Contest to award $20,000 to local innovative inventor

‘ ‘ ‘ Anybody want an extra $20,000? Anybody? ‘ ‘ ‘ Pittsburgh’s best technological… ‘ ‘ ‘ Anybody want an extra $20,000? Anybody? ‘ ‘ ‘ Pittsburgh’s best technological developers will compete in a new local contest, Pittsburgh Innovates, for a shot at the cash. ‘ ‘ ‘ From a bouncing yellow robot named Keepon (being developed by CMU grad student Marek Michalowski) to design and software studio DeepLocal’s text-message event-alert system, entries for Pittsburgh Innovates come from all walks of life. ‘ ‘ ‘ The contest, which is in its first year, is based on creativity and technology. Students, business owners and entrepreneurs with a fresh idea are encouraged to load entries to pittsburghinnovates.com. ‘ ‘ ‘ There, other people can rate submissions and help select the $10,000 winner. A panel of judges will also look over each innovation and select one to win $20,000. ‘ ‘ ‘ The contest is arranged by the Greater Oakland Keystone Innovation Zone, a development organization that ‘exists to support entrepreneurs from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh,’ said coordinator Kathryn Connor. By financially supporting local college graduates, the organization can help create more startup companies. ‘ ‘ ‘ Connor said the group had ‘talked about marketing technology in the region and educating the community.’ It thought ‘a contest would be a fun way for the average person to find out about what’s going on in technology.’ So began Pittsburgh Innovates. ‘ ‘ ‘ Each entry must have some kind of relation to Pittsburgh ‘mdash; whether it be that the inventor lives or attends school here, or it benefits