亚洲AV鈥檚 attracted 300 attendees and awarded cash prizes to pitch competition winners and finalists.
, held on Mason鈥檚 Arlington Campus on Oct. 19-20, focused on showcasing up-and-coming startups throughout the greater Washington, D.C., region. Four panels explored trends in investment and future technology development, with an overlay of global policy and national health, security, and infrastructure needs.
The pitch competition drew attendees from across the country and received applications from startups offering solutions in biohealth, software and sustainability. Winners were awarded cash prizes at a gala featuring keynote speakers Paul Misener, Amazon鈥檚 vice president of global innovation policy and communications and a Mason alum, and Bobby Franklin, president of the National Venture Capital Association.
The pitch winners are:
- Cyber winner, sponsored by : of Herndon, Virginia, $10,000
- Software winner, sponsored by : of Richmond, Virginia, $10,000
In addition, the Cameron Rian Hays 鈥淥ut of the Box鈥 competition, which focused on Smart Cities technologies, had student teams from six universities competing. The competition is named for Mason alum Cameron Rian Hays, BA Sociology and Anthropology 鈥03 and MPP 鈥11. When Hays passed away unexpectedly in 2011, the family sought a way to honor his memory and created the competition.
First prize and $5,000 went to Neal Singal and his team at Georgetown University for Globally Unified Air Quality, a low-cost air quality monitor. See more about his team鈥檚 project here.
Second place and $2,000 went to Mason systems engineering major Mahati Malladi and her team for Optimus. The team has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) decision algorithm to support the process of optimizing storage and staffing for autonomous and unmanned aerial vehicles in commercial and military industries. See their presentation .
Third place and $1,000 went to Mason systems engineering major Reed Lawrence and his team for Aircraft Predictive Maintenance. They are machine learning algorithms, in conjunction with digital twins, to develop predictive maintenance plans for facilities and transportation systems that could save companies millions of dollars. See their presentation .
鈥淒espite the shadow of the 18 months of pandemic, investors, companies, and corporations were eager to engage, discuss financial opportunities, and generally enjoy each other鈥檚 company,鈥 said conference organizer Paula Sorrell, Mason鈥檚 associate vice president of innovation and economic development. 鈥淲e鈥檙e thrilled to see the response in the ecosystem and can鈥檛 wait to build on this year鈥檚 success.鈥
鈥淎ccelerate 2022 was the right entrepreneurship conference at the right time,鈥 said Sean Mallon, vice president of commercialization at the Center for Innovative Technology, Virginia鈥檚 state-sponsored entrepreneurial support organization. 鈥淚t brought together founders, investors, economic development leaders and other stakeholders, allowing entrepreneurial magic to happen at the tail end of a long COVID-19-driven hiatus.鈥
Accelerate 2022 was designed to fuel innovation-based business growth by showcasing the best and brightest new tech startups to potential investors to foster their development within the Washington, D.C, metropolitan area, while shining a spotlight on the region for innovation and investment potential. In addition to Mason, sponsors included Arlington Economic Development, Belcan, Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, Gryphon Technologies, and Pangiam.
Accelerate 2023 in planned for Nov. 2-3, 2022.