Innovation Challenge awards $50,000 to InFluidS

InFluidS, a team of Cal State Long Beach students, won up to $50,000 in value for creating a business proposal for a computer program that could diagnose the lung disease, pulmonary embolism.

InFluidS was among four of the teams featured in the fourth annual Innovation Challenge at The Pointe in the Walter Pyramid Thursday night. The other three teams were Orbital Dynamics, TooferMe and Uncharted Innovations.

Each team presented in front of three judges for 15 minutes, where team members were asked business-related questions.

Shahab Taherian, InFluidS team member and doctoral candidate in engineering and applied mathematics, said 200,000 people die from pulmonary embolism each year.

“It is not because we don’t have good doctors; it is because it takes too long to diagnose,” Taherian said. “With the computer simulations, doctors will be able to diagnose pulmonary embolism and other lung diseases faster.”

Dean of the College of Engineering Forouzan Golshani said he was pleased with the four teams and their presentations.

“These have been the best finalists I’ve seen in the four years we’ve been running this competition,” Golshani said.

After the presentations, the judges deliberated for 30 minutes before deciding a winner.

Of the $50,000, InFluidS won $10,000 in seed money and an additional set of services worth up to $40,000 in value.

Interim President Donald Para and Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster were also in attendance at the Innovation Challenge, which was sponsored by the College of Engineering and the College of Business Administration.

“It is one of my favorite events of the year,” Para said. “It shows the creativity and innovation of the students here.”

Foster, who described CSULB as the flagship of the Cal State University system, said innovation “powers the economy.”

“On top of that, we come up with good ideas and something that will work,” Foster said. “The rates of adoption of new technology and new ideas is dramatically shorter than it was 20 to 30 years ago.”

Para, who agreed with Foster, said that innovation is significant to education and the future of the economy.

“Innovation and entrepreneurship is an essential part of education,” Para said. “Depending on what data you want to believe, about 40 percent of the jobs that will exist in 10 to 15 years do not exist today. They are going to be jobs that are created, and things like Innovation Challenge is a part of that forward and future motion.

Although the other three groups didn’t win any money, Golshani said there are no losers at the Innovation Challenge.

“There is no loss here,” Golshani said. “The fact that they went through the process; they gained a lot out of it. Side businesses have grown out of just being a participant … they are all winners.”