Georgia Tech student innovation was on display earlier this month at the annual Convergence Innovation Competition. Forty teams of over 150 students submitted projects in the categories of Intelligent & Automated Home, Connected Vehicle, and Smart & Sustainable Communities. And on April 16th, students presented their projects to a select group of industry, partner, and faculty experts at a live demonstration and judging event at IPaT.

Here are the winners:

Intelligent & Automated Home
1st place - InSync, a companion app for live sports
Team: Brighton Vino Jegarajan

2nd place - CUE, enhancing the quality of independent living for older adults
Team: Wesley Smith, Steven Strouble, Yasmin Hazrat, Shivakant Pandey, Varsha Jagdale

Connected Vehicle
1st place - Daitek, a system to inhibit vehicle ignition if alcohol is detected
Team: Ganesh Subramaniam, Gwanygha'a Gana, Nikhil Ramesh, Sai Maddali

2nd place - StreetSmart, an automated passenger count application for Georgia Tech transit services
Team: Anusha Gargi, Nilesh Angadrao More, Pratheek Mysore Cheluvakumar, Ryan Swing

Smart & Sustainable Communities
1st place - SnafuSplit, an app to easily scan and split receipts
Team: Eric Zhang, Steven Han, Pavleen Thukral, Varun Maudgalya

2nd place - VAXI, a vaccination delivery service predicated on smart application technology
Team: Lance M. Black

New to the CIC this year, a special prize sponsored and judged by TechSAge recognizing the entry with the best design principles. Team CUE took home the prize.

The CIC is an industry supported and directed venture, and this year Verizon Wireless sponsored the competition across several departments, including Verizon Telematics.

“Georgia Tech has some of the brightest students in the country and it was remarkable to see the products and solutions the CIC participants were able to develop in one semester,” said Jonathan LeCompte, president – Georgia/Alabama Region, Verizon Wireless. “This was a great start to our multi-year partnership with Georgia Tech, and we’re very excited for future collaborations.”

"To be a part of it (CIC), to mentor it, and to produce it is a highly rewarding experience," said Siva Jayaraman, Research Scientist, GT-RNOC/IPaT. "It's a win-win for students and industry alike."

The Convergence Innovation Competition is open to Georgia Tech students from every class and discipline. Participants aim to create innovative and viable products and experiences including a strong user experience and a business case. Winning entries include a working end-to-end prototype that operates on converged services, media, networks, and platforms.

GT-RNOC and IPaT produce the CIC. To learn more, visit: cic.gatech.edu