Fall 2019 Convergence Innovation Competition Winners Announced

An application that makes it easier to order drinks at your local bar was the big winner of the Fall 2019 Convergence Innovation Competition (CIC). The Institute for People and Technology and the Research Network Operations Center hosted the finale of the competition on November 13 at IPaT’s Centergy Building location.  

QuickSip, which won first place in the competition’s Health on the Move category, aims to simplify the ordering process and reduce wait times for service at busy bars. The application uses a messaging service for real-time drink ordering and status updates. 

Georgia Tech students Renner Brown, Thomas Horton, Whitney Nelson, and Cameron Pepe developed QuickSip. In addition to their CIC win, the team also earned a “golden ticket” to participate in this summer’s CREATE-X Startup Launch 2020 and further develop their application.

Eighteen teams participated in the Fall 2019 CIC live demo and judging finale. Here’s a look at the full list of winning projects in each category:

Players and Fans

1^st place - Handl is an app that uses QR codes to facilitate exchanging contact and social media information.

(Team: Yu-Lin Chung, Kenneth Huang, Wyndham Hudson, Phalguna Rupanagudi, Pragati Singh)

2^nd place - LetzChill uses notifications to arranges spontaneous meetups between friends. (Team: Brooke Brennan, Faiyaz Chowdhury, Reagan Hanna, Aditya Vadhavkar)

Health on the Move

1^st place - QuickSip uses a messaging service to simplify the drink ordering process at bars.

(Team: Renner Brown, Thomas Horton, Whitney Nelson, Cameron Pope)

2^nd place - LDR focuses on providing a sense of online intimacy to long-distance couples.

(Team: Rahul Brahmal, Dennis Eddington, Samuel Huang, Songming Liu, Richard Zhang)

Climate Solutions

1^st place - Stumble connects travelers to great local experiences and tips.

(Team: Younmin Bae, Devon Bhavsar, Luis Gonzalez, Joshua Reno, Rahul Zhade)

2^nd place - CryptoPass is a green password manager that uses decentralization to save energy and is always available.

(Team: Nathan Hazelton, Zach Sanchez, Jacob Watson, Jacob Zipper)

Students participating in the CIC create technology products, applications, and experiences in categories determined by campus, industry, and community partners. Each fall and spring semester, they work individually or on teams and can submit class projects or projects unrelated to a class. Current Georgia Tech graduate and undergraduate students, as well as those enrolled in the Institute the previous semester, are all eligible to participate in the competition.

RNOC also provides access to the App Lab in the Technology Square Research Building, where students can get help with their projects and check out mobile devices for testing.

Learn more about the CIC, including sponsorship opportunities, at cic.gatech.edu.