Public speaking trainer software wins OEDK Elevator Pitch Competition
Hanszen College senior Sam Vallagomesa presented a pitch at an annual elevator pitch competition organized by the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen.
A total of 45 student teams – an all time high – presented 90-second pitches to an audience that included 99 judges from the Houston community in this year’s undergraduate Elevator Pitch Competition, held on Nov. 12 in the Shell Auditorium.
Coming in first place, and the recipient of $1,500, was team SpeakEasy, founded by Brown College senior Abhipray Sahoo and Hanszen College senior Zichao Wang.
According to Sahoo and Wang, SpeakEasy is “a software-based personal trainer to assist people during their preparations for public speaking.”
The product uses speech analysis and computer vision to analyze body language and facial expressions. It also incorporates virtual reality to simulate the audience experience and help individuals get rid of public speaking anxiety.
In second place, and the recipient of $1,000, was team Comfortably Numb, pitched by Jones College sophomore Matthew O’Gorman, whose product helps combat a different phobia: fear of needles. The device numbs the skin at an entry site by cooling it prior to the administration of a vaccine.
“I found the pitch was a great opportunity to hone my delivery skills and get feedback on our product from judges,” O’Gorman said.
Comfortably Numb already has a 3-D printed prototype of their device and would like to proceed to clinical testing soon.
“The [Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen] has been very instrumental in the success of our product,” O’Gorman said. “With the 3-D printer there, we have been able to rapidly prototype our device.”
Rounding out the top five were teams Tube Much, OutSTENTing and RevIVe, all of which created medical devices to make medical procedures either easier or less expensive.
Director of Rice Alliance Brad Burke commended this year’s competition for including more independent teams than ever before.
More from The Rice Thresher
Rice Students for Justice in Palestine declares ‘liberated zone’ on campus
As student protests erupt across the country, Rice Students for Justice in Palestine launched a “liberated zone” on Rice campus, announced a two-day series of events and started construction on an “apartheid wall.”
Jeremy Zucker headlines second-ever Moody X-Fest
Jeremy Zucker headlined Rice’s second annual Moody X-Fest in Founder’s Court on April 19. In advance of Zucker’s set, student groups like Basmati Beats, Rice Philharmonic and BASYK performed. The festival also offered complimentary merchandise and food from Dripped Birra, Cane’s and Oh my Gogi.
Jones wins men’s and women’s Beer Bike races, GSA snags alumni
Jones College won both the women’s and men’s Beer Bike 2024 races, while the Graduate Student Association claimed the alumni team win. Hanszen College bike teams were the runner-up in the alumni and men’s races, while Brown College was the runner-up in the women’s race. Martel and McMurtry Colleges did not bike in the alumni race, according to the Rice Program Council’s final report, and the GSA was disqualified from the men’s race for accidentally sending out two bikers simultaneously.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication by The Rice Thresher.