Weekly Spotlight
Ignite the Night ORLANDO
Last week we had two outstanding events featuring startups in Central Florida. The first, and arguable featuring the most innovative and scalable startups of the two, was Tuesday night at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts - NASA iTech's Ignite the Night ORLANDO (presented by the Central Florida Tech Alliance and Space Florida). This event, held in cities around the country, is designed to identify and foster innovative solutions solving challenges on Earth as well as the potential to solve NASA's space challenges. Focus areas for NASA iTech are: Improve Energy Storage Density; Radiation – Protection, Mitigation, and Hardware; Power Efficient Technologies; Medical Breakthroughs; and X-Factor Innovations.
10 innovators presented to a stellar 12-member judging panel and an audience of over 100 investors and Central Florida tech supporters. The judges were from, among other places, NASA, CFTA, Space Florida, Embry-Riddle, Embarc Collective, Tampa Bay Wave, and Kirenaga Partners.
Presenters from Central Florida included:
Marc Rippen, Alertgy (Melbourne)
Wearable Non-Invasive Continuous Glucose Monitor
Joe Sleppey, Capacitech Energy (Orlando)
Cable-Based Capacitors
Hooman Banei, Everix Inc. (Orlando)
Ultra Thin Plastic Optical Filters
Nolan Coulter, Modularity Space (Daytona Beach)
Plug and Play Modular Satellites
Evan Raketic, Rake Technologies (Winter Garden)
An Unpowered Passive Exoskeletal Actuator System for Muscle Strength Augmentation
David Chesny, SpaceWave LLC (Melbourne)
Scalable Charged Particle Radiation Shield
The winner, Marc Rippen, Alertgy (an Orlando VentureScaleUp accelerator grad) earned a semifinalist position where their technology will be evaluated and has a chance to be selected as one of the Top 10 Finalists to present at the 2019 NASA iTech Cycle II Forum in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on Oct. 7-8.
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