce overall UV exposure and risk of skin cancer to those inside the home.

FOTO

***Shanghai, USA***
**Shanghai YK Pao School**
**Isabel Chang, Yifei Lai, Yanyue Zheng, Yining Xu**
**Coach: Na Zang**
Team FOTO designed a fluorescent probe and a portable test kit to achieve real-time monitoring of meat and seafood freshness. The system’s fundamental component is the fluorescence-emitting organic sensor molecule. This molecule accurately detects the level of food spoilage biomarker present in a sample and displays a fluorescent response, enabling the quantitative assessment of food freshness.
* UNABLE TO ATTEND
THE 2023 INNOVATION SUMMIT

HEALTH & NUTRITION ALTERNATE FINALISTS:

Economic Plasma-Based Wound Healing
One Pad
RegenerAID

NIGERIA AMBASSADOR CHALLENGE WINNER

S.A.D

***Lagos, Nigeria***
**Greensprings College**
**David Onukwugha, Segun Balogun, Adewale Saliuokeola**
**Coach: Joshua Raimi**
An employment-based service operation, determined to help bring people on their feet, and provide anyone, regardless of their education, experience and history aboard to help them stand by themselves, and create a successful business or career in any existing field of employment.

China AMBASSADOR CHALLENGE WINNERs

Friction Spark

***Beijing, China***
**Beijing 101 Middle School**
**Wanqing Zhang, Zijie Hong, Boyan Gao, Chik Sum Jayden Gu**
**Coach: Haodong Feng**
Our innovation allows satellites to automatically reenter the atmosphere and burn up at a lower cost than traditional methods of de-orbiting. Our innovation increases the area-to-mass ratio to increase the air resistance of the satellite, slowing down the satellite and allowing it to fall back into the atmosphere and burn up much faster.

Multi-functional Smart Cane

***Shanghai, China***
**Shanghai World Foreign Language Academy**
**Jinshu Liu, Renfei Ryan Wong, Pinran Gao, Zizheng Wu, Haoran Gao**
**Coach: Yinfan Pan**
Multi-functional Smart Cane is designed to make walking indoors and outdoors more convenient and safe for the visually impaired by scanning the user’s environment and notifying them about what is happening around them.

The Aquamarine Company

***Shanghai, China***
**Shanghai Starriver Bilingual School and Shanghai YK Pao school**
**Hanlin Li and Jiayue Weng**
**Coach: Chao Wen**
The Aquamarine Company has created a product called the Bionic Fin-propelled Underwater Quadrupled Robot. The bot collects garbage underwater, protecting and purifying the water environment for private owners and the public.

VROBO

***Guangzhou, China***
**Guangdong Guangya High School, Basis International School Guangzhou, Guangzhou Foreign Language School, Nansha College Preparatory Academy**
**Liangyu Cai, Honghan Chen, Peiying Chen, Ziyue Shen, Haohan Sun**
**Coach: Weihang Wang**
VROBO is an online VR industrial robotics training course for teenagers covering robotics configuration, assembly, programming, and electronic control. Besides, we’ll be building a Metaverse Robotics Innovation Community, where teenagers can exchange innovative ideas face-to-face and cooperate in building robots.

Jungle Future

***Shanghai, China***
**Shanghai American School and Shanghai World Foreign Language Academy**
**Yik Chun John Peng and Fei Xiong**
**Coach: JingJuan Shi**
Jungle Future allows for an increase in the speed and efficiency of a logistics system. Our solution utilizes multiple smaller modular robots that can be used either individually or assembled to carry cargo. Based on the cargo, the system can automatically identify the number of robots and their configuration. The system can also replace the many transfer steps between systems during the cargo transfer process into a single system.
* Virtual Finalist in the 2023 Innovation Summit

Lovaqua

***Beijing, China***
**RCF Experimental School, The High School Affiliated to Renmin University International Curriculum Center**
**Yumo Liu, Yibo Wang, Sicheng Meng**
**Coach: Xunhe Zhang**
Lovaqua is a water bottle with a water filter and water quality detector. When water flows past, it is filtered and has its quality detected, followed by the indication of water safeness through a flashing red, yellow, or green light. With its compact design and low price, people can clean their water anywhere. With the number of workers subjected to this issue, Lovaqua can make a difference and provide them with safe water anywhere.
* Virtual Finalist in the 2023 Innovation Summit

Innova-nation winner

Erilux

***Panamá***
**Colegio Brader**
**Claudia Luna Mejía Cerdas, Ana Paula Duque Aguilar, Emiliano Arellano Vega**
**Coach: Karin Sempf**
Current streetlights are costly, and many are obsolete with today’s technology. Erilux seeks to innovate the energy industry with self-sustaining streetlights powered only by wind energy. These lights are grid-independent and require simple maintenance with a storage system that collects energy continuously to illuminate streets for the twelve hours needed.

