EPA Announces Student Winners of Make a Market Tech Challenge | US EPA

September 15, 2023

WASHINGTON- Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced five winners of the Make a Market Tech Challenge. The five student teams received a combined total of $15,000 for their innovative market assessments for new technologies developed by EPA researchers.

“The Challenge encouraged the next generation of entrepreneurs to develop new ideas for putting EPA research into the hands of our partners and community members,” said Chris Frey, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “The winning strategies for moving EPA technologies to the marketplace are thoughtful and creative ways to provide these products to the right users and ultimately help protect human health and the environment.”

When EPA researchers invent new technologies, EPA’s Federal Technology Transfer Act  program assists with patenting these new technologies and finding companies that are interested in licensing EPA’s products to put federally funded technology to use in real-word applications. EPA launched the Make a Market Tech Challenge to solicit innovative strategies for market assessments of patented and unlicensed EPA-developed technologies.

Through this Challenge, students expanded their scientific and marketing skills by working with EPA-developed technologies in a hands-on business environment to scope the best partnering strategy. EPA will use results from the students’ research to find partnerships for each of its technologies, which will lead to practical application of these technologies for environmental and public health protection.

The 2023 winners of the Make a Market Tech Challenge are:

First Place ($6,000)

• Esther Soon, Montgomery College, Rockville, Md., Selected Technology to Market: Water Contamination Detection Kit

Second Place ($3,000 each)

• Rasheevan Nair, Montgomery College, Rockville, Md., Selected Technology to Market: Water Contamination Detection Kit
• Nathan Sojourner, Nash Benton, Kolin Dhamelia, Serena Bauer, Daniel Powers, University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio, Selected Technology to Market: Carbon Traps to Deactivate Halogen Containing Pollutants

Third Place ($1,500 each)

• Miguel Granados, Montgomery College, Rockville, Md., Selected Technology to Market: Water Contamination Detection Kit
• Sena Hordoffa, Montgomery College, Rockville, Md., Selected Technology to Market: Portable Cyanobacteria Detection Kit for Recreation and Drinking Water Supplies

Learn more about the Challenge.

Learn more about EPA Challenges and Prizes.