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2020 CHALLENGE

Breakthrough Innovation Challenge First Place Winner

1st place
Nimbus AI
– assisting solar grid managers with neural network technology to forecast cloud cover
Kyle Hart, Peter Sadowski and Giuseppe Torri

Breakthrough Innovation Challenge Second Place Winner

2nd place
Polu Energy
– generating renewable energy with ocean water
Tate Castillo and David Ma

Audience Choice
Next-Gen Antiviral Respirator
– protecting frontline workers with innovation in full-face respirators

PARTNERS
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JUDGES

2020

David Hijirida
CEO
Simple Finance
Wes Johnston
Managing Director
Venderity Capital LLC
Julia Okinaka
President
Accuity Consulting Services
Barry Weinman
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Kineticor, Inc.

COACHES

2020

Debasis Bhattacharya
Assistant Professor
UH Maui College
Dave Higashi
CEO
Crowdmade
Assaf Karmon
CEO and Co-Founder
TurnoverBnB
Chris Loo
Director of Operations
JL Capital
Rich Matsuura
Co-Founder
PandaTree
Brian Nelson
CEO
BNC
John Richards
Dean, Culinary, Hospitality, Business & Legal Technology
Kapiolani Community College
TITLE SPONSOR
Accuity Logo
Now in its 9th year, the UH Breakthrough Innovation Challenge is an entrepreneurial competition that exposes UH students in all disciplines to entrepreneurial and innovative ways of thinking; provides a platform for participants to showcase their ingenious ideas to offer more efficient, stronger, better, and novel products or services; and brings recognition and attention to outstanding entrepreneurs at UH.
The Challenge matches competitors with business mentors and teaches students to research market opportunities, seek customer validation, and determine the commercial potential of their idea. The Challenge is sponsored by Accuity LLP and organized by the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship in partnership with the UH College of Engineering, the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, the William S. Richardson School of Law, and the UH Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation. For more information, visit pace.shidler.hawaii.edu/bic
Founded in 2000 at the Shidler College of Business, the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE) is the home for a set of experiential entrepreneurship programs at the University of Hawaii (UH). The Center’s 20+ programs offer mentorship, training and resources to all UH students and faculty, and are designed to encourage entrepreneurial thinking across disciplines and inspire entrepreneurs to move their ideas from conceptualization to commercialization. For more information, visit pace.shidler.hawaii.edu.
UH Breakthrough Innovation Challenge Video
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phone: (808) 956-5083
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email: pace@hawaii.edu
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fax: (808) 956-5107
email: pace@hawaii.edu
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University of Hawaiʻi
An Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Institution.
© 2020 Shidler College of Business. All rights reserved.
2404 Maile Way, Room E-402, Honolulu, HI 96822
Website by Blue Logic Labs
Intranet • Credits
uhm logo@2x
University of Hawaiʻi
An Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Institution.
© 2020 Shidler College of Business. All rights reserved.
Website by Blue Logic Labs
2404 Maile Way, Room E-402, Honolulu, HI 96822
Intranet • Credits