Entrepreneurs from New York and Toronto Selected as Regional Winners by Hardware-led Social Innovation Accelerator

Innovations in Affordable Clean Energy and Agricultural Efficiency
Win $30,000 (USD) and Technical Support at 2020 ASME ISHOW USA Virtual Event

NEW YORK, June 30, 2020 – The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has announced the regional winners of the 2020 ASME Innovation Showcase (ISHOW), the premier international accelerator of hardware-led social innovation. Eight socially minded teams of inventors from Canada, Chile, and the U.S. presented their design prototypes in a virtual event held June 23-25. Three inventors emerged as regional winners who will share $30,000 in seed grants and receive technical support to help bring their design innovations to market. They were announced earlier today in a virtual awards ceremony via web conference.

The 2020 ASME ISHOW USA winners are:

• Corridor Water Technologies (Toronto, Canada) for its “Passive Irrigation Controller” – a solution focused on controlling agricultural water use for farmers in developing countries with limited water resources. The team has developed a completely passive non-electric irrigation control system (PICS), which uses soil water potential (or soil pressure) to determine the optimal schedule to irrigate a farm.
• Reeddi Inc. (Toronto, Canada) for its “Reeddi Capsules” – a proprietary patent-pending energy generation and distribution technology system that integrates smart data harvesting and analytics technology. Operating a hardware-as-a-service (HAAS) model, Reeddi sustainably provides clean and reliable electricity at a very accessible price point for customers in Africa.
• Re-Nuble (New York, N.Y., U.S.) for its “Nutrient Delivery System” – a patent-pending nutrient delivery system producing fertilizers that are two times more cost-effective than the dominant soilless fertilizers and enables soilless farms to produce certified-organic food.

“We are proud to offer a forum for engineering problem-solving that truly improves lives,” said ASME Executive Director/CEO Tom Costabile. “We are continually impressed by the creative talent of ASME ISHOW participants and their passion for helping underserved communities around the world.”



In addition to the three grand prize winners, the product with the most votes in social media for each regional event is named the “Fan Favorite,’’ and receives $1,000 (USD). The fan favorite  prize is made possible and in memory of Byron G. Schieber Jr. M.S., P.E., Professor Emeritus QCCNY, and Ruth L. Schieber. The 2020 ISHOW USA "Fan Favorite” winner is Reeddi Inc.

Another finalist team was recognized with a special “Research and Development Award” for its diligence, social impact, and developing the next generation of hardware:

• re:3D® Inc. (Houston, Texas, U.S.) for its “Gigabot X” – a device that enables 3D printing directly from recycled plastic pellets or flake. The company is committed to significantly reducing the cost and scale barriers to industrial 3D printing, and pioneered the world’s first affordable, human-scale industrial 3D printer.

An esteemed panel of judges privately interviewed each of the eight ISHOW USA finalists as part of an extensive design and engineering review and then chose three hardware innovations as grand prize winners. ASME’s panel of judges includes successful entrepreneurs, academics, engineers, designers, investors, and industry representatives from leading organizations, including Villgro USA, Boeing, USAID, Cornell University, Very, and many others.   

ASME is grateful to The Lemelson Foundation for its continued support of the ISHOW as the Impact Inventing sponsor, and to ISHOW implementation partners around the globe.

All of the ISHOW USA finalists’ product pitches can be viewed on the ASME ISHOW website. ISHOW Kenya was held in May; ISHOW India took place in April.

Follow the journeys of ISHOW alumni including PayGo, QuickSee, SignIO, and others here.

         @ASMEISHOW  #ISHOW20  #ThisIsHardware

 

About ASME
ASME helps the global engineering community develop solutions to real world challenges. Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME is a not-for-profit professional organization that enables collaboration, knowledge sharing and skill development across all engineering disciplines, while promoting the vital role of the engineer in society. ASME codes and standards, publications, conferences, continuing education and professional development programs provide a foundation for advancing technical knowledge and a safer world.
For more information, visit www.asme.org.

        

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Media Contacts:

Monica Shovlin
MCShovlin Communications LLC (for ASME)
monica@mcshovlin.com
+1.541.554.3796