NONPAREIL INSTITUTE

HACK-O-METER!

***Florida, USA***
**nonPareil Institute, Orlando**
**Grant Moore, Jonathan Chu, John French**
**Coach: Oga Okwoche**

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Who will be invited to the 2023 Innovation Summit?
The Finalist Teams in each category were emailed on Friday, February 10 regarding this recognition and next steps. If you were named a Finalist and did not receive an email, please check your SPAM folder first and then reach out to us at info@conradchallenge.org.

What is the deadline for teams to accept their Finalist invitation?
All Finalist Teams must confirm their participation to attend the Innovation no later than Sunday, February 19 by 11:59 p.m. ET. Once teams accept their invitations, they will receive a Finalist Student Guide with all instructions needed for Summit.

Will there be a financial requirement for the Conrad Challenge Innovation Summit?
Each participant (student, coach, chaperones, and family members) who attends the in-person Innovation Summit are required to pay a $499 registration fee. The Conrad Foundation is sensitive to the current global economic landscape and worked with our sponsors and partners to provide the most cost-effective solution to our participants.

The registration fee covers the following during Summit: all meals during official programming, NASA Johnson Space Center Tour, daily Space Center Houston admission, transportation to/from the airport (William P. Hobby) to host hotel (South Shore Harbour Resort) and to/from Space Center Houston each day.

Attendees are responsible for their own airfare and hotel accommodations. We recommend staying at the host hotel (South Shore Harbour Resort), where the Conrad Foundation has negotiated a discounted room rate including breakfast each day. The host hotel will also be the pickup/drop-off location for all Innovation Summit transportation.

The Conrad-provided airport transportation will pick up at William P. Hobby (HOU) Airport and transport attendees to the host hotel (South Shore Harbour Resort). If you are flying into George Bush Intercontinental (IAH) Airport, you will need to plan your own transportation to the host hotel, as well as your return to IAH after the completion of the Innovation Summit.

Will there be financial aid available for Finalist teams to attend the Innovation Summit?
As with other fees associated with the Conrad Challenge, discounted Summit registration rates may apply for qualified title one schools or special circumstances. If you believe you are eligible for a discount, please contact us at info@conradchallenge.org. Unfortunately, the Foundation is unable to offer financial aid for travel or hotel expenses. Our team continues to work on securing corporate sponsors to supplement travel support in the future.

Does our entire team need to attend in person?
Student teams will not be penalized in any way if the entire team is unable to attend in-person. However, in order to qualify for judging, at least two members of the team must attend in-person. ALL members of the team must contribute to the development of and be showcased in Finalist pitch materials.

In addition, all teams must be accompanied by an adult chaperone over the age of 21. Chaperones are responsible for their students at all times during the Innovation Summit. Should a student have an accident, fall ill or need care, the chaperone will be responsible for taking the appropriate action to ensure the student's health and well-being.

What are the COVID-19 safety precautions?
The Conrad Foundation is committed to creating a safe event. We continue to monitor all local and federal mandates to adjust planning as needed and will provide real time updates of any significant impact to the in-person event. We are working closely with our venues and are confident that they are doing everything they can to keep their guests safe, as recommended by their local health agencies and required by their management. Below are the current standards we plan to follow:

We will continue to monitor face-covering procedures as recommended by the Center for Disease Control, regional guidelines, and current venue requirements as we approach the date of the event.
All health guidelines required by our host location, Space Center Houston. (Currently, masks are not required.)
While we strongly encourage vaccinations for all guests who are eligible, we will NOT require proof of vaccination to attend the Innovation Summit.

Will the Innovation Summit be streamed live allowing others to view the event?
The Conrad team is still working to determine what portions of the programming may be streamed live and will share this information closer to the event along with instructions on how to share with others.

Will we have time to network/collaborate with others while at the Innovation Summit?
Absolutely! The Innovation Summit is a 4-day event filled with many opportunities to network, collaborate and have fun! We have created several scheduled opportunities for informal and formal networking. In addition, the Alumni Leadership Council (ALC) will host multiple sessions to promote teamwork and community building with the Finalist teams.

If a Finalist team can’t attend Summit, will the team be invited to a Virtual event?
No. The Conrad Challenge is not hosting a virtual event in 2023. Any team that cannot attend the Innovation Summit will forgo their participation in the Power Pitching portion of the Conrad Challenge. Teams will remain on the website as Finalists and retain their title as a 2023 Conrad Challenge Finalist for college scholarships and other references.

What will the structure of Finalist presentations look like?
Each team will present an 8-minute ‘pitch’ to live judges followed by a round of 20-minute Q&A with the judging panel. This section is scored on a judging rubric which will be provided to Finalist teams in advance. In addition, each Finalist team is required to promote their innovation during the EXPO where teams will receive a score based on active engagement with visitors and the marketing methods presented at their booth.

*** If your question was not answered above, please contact the Conrad team at info@conradchallenge.org.