{"656425":{"#nid":"656425","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Team Sola Wins 2022 Georgia Tech InVenture Prize ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing 70 years of tornado damage data, two Georgia Tech students have developed a proprietary model to help homeowners access financial support immediately following the devastation of a tornado.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMechanical engineering students Brayden Drury and Wesley Pergament have used those seven decades of information provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service to come up with technology that can calculate the likelihood for future disasters and what payouts may be necessary.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Essentially, it\u0026rsquo;s like our company has been around for 70 years,\u0026rdquo; explained Drury.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause of limits and exclusions in insurance coverage, homeowners often have to pay out of pocket in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster. Team Sola hopes their model for a data-driven supplemental insurance plan with quick payouts will change that, benefiting homeowners as soon as they need it \u0026mdash; while also benefiting home insurance providers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith their $20,000 check for winning the InVenture competition, Team Sola hopes to start partnering with some of America\u0026rsquo;s major insurance companies. Drury and Pergament say it will also allow for them to pull in developers to continue to enhance their modeling software.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe judges noted Team Sola\u0026rsquo;s evident passion.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;How does one get passion for insurance?\u0026rdquo; asked InVenture Prize judge Kolby Hanley, 2017 InVenture Prize winner and CEO of UltraView Archery.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;These industries are so fascinating to look at, but they can be riddled with problems,\u0026rdquo; responded Pergament. \u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;re just passionate about solving a big problem that hasn\u0026rsquo;t been solved yet.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to the cash prize, Team Sola will receive a free U.S. patent filing from Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Office of Technology Licensing and a spot in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/create-x.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECREATE-X\u003C\/a\u003E, Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s startup incubator.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESecond place and $10,000 went to Team Foambuster,\u0026nbsp;a team of mechanical engineers that has developed a handheld tool to minimize the snow-like debris created by installing external insulation finishing systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd for the People\u0026rsquo;s Choice Award, the viewing audience used text and web platforms to submit their votes. That $5,000 prize went to Team Reflex, which is currently testing an emergency medical drone response system to deliver lifesaving medical equipment.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;There were so many amazing pitches, and these students are so amazing,\u0026rdquo; said InVenture Prize judge Duriya Farooqui, board director of Intercontinental Hotels Group and Intercontinental Exchange.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHanley also expressed how impressed he was by all the finalists, noting, \u0026ldquo;All of these teams are going to be successful.\u0026rdquo; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/inventureprize.gatech.edu\/competition\/2022\u0022\u003ECheck out all of this year\u0026#39;s finalist teams here.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Students aim to provide financial assistance to homeowners more quickly after tornadoes"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMechanical engineering students Brayden Drury and Wesley Pergament won the $20,000 prize for their data-driven supplemental insurance platform which covers immediate out-of-pocket expenses for US homeowners following losses from tornadoes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Students aim to provide financial assistance to homeowners more quickly after tornadoes"}],"uid":"28058","created_gmt":"2022-03-17 10:55:49","changed_gmt":"2022-03-17 13:34:48","author":"Steven Norris","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-03-17T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2022-03-17T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"656426":{"id":"656426","type":"image","title":"Team Sola Wins 2022 Georgia Tech InVenture Prize","body":null,"created":"1647515086","gmt_created":"2022-03-17 11:04:46","changed":"1647515086","gmt_changed":"2022-03-17 11:04:46","alt":"","file":{"fid":"248819","name":"_MG_3888.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/_MG_3888.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/_MG_3888.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":563261,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/_MG_3888.jpg?itok=8rfnwDYB"}}},"media_ids":["656426"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/inventureprize.gatech.edu\/competition\/2022","title":"Georgia Tech InVenture Prize "}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"108731","name":"School of Mechanical Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"342","name":"Georgia"},{"id":"246","name":"Georgia Institute of Technology"},{"id":"1182","name":"Invention"},{"id":"7764","name":"InVenture Prize"},{"id":"190166","name":"studnt inventions"},{"id":"341","name":"innovation"},{"id":"190167","name":"shark tank"},{"id":"8704","name":"pitch"},{"id":"2029","name":"Competition"},{"id":"190168","name":"american idol for nerds"},{"id":"3449","name":"gpb"},{"id":"190084","name":"sola"},{"id":"1233","name":"tornado"},{"id":"3571","name":"insurance"},{"id":"516","name":"engineering"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"106361","name":"Business and Economic Development"},{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:snorris@gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESteven Norris\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["snorris@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}