Daniel Gropper, Ph.D., dean of the College of Business, was among the distinguished speakers at the awards celebration. Image credit: Paige Arriola

Florida Atlantic University’s recent Innovation Awards celebrated the incredible ingenuity and entrepreneurship fostered through its dynamic innovation and economic development programs.

The Runway at Florida Atlantic , the College of Business’s Adams Center for Entrepreneurship , Florida Atlantic Wave and the Office of Technology Development welcomed more than 250 attendees to the Boca Raton campus, for a showcase of talent, creativity and community spirit. More than $55,000 in prizes were awarded across four innovation and entrepreneurship competitions. The program included remarks from distinguished presenters, including FAU President Adam Hasner; Daniel Gropper, Ph.D., dean of the College of Business; and Gregg Fields, Ph.D., vice president for research.

The event was an opportunity for each of the host programs to recognize remarkable projects and initiatives developed by faculty, students and South Florida entrepreneurs.

The Office of Technology Development announced the winner of its 2025 Innovation Pilot Award Program: E. Sarah Du, Ph.D., associate professor in the College of Engineering and Computer Science. The award will provide crucial funding to advance research and development of her project, “Electro-Deformation Spectroscopy System,” a technique for investigating or analyzing materials by determining their chemical or physical properties. Du, who was recently named a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors, already holds four U.S. patents for her novel innovations in basic research related to cellular biomechanics and biophysics aimed at treatments for diseases such as sickle cell disease and malaria.

“Early-stage funding is a crucial component of successful technology commercialization,” said Dana Vouglitois, senior associate director, Office of Technology Development. “Through this program, the Office of Technology Development supports faculty researchers in generating proof-of-concept data, building functioning prototypes, and improving market potential for their innovations. This foundation creates opportunities for intellectual property licensing, startup formation, external funding, and industry partnerships that help to translate Florida Atlantic research into real-world solutions.”

Florida Atlantic Wave, a student-focused applied research and entrepreneurial competition, awarded the 2025 winners who demonstrated excellence in their innovation projects targeted at solving societal problems. This year’s winner of the Dr. Eric H. Shaw Excellence in Innovation Award was the project, FamiliarU. Developed by Ashley Rotton, an undergraduate in the College of Business, FamiliarU is an AI-powered smart glasses device designed to help individuals with prosopagnosia (face blindness) recognize faces in real time. The winner of the Community Engagement award was Sign and Shine, which was developed by Kassandra Liburd, a student in the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College. Sign and Shine is a community program that supports deaf and hard-of-hearing youth through mentorship, inclusive education and vocational training. Finally, the Palm Beach State College award went to Titan Secure, a hurricane-resistant roof anchoring system to protect manufactured homes in Florida by using removable, high tensile straps that increase structural stability – an innovation developed by Ashley George.

“We are extremely proud of our student, community and faculty innovators,” said Regina Thompson, assistant director, Strategic and Economic Initiatives, Division of Research. “They continue to excel in entrepreneurship by creating products and services that benefit our community. Without the collaboration of all our programs this wouldn’t be possible. I am grateful we have such a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem at FAU.”

The Adams Center announced the winners of its annual Business Pitch Competition, which is an opportunity for students to present their game-changing ideas for a chance to gain seed funding and mentorship to develop their new ventures. In the student track, first place went to FireCodes AI, founded by Daniel Guido and Krish Malhotra, both from the College of Computer Science and Engineering. Their startup is a SaaS platform that harnesses advanced retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to provide fire protection engineers with instant, accurate answers, complete with exact code references, saving hours of tedious manual research. In first place for the Dr. Eric H. Shaw Veterans Entrepreneurial Excellence Award was Zera Techbridge, founded by Andrew “Devon” Stephenson. Zera Techbridge is a marketplace and service platform connecting veterans, students and institutions to AI certifications, workforce pathways and national security technologist careers.

The Runway presented the winners of its 2025 Venture Pitch Competition. Businesses in The Runway’s startup incubator Venture program had the opportunity to showcase their ideas, gain valuable feedback and compete for funding. AIKOLO, a company in Venture Class 14, won first place in the MVP Track. AIKOLO provides AI-driven surveillance systems. The Pre-MVP Track winner was Future Optek. Also a member of Venture Class 14, this start-up makes mixed-reality glasses used to aim firearms.

To learn more about the Innovation Awards, this year’s winners and runners up, and FAU’s innovation and entrepreneurship programs, visit www.fau.edu/therunway/innovation-award-celebration .

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