Weiss Tech House

Finalists

Finalists Matthew Curnan tcurnan@seas.upenn.edu Joseph Lok jclok@wharton.upenn.edu	Auto-Syllabus Imagine a downloadable, web-based service that assembles all of the syllabi of a student's class schedule, generating automatic reminders for due dates and algorithmically proposing how students should allocate their time based on their previously stated preferences. In order to do this, professors would upload their syllabi onto the website and character recognition software would automatically discern the due dates and exam dates of each class, placing them into a schedule that students could manage and see on their desktops. Through this service, time management could become an easily learned behavior, cramming for exams wouldn't be the only option for active students, and professors wouldn't have to do anymore work than they do already.
Finalist Hassan Dashti dashti@sas.upenn.edu	LaundryOnline – LO LO is the answer to all college house resident's nightmares. This service will allow each student to access and track all washing machines and dryers in a laundry room. The laundry room's page, which could be accessed through CampusExpress, will inform the resident which machines are currently in use, how long they will remain in use and when they will be available. The student could reserve a machine using his Penn Card and pay using Penn Cash. 10 minutes before the reservation, the student will receive an email as a reminder. At the reservation time, the student will have 10 minutes to load the machine and swipe his card to start the machine. The student will receive another email 10 minutes before the machine ends so that he could have enough time to move his clothes before anyone has an opportunity to interfere with them. With LaundryOnline - LO: Avoid waiting. No need to keep track of time. No need for exact change. Avoid the frustration of seeing clothes scattered on the floor.
Finalists Vivian Fong vivian.fong@law.upenn.edu Krystle Gomez kryslten@law.upenn.edu	Soundtrack for Life Soundtrack for Life is an interactive, hand-held smart device designed to promote efficiency and concentration for the user. The apparatus monitors the user’s brainwaves through sensors placed within headphones and then coordinates the underlying tones and rhythms in various music selections to alter the brainwaves so that they stabilize at the optimal level for focus. Soundtrack for Life, being a "smart" device, will continue to adjust to the needs of the user. While it will be sold with pre-set music selections, users could personalize their music collection by downloading songs. The smart device will then extract the tones, rhythms and beats in order to catalogue the song and play it at the appropriate time according the needs of the user. While the device can be sold to high-end consumers and innovators, it will mainly serve to benefit those looking to use the mechanism for therapeutic reasons (i.e. those trying to increase focus, as well as those suffering from depression, pain or neurological disorders.)
Finalists Alex Furmansky afurmans@seas.upenn.edu Ken Morgan klm2@wharton.upenn.edu	Liquid Travel Packs With new Federal Aviation Agency regulations, individuals can only bring liquids in 1 clear quart-size plastic bag filled with bottles of 3 ounces or less. Most toiletries people normally use are larger than 3 ounces, and those who traveled in the last few months know that getting even the smallest of items to fit together inside such a small bag is nearly impossible. There is a need for an all-inclusive set consisting of all the essentials as well as room for personalized items such as perfume/cologne that is especially formed to fit inside a quart-sized plastic bag. Funding for he product would be eased by the makers of the toiletries like P&G as this would be a great venue for them to distribute trial versions of their products.
Finalist Kevin Galloway kcg@seas.upenn.edu	Traffic Safety Light in a Glove The Traffic Safety Light in a Glove is a glove lined with LEDS (green and red) that will allow the user such as a police officer or a crossing guard, to do two things: Direct traffic in dark settings (i.e. traffic accidents, power outages, dark early morning hours before school,and so forth) Increase the user's visibility to oncoming traffic. A switch built into the gloves will allow the user to toggle between green and red lights. The user's hand motions for controlling traffic would be the same. The advantage of the gloves is that they would add color to the hand motions (colors that all drivers know) and make the user more obvious.

Finalist Chrysta Irolla cri@seas.upenn.edu	Smart Sock THE PRODUCT With lower limb prosthetics one of the primary causes of further damage is pressure sores. In particular with a transtibial prosthesis there is extensive amounts of pressure placed on the patellar tendon of the user. This product is a reinforced pressure sensitive sock that can be placed beneath the socket of the prosthesis and is capable of redistributing the pressure the body places on that portion of the socket while the patient is walking. THE TECHNOLOGY This technology uses a combination of pressure sensors and dielectric elastomers to redistribute force and relieve pressure. The pressure sensor and elastomer will be incorporated into the sock to facilitate easy use. When the patient puts on this smart sock they can align the pressure sensor and dielectric elastomers with their patellar tendon. When pressure is placed on the sock by the transtibial prosthesis the pressure sensor will sense this pressure and proceed to electrically activate the dielectric elastomer. The dielectric elastomer will then use the electrical stimulation to redistribute pressure in that area.
Finalist Sudha Meghan sudham@wharton.upenn.edu	Pod-icles: Podcast Articles on the Go The accessibility to information has been fundamental to progress, yet time is of essence. Those short of precious minutes may miss out on reading key articles in the WSJ, Scientific American, or other publications. Innovative text-to-speech technology would bridge together the media industry with the time-pressed 21st century audience. Individuals can listen to their articles of choice, on the run, via podcasts. Text-to-speech technology would be perfected with the integration of natural pauses, and so forth. The technology could also be customized based on user preferences for voice speed and accent. Flipping through the morning newspaper would be only a click away.
Finalists Daniel Wallman dwallman@seas.upenn.edu Walter Witschey	Multinuclear Coil We propose to develop a radiofrequency probe for clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to resonate over a continuous range 5 - 110 MHz. The design will interleave multinuclear MRI of 23Na, 17O, 31P, 13C and 19F with conventional 1H imaging in studies of brain morphology, metabolism or pathology. The result would be provide increased image contrast, a decrease in patient scan time and a more efficient use of MRI technology. These factors would lead to earlier detection of specific diseases such as osteoarthritis, post-traumatic cartilage injury, Alzheimer's disease, and others. Furthermore, this development would lead to a more comfortable environment for patients because it would decrease the amount of time spent in a claustrophobic environment by decreasing the number of scanning visits necessary.
Finalist Yi Li liyi@seas.upenn.edu	Reverse Elevator Button Isn't there a time where you wish you could "undo" a button press in an elevator? Simple solution. Modify existing buttons such that press once will indicate a stop and press again to undo the stop.
Finalist Mohammad Zohaib mzohaib@seas.upenn.edu	Sound Recycling As sound is a form of energy, it can be converted to other forms of energy. Some device or technology could be developed that would convert high energy sound waves into other useful forms of energy like chemical or electrical energy. This technology would be helpful in places where high energy sound waves are produced like airports, construction sites, etc. This way unwanted sounds which are considered a source of noise pollution could be converted and recycled to other useful forms of energy that would benefit instead of pollute.