The 21 Fibonacci Finalists for the 14^th annual 2023 National Cade Prize for Innovation were announced Tuesday.

According to a Cade press release, the finalists will be competing to win $10,000 in their respective categories. The categories include Healthcare/Biomedical, IT/Tech, Energy, Agriculture and Environmental, and Wildcard. One of the five category winners will receive an additional $50,000 when selected as the Inventivity™ Grand Prize winner.

The final judging will take place on Sept. 28 at the Cade Prize Awards Ceremony at the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention in Gainesville.

This year’s competition also marks the first time that applications from inventors and entrepreneurs were accepted nationwide. Nearly half of the 21 finalists are from outside Florida. Prize applicants were submitted from 15 states that were affiliated with research universities, technology transfer organizations and the private sector with early-stage inventions.

“We were very pleased to see strong interest in the Cade Prize from leading research institutions across the country,” said Cade co-founder Richard Miles in the release.   

The Cade Prize, a capstone initiative of the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention, is named after Dr. James Robert Cade, Gatorade’s lead inventor. 

This year’s 21 Fibonacci Finalists are: 

• John Wilcox (Tennessee) founder of SMARTFUSION™ – A software system for insulin pumps that monitors insulin delivery for accuracy, infusion set failure, and provides data for improving infusion habits. 
• Ryan Myers (Massachusetts) founder of CranioSense – The intracranial pressure assessment and screening system (IPASS) under development at CranioSense, is noninvasive, easy to apply and interpret, and capable of providing screening and continuous monitoring in hospital and nonhospital settings. 
• Sarah Ostadabbas (Massachusetts) founder of AiWover –  Artificial intelligence (AI)-guided cloud-based baby monitoring system.
• Warren Marcus (Florida) founder of Curative Therapeutics for Type 1 Diabetes– Allows Type 1 Diabetics to regain a normal life by restoring their own glucose control system. 
• David Ostrov (Florida) inventor of Lactovid – Provides relief for acute and long-term COVID patients. 
• Jordan Sand (Wisconsin) inventor of Happy Scratch– Treats an underlying immune system deficiency to solve dermatitis in pets. 
• Charles Magee (Florida) inventor of Magnetic and Osmotic Inner Tube (MOIT)– Converts any air inflatable tire into a never flat tire (NFT). 
• Lina Gonzalez (Massachusetts) founder of High-Performance Materials Based on Engineered Cellulose-Producing Bacteria– A leather alternative material that does not require plastics to bring forward the performance. 
• Chuck Phillips (Arizona) executive officer of Nanoparticle Scintillators– A way to measure biological activity at the molecular level. 
• John Gradek (Kentucky) founder of Phosflow Pellets– Pellets that absorb phosphorus and ammonia and reused as fertilizer. 
• Quantum Wei (Massachusetts) founder of Harmony Desalting – Desalination processes that offers improved energy efficiency, waste reduction, scalability, flexibility, enhanced hardware design, and resource recovery capabilities. 
• Forrest Gauthier (Florida) inventor of Blue71– A system that encourages individuals to adopt a conservation mindset while empowering them to perform personal conservation activities.  
• David Pham (Texas) founder of Terra Pave– Solves the environmental, health, and efficiency problems associated with traditional paving materials by offering 100% eco-friendly, cost-effective, and superior alternatives. 
• Tolga Ercan (Florida) founder of Smart Traffic Sign– Vision-based communication for vehicles through QR codes.  
• Raj Gautam (Florida) founder of Analyz – Analytics and security for computer chips. 
• Dylan Davis (Florida) founder of Locus Vision– Digital spatial navigation device for the visually impaired.  
• Alexandre Titov (Florida) executive officer of ERAS (Extended Reality Art Studio)– Democratize art by providing an innovative solution that removes barriers based on age, location, physical space, wealth, time, and talent.  
• Paulo Cezar Lopez (Florida) team lead of 2000W Rapid Wireless power transmission system for electronic devices– Enables electronic devices to be compatible to receive wireless energy.  
• Scott Jewett (Florida) founder of Dual Axis Wind Turbine – Delivers a new type of distributed energy wind turbine that addresses the limitations of traditional wind turbines. 
• Siddharth Pannir (Massachusetts) founder of Adaptive Hydro– A way to electrify non-powered dams (existing dams that do not generate any power) across the US. 
• Mia Anderton (Florida) inventor of Glowby Lightbulbs– Energy efficient, very long-lasting rechargeable lightbulbs. 
  

The 2022 Cade Prize winner went to Rodrigo Griesi of Boca Raton, Florida. Griesi is the founder of NEPTUNYA which developed OCTOPODZ, a technology that unlocks renewable energy. The new wind turbine design of OCTOPODZ lowers energy costs through reduced weight and a floating design that eliminates the need for a separate foundation substructure.  

Visit https://cademuseum.org/inventivity/cade-prize/ to learn more.