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Gainesville, FL — August 22, 2023

Judges for 2023’s National Cade Prize for Innovation named this year’s 21 Fibonacci Finalists. Finalists will compete to win $10,000 in their respective category group—Agriculture and Environmental, Healthcare/Biomedical, IT/Tech, Energy, and Wildcard. One of the five category winners will be selected as the Inventivity™ Grand Prize winner and take home an additional $50,000 prize.  

For the first time, this year’s 14th Annual Cade Prize for Innovation accepted applications from inventors and entrepreneurs based anywhere in the United States.  Almost half of this year’s 21 Finalists are from outside of Florida.  Prize applicants from 15 states, affiliated with research universities, the private sector, and technology transfer organizations submitted early-stage inventions.  

“We were very pleased to see strong interest in the Cade Prize from leading research institutions across the country,” said Cade co-founder Richard Miles.   

The finalist teams not only have an innovative idea, but one that also has significant market promise and the potential to make a big impact in its field.  

The Cade Prize, a capstone initiative of the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention, is named after Dr. James Robert Cade, Gatorade’s lead inventor. This year’s 21 Fibonacci Finalists are: 

Inventor 

Innovation/Invention 

State 
John Wilcox, Founder  SMARTFUSION™ –  A software system for insulin pumps that monitors insulin delivery for accuracy, infusion set failure, and provides data for improving infusion habits.   TN 
Ryan Myers, Founder  CranioSense –  The intracranial pressure assessment and screening system (IPASS) under development at CranioSense, is noninvasive, easy to apply and interpret, and capable of providing screening and continuous monitoring in hospital and nonhospital settings.   MA 
Sarah Ostadabbas, Founder  AiWover –  Artificial intelligence (AI)-guided cloud-based baby monitoring system   MA 
Warren Marcus, Founder  Curative Therapeutics for Type 1 Diabetes – Allows Type 1 Diabetics to regain a normal life by restoring their own glucose control system.   FL 
David Ostrov, Inventor  Lactovid – Provides relief for acute and long-term COVID patients.   FL 
Jordan Sand, Inventor   Happy Scratch – Treats an underlying immune system deficiency to solve dermatitis in pets.   WI 
Charles Magee, Inventor  Magnetic and Osmotic Inner Tube (MOIT) – Converts any air inflatable tire into a never flat tire (NFT).   FL 
Lina Gonzalez, Founder  High-Performance Materials Based on Engineered Cellulose-Producing Bacteria – A leather alternative material that does not require plastics to bring forward the performance.   MA 
Chuck Phillips, Executive Officer  Nanoparticle Scintillators – A way to measure biological activity at the molecular level.   AZ 
John Gradek, Founder  Phosflow Pellets – Pellets that absorb phosphorus and ammonia and reused as fertilizer.   KY 
Quantum Wei, Founder  Harmony Desalting – Desalination processes that offers improved energy efficiency, waste reduction, scalability, flexibility, enhanced hardware design, and resource recovery capabilities.  MA  
Forrest Gauthier, Inventor  Blue71 – A system that encourages individuals to adopt a conservation mindset while empowering them to perform personal conservation activities.   FL 
David Pham, Founder  Terra Pave – Solves the environmental, health, and efficiency problems associated with traditional paving materials by offering 100% eco-friendly, cost-effective, and superior alternatives.   TX 
Tolga Ercan, Founder  Smart Traffic Sign – Vision-based communication for vehicles through QR codes.     FL 
Raj Gautam, Founder  Analyz – Analytics and security for computer chips.   FL 
Dylan Davis, Founder   Locus Vision – Digital spatial navigation device for the visually impaired.     FL 
Alexandre Titov, Executive Officer  ERAS (Extended Reality Art Studio) – Democratize art by providing an innovative solution that removes barriers based on age, location, physical space, wealth, time, and talent.    FL 
Paulo Cezar Lopez, Team Lead  2000W Rapid Wireless power transmission system for electronic devices – Enables electronic devices to be compatible to receive wireless energy.    FL 
Scott Jewett, Founder  Dual Axis Wind Turbine – Delivers a new type of distributed energy wind turbine that addresses the limitations of traditional wind turbines.   FL 
Siddharth Pannir, Founder  Adaptive Hydro – A way to electrify non-powered dams (existing dams that do not generate any power) across the US.   MA 
Mia Anderton, Inventor  Glowby Lightbulbs – Energy efficient, very long-lasting rechargeable lightbulbs.   FL 

 

Final judging will take place at the Cade Prize Awards Ceremony at the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention in Gainesville, Florida on September 28. $100,000 in cash prizes will be awarded: $10,000 to the winner of each category and an additional $50,000 for the Inventivity™ Grand Prize Winner selected from the five category winners. Each award recipient also receives $2,000 of in-kind legal services. 

This year’s Cade Prize is sponsored by Scott R. MacKenzie, Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), Exactech Inc., Infotech, Florida Farm Bureau, OneSixOne Ventures, Saliwanchik, Lloyd & Eisenschenk law firm, Florida Trend, James Moore Certified Public Accountants and Consultants, and Aloft Gainesville University Area Hotel. Visit https://cademuseum.org/inventivity/cade-prize/ to learn more.  

 

Media contact: Jody Farmer, jfarmer@cademuseum.org  

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