All-female team wins in the undergraduate category at the CSUSB Innovation Challenge

TEAM She ME, an all-female group of Cal State San Bernardino students, took first place in the undergraduate category at the university’s 2021 Innovation Challenge, held virtually last month, where student entrepreneurs presented their big business concepts in pursuit of $20,000 in prize money.

The team, which consisted of Misty Lopez and Alyah Martinez, entrepreneurship; Chloe Addison, biological sciences; and Palak Sadhwani, information decision sciences graduate studies, won the undergraduate category of the 2021 CSUSB Innovation Challenge, said Stacey Allis, assistant director of the Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship at the Jack H. Brown College of Business & Public Administration at Cal State San Bernardino.

The team pitched an idea to create a special lightweight, breathable and completely washable undergarment that contains heating pads to help women during menstruation.

“TEAM She ME was actually the alternate team enacted in less than 48 hours and ends up being the top winner of their category,” said Allis. “Talk about entrepreneurial drive and spirit – an all-female team led by Misty Lopez who worked literally around the clock to push and make it happen just in time for the presentation! They were so exhausted to answer the judges’ questions but followed through to the end and to win first place!”

To watch their winning presentation, visit the YouTube TEAM She ME video.

The She ME undergraduate team and the LolliPopUp graduate team each walked away with the first-place prizes of $6,500, Allis said. Both teams intend to use their prize funds to invest in developing their venture moving forward, she said.

Held virtually, the event had 194 attendees in the interactive animated portal with 430 exhibit visits, and approximately 120 people engaged in the pre-event workshops, said Allis.

The other winners were:

UNDERGRADUATE CATEGORY:

• 2nd place with a prize of $2,500: Career Box – Daniel Jackson, business administration; Hannah Shinn, graphic design studies
• 3rd place with a prize of $750: Viewlight – Rafael Mendez, entrepreneurship; Karla Lion, liberal arts studies

GRADUATE FACULTY/ STAFF CATEGORY:

• 1st place with a prize of $6,500: LolliPopups – Matthew Atherton, education, technology graduate studies; Euliver Dizon, entrepreneurship. To watch their winning presentation visit the YouTube Lollipopups Team video.
• 2nd place with a prize of $2,500: 1Knock – Matthew List and Uriel Mendiola, MSEI graduate studies; Jonathan Evanculla, Cal State Los Angeles, MSW graduate studies; Bilal khan, professor, CSUSB School of Computer Science and Engineering
• 3rd place with a prize of $750: Piston Driven LLC – Chinonso DomNwachukwu, MSEI graduate studies; Eric Anderson, CSUSB Office of Strategic Communication
• 4th place with a prize of $500: NeXt-Gen – Neal Malik, assistant professor, health science and human ecology; Wagner Prado, assistant professor, kinesiology; Mihaela Popescu, professor, communication studies; Liu Yutong, Academic Technologies & Innovation; and Bobby Laudeman, student, communication studies.

Judging the pitches were: Veronica Pedersen, chief executive officer and co-founder, Timeless Skin Care; Kristen A. Holstrom, assistant managing partner, APLC Holstrom, Block & Parke, APLC and Custody Queens Corona; James Spee, professor school of business, University of Redlands; Jessica Villalobos, MBA, NBC-HWC, RYT, founder of Well with Jessica and certified health and wellness coach; and Evan Cohen, president and chief executive officer, Quality Marble & Granite.

The Innovation Challenge is available for viewing. Visit https://csusbinnovation.vfairs.com/ and register to gain full access to roam digital exhibit booths, workshop recordings and the Innovation Challenge sessions.