Awards Recognize Student Innovation
Five Innovators Worth Watching
Watch video FAU Wave program
Today's students are chasing innovation
The FAU Wave program provides students with an opportunity to soar.
FAU Wave program is an undergraduate student research and entrepreneurial competition that brings students with diverse backgrounds and interests together to solve real-world problems and fill needs in the business marketplace. Students are given seed funding to transform novel ideas and technologies into research projects or products, as they compete for monetary prizes. In the second year of the competition, students helped other students by creating programs and platforms on topics such as HIV, autism, cancer, foreign policy and social justice.
Benjamin Coleman
Major: Electrical Engineering
Innovation: Transient-Image Density Evaluation System (TIDES)
How it helps: Using cell phones to rapidly diagnose disease in resource-poor environments
Inspiration: The potential to use engineering to make healthcare more accessible in resource-constrained settings
What’s next: Continue with bioengineering research, publish on TIDES and other projects
Alexis Base
Major: Ocean Engineering
Innovation: Developing an Image Recognition and Motor Control Algorithm for Pterois volitans’ (Red lionfish) Population in South Florida
How it helps: Using a blob detection program to identify invasive red lionfish to mitigate the negative impacts to marine life and ecosystems
Inspiration: Middle school national underwater robotics competitions led Base to research remotely operated underwater and autonomous underwater vehicles
What’s next: Continue ocean engineering research, get involved with the Marine Robotics Club, graduate from FAU High School and FAU
Hannah Herbst
Major: Biology
Innovation: Protecting Civilians and Public Service Personnel through an Early Identification and Warning System for Airborne Chemicals
How it helps: An early identification system for airborne chemicals to facilitate evacuation of people before harmful impact
Inspiration: Learning about the extremely harmful effects of airborne chemical exposure, such as paralysis and lung poisoning
What’s next: Graduate from FAU High School and FAU; pursue medical school and conduct research to help improve patients’ quality of life
Pedro Flores
Major: Physics
Innovation: Algorithmic Music Composition
How it helps: Turns math into music
Inspiration: Shape our emotions with music
What’s next: Merging man and machine using brain computer interfaces
Vithulan Suthakaran
Major: Environmental Engineering
Innovation: SEA Skimmer: The Development of a Sustainable Environmental Accumulation Skimmer in Order to Extract Marine Pollution from a Variety of Geographical Locations
How it helps: Cleans up oil pollution from aquatic environments three times faster than current methods
Inspiration: Seeing animals in marine life centers as a result of oil pollution
What's next: Obtain a bachelor's degree in 2020, conduct research on major environmental problems
If you would like more information, please contact us at dorcommunications@fau.edu.