The Florida Atlantic Wave Competition

NOW OPEN TO ALL STUDENTS!

An undergraduate and graduate applied research and entrepreneurial competition challenging students to submit and develop innovative ideas targeting societal problems.

In this competition, we provide $500 to 10-12 undergraduate and master's level students.

Out of the chosen projects, only ONE will win a monetary award at an end of year ceremony. The First Place Award is generously sponsored through the Dr. Eric H. Shaw Florida Atlantic Wave Excellence in Innovation Award Endowment Fund. For sponsorship opportunities please contact fauwave@fau.edu.

$2000

First Place

Teams are chosen based on (a) innovation and creativity, (b) significance of niche/problem addressed, (c) the practical ability to develop the project, and (d) marketability and GPA.

Community Engagement projects win $1,000 for first place. These projects solve a problem within the community as a collaborative effort and benefit the members of our community.

$1000

First place community engagement

Florida Atlantic Wave Competition - Apply Now!

Wave 2025 statistics, shades of blue medallions - 276 participants, 16 winners of FAU Business Pitch Competition, $184k won in cash prizes, 29 entered FAU Tech Runway, 3 Provisional Patents

Infographic description

2024-2025 Winners

View Wave program booklet here

Name	Project Title	Prize
Ashley Rotton	FamiliarU is an AI-powered smart glasses device designed to help individuals with prosopagnosia (face blindness) recognize faces in real time.	First place and the $2,000 Dr. Eric H. Shaw Florida Atlantic Excellence in Innovation Award
Kassandra Liburd	Sign and Shine is a community program that supports Deaf and Hard of Hearing youth through mentorship, inclusive education, and vocational training.	First place $1,000 community engagement award
Ashley George	Titan Secure: A hurricane-resistant roof anchoring system to protect manufactured homes in Florida by using removable, high-tensile straps that increase structural stability.	First place $1,000 Palm Beach State College track

2023-2024 Winners

View Wave program booklet here

Name	Project Title	Prize
Emma Susi	S.P.E.A.C (Sensory Personalized EEG Assistive Communication) is an innovative assistive communication device revolutionizing how individuals facing communication challenges due to conditions like ALS and stroke interact with the world. Utilizing affordable EEG technology, S.P.E.A.C accurately translates brain signals into real-time communication, enabling users to express themselves effortlessly.	Dr. Eric H. Shaw – FAU Wave Excellence in Innovation Award: $2,000
Alejandra Vega, Tyler Owen, Evan Cabrera, and Andrew Gates	KaBodali Footbridge: The KaBodali suspended footbridge, projected to span the Mkhomati River in the rural municipality of Nkhaba, Kingdom of Eswatini, will provide direct benefits to five communities: Kusulvkeni, Manyaweni, Kudlomo, and Hhehhe. The Bridge will enhance their access to essential resources, including education, healthcare, and economic opportunities.	Community Engagement Winner First Place: $1,000
Jean Elysee Dorsainville, Stefania Volpe, and Midley Sylien	MicroBiome: The MicroBiome Portal is a social networking website designed for microbiology students. The website empowers students to explore and share microorganisms found in their experiments by contributing to a comprehensive user-generated online database.	Palm Beach College Track Winner: $1,000

2022-2023 Winners

View Wave program booklet here

Florida Atlantic Wave 22-23 Event Sponsor: TreMonti Consulting LLC.

Name	Project Title	Prize
Rachel Kavalakatt	Carpal Tech 2.0: a biowearable device to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome paired with an app	First Place: $2,000
Krystyna Medina	Nourished from Nature provides gardening education for K-12 students and establishes a sustainable county wide food network	Community Engagement Winner First Place: $1,000
Palm Beach State College Track Winner: Androff Cesar	Mind Check South Florida, a community service program that empowers high school students with tools to live mindfully positive and organized lives	Palm Beach State College First Place: $1,000

View photos from the award ceremony here.

