Winners Announced for 10th Annual NH Social Venture Innovation Challenge


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The 10th annual NH Social Venture Innovation Challenge (SVIC) has concluded and we are pleased to announce the winning teams among ten finalist teams who advanced to the Final Round and presented live on Thursday, December 1, 2022. 

We could not host this transformational learning experience for NH's students with out the support of our many partners - thank you!

Major supporters of the 2022 SVIC include Impax Asset Management, Kennebunk Savings and Timberland; additional supporters include Unitil, Cirtronics, CCA Global, Prime Buchholz, Pete and Gerry’s Eggs, Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø Businesses for Social Responsibility, The Recycled Planet Company, and Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø ECenter Maurice Prize.

The SVIC is a collaborative, interdisciplinary event, organized at Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø's Changemaker Collaborative, a partnership of Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø's Sustainability Institute, the Peter T. Paul College of Business & Economics and the Carsey School of Public Policy. Additional collaborators include Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø faculty who embedded the SVIC into their fall courses, Ian Grant, Executive Director of Ò×ʤ²©¹Ù꿉۪s who served as advisor to many teams who advanced to the Final Round, and Greg Van Kirk, an award-winning social entrepreneur and Founder of Social EntrepreneurU, who led an intensive credit-bearing human-centered design course for students entering the SVIC.

 

Congratulations to the 2022 SVIC Winning Teams!

Coweed

Coweed is an aquaculture venture which will produce a bovine-edible supplement made from THM-rich seaweed, which will reduce methane production in cows.

Anthony Lotane, Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø 2025 | Philosophy
Sam Croteau, Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø 2025 | Analytical Economics

Advisor: Ian Grant, Executive Director, ECenter

 

Judges Award:
Best Articulated Problem

Halo

Halo is a date rape drug detector in the form of a smart ring that can sample the drink and log the data collected. 

Audrey Powers, Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø 2024 | Business Administration: Finance
Emma Pixley, Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø 2024 | Business Administration: Marketing

Taylor Burgess, Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø 2024 | Business Administration: Marketing and Management

Maddie Beaton, Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø 2024 | Business Administration: International Business and Economics and EcoGastronomy

 

Judges Award:
Most Original Innovation
Audience Choice Award:
Third Place

Enersave

Enersave utilizes smart home technologies to lower residential energy demand during peak load events, reducing emissions and saving ratepayers money.

Eli Duggan, Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø 2023 | Bioengineering
Imran Khan, Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø 2025 | PhD Candidate, Civil Engineering

Advisor: Taler Bixler, PhD Candidate, Civil Engineering

 

Judges Award:
Most Impact Potential
Audience Choice Award:
Second Place

Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø Aquaponic Initiative

The Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø Aquaponic Initiative is a proposed project to implement aquaponics - the process of raising fish and organic vegetables in tandem - at the state's fish hatcheries.

Alice House, Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø 2024 | Environmental Engineering
Noah Waldron, Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø 2024 | Environmental Engineering

Anna Gombas, Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø 2023 | Civil Engineering and German

James Wood, Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø 2023 | Environmental Engineering

Judges Awards:
Most Financially Sustainable Solution
& Most Impactful Story to Engage Stakeholders

Closed Loop

Closed Loop creates a more sustainable future for the aerospace industry by collecting carbon dioxide emissions to produce renewable jet fuel.  

Brett Schultz, Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø 2026 | Business Administration and Sustainability Dual Major 
Advisor: Ian Grant, Executive Director, ECenter 

Judges Award:
Best First-Year Student Submission

Electric Vehicle SCOUP 

The EV SCOUP is a reinvention of the sunshade that provides a supplementary charge to vehicles by utilizing the rays that hit it instead of reflecting them, all while keeping the vehicle cool. 

Clair Carroll, Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø 2023 | Business Administration: Management (Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø Paul) and Cinema and Media Arts (Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍøM) 

 

Audience Choice Award:
First Place

CRRS biofuel 

CRRS biofuel is a company aimed at outsourcing oyster mushrooms to produce a more sustainable transportation fuel.

Lilah Read, Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø 2025 | Neuroscience and Behavior (COLSA)
Jelena Rutter, Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø 2024 | Wildlife and Conservation Biology

Matt Corso, Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø 2025 | Anthropology and EcoGastronomy

Jenson Scott, Ò×ʤ²©¹ÙÍø 2023 | Business Administration: Finance and Entrepreneurial Studies 

Advisor: Jason Plant, Sustainability Fellowship

 

Audience Choice Award:
Fourth Place