Seven DePaul business students were among the prize-winners at the Fourth Annual Student Innovation Awards Competition co-sponsored by DePaul’s Center for Creativity and Innovation (CCI) and the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center (CEC).
Open to Kellstadt Graduate School of Business students as well as other graduate and undergraduate students from across DePaul University’s colleges and schools, the awards recognize students’ creativity, originality and ability to solve problems while discovering new opportunities.Kevin Yu, an undergrad at the Driehaus College of Businees, won the Gold Level Scholarship Prize of $1,000 for his innovation, “BluLite,” a car accident prevention system that reduces the number of accidents arising from left turns in unprotected intersections by pairing a highly visible blue light placed on existing traffic signal structures with a motion sensing strip on the road to alert drivers of oncoming traffic;
“Making even a small impact on someone’s life is true fulfillment,” says Kevin Yu, Gold Level Scholarship winner. “I want to make the world a safer place one BluLite at a time.”
Haley Nozell Van Lahr and Amir Montazery, Kellstadt Graduate School of Business students, won honorable mention and a $100 prize for “TXTR,” a digital platform allowing businesses and brands to strengthen relationships with customers through the use of text messaging.
“The awards competition reflects the Center for Creativity and Innovation’s mission to foster creative discovery that brings new value through innovation,” says Lisa Gundry, management professor and director of CCI. “The students used their creativity and their educational and life experiences to come up with ideas for technology, services and social innovations, among others. These innovations can change the way we do things and offer better solutions.”