2021-2022 Winners

View Wave program booklet here

Name	Project Title	Prize
Rachel Kavalakatt	CarpalWear: Development of Non-Invasive Wearable Biofeedback Device to Effectively treat Carpal Tunnel Syndrome	First Place: $2,000
Shalakha Bonthu, Jose Delgado, Hibah Hussain, Joseph Lawless, Bilal Mutluguler, Matthew Pacheco, and Vineet Reddy	Engage Florida	Community Engagement: $1,000

2020-2021 Winners

View Wave program booklet here

Name	Project Title	Prize
Paris Prince	SPod-Biodegradable Soap and Water Capsule	First Place: $1,500
Aiden Natalie	Marine Connex - An app to fill the gap between marine consumers and marine professionals	Second Place: $1,000
Arman Alexis	Utilizing Virtual Reality to Augment CT Scans	Third Place: $500
Sandy Abdelmalak, Alexia Betances, Christopher Cadenas, and Diane Garcia	Florida Atlantic Keep Moving Student Organization	Community Engagement: $1000

2019-2020 Winners

View Wave program booklet here

Name	Project Title	Prize
Paris Prince	SPod-Biodegradable Hand Sanitizing Capsule	First Place: $1,500
Vassili Georgakopoulos	40s Not Feelings-Adaptive Fishing Lure	Second Place: $1,000
Alexandra DeCesare, Daniel Carvalho, and Robert Snyder	Drone Based Quantum Communication	Third Place: $500
Alexander Hintze, Esther Mitchell, Samantha Robinson, Brandon Caniff, and Matthew Maracallo	The Eswatini Foot Bridge	Community Engagement

2018-2019 Winners

Name	Project Title	Prize
Giannina Duran	Owl Parking-Campus Parking Made Easy	First Place: $1,500
Vassilios Georgakopoulos	Abrasion Resistant Nylon Polymer Fishing Line	Second Place: $1,000
Taylor Leta, Ricardo Sanatan, and Jonathan Ortiz-Collazo	Assistive Speech Enhancer	Second Place: $1,000
Alexis Base	Developing a Solution to Ocean Acidification	Third Place: $500
Alejandro Carruyo and Brenda Lozada	Furthering Student Science Education and Mentorship	Community Engagement

View photos from the award ceremony here.

2017-2018 Winners

Name	Project Title	Prize
Evita Conway	Developing a model for mood disorder classification using eye movements	First Place: $1,500
Devin Willis	Slidemap improves the accuracy of tumor cell classification and cancer diagnosis using deep learning	First Place: $1,500
Vithulan Suthakaran	An artificial leaf that transforms carbon dioxide into oxygen via photosynthesis	Second Place: $1,000
Stephen Hoover	Machine olfaction using deep learning artificial neural networks	Third Place: $500
Natalia Perez and Sydney Yu	LEAP-Learning Enrichment Activity Pals	Community Engagement

2016-2017 Winners

Name	Project Title	Prize
Vithulan Suthakaran	SEA Skimmer: The Development of a Sustainable Environmental Accumulation Skimmer in Order to Extract Marine Pollution from a Variety of Geographical Locations	First Place: $1,500
Alexis Base	Developing an Image Recognition and Motor Control Algorithm for Pterois Volitans’ Population in South Florida	Second Place: $1,000
Ben Coleman	Transient-Image Density Evaluation System (TIDES)	Second Place: $1,000
Pedro Flores	Algorithmic Music Composition	Third Place: $500
Hannah Herbst	Protecting Civilians and Public Service Personnel Through an Early Identification and Warning System for Airborne Chemicals / SEIAC: A System for the Early Identification for Airborne Chemicals	Third Place: $500

To download a flier of the 2016-2017 winners, click here.

2015-2016 Winners

Name	Project Title	Prize
Evan Clark	Identification of the Role of SRSF1 in T Cell Activation and Functions Through the Analysis of High-Throughput Sequencing Data	First Place: $1,500
Brent Marshall	Automated Baseball Pitching Machine	Second Place: $1,000
Jean Baptiste Dalien	Automated Baseball Pitching Machine	Second Place: $1,000
Weendell Esthema	Automated Baseball Pitching Machine	Second Place: $1,000
Jonathan Padilla	Automated Baseball Pitching Machine	Second Place: $1,000
Pedro Flores	Using technology to build better lives – the Parking App	Third Place: $500
Charles Pratt	Queer Images – A Portrait of LGBT Americans	Third Place: $500
Bianca Lucien	ProScore & Meti Co.	Poster Award Winner: $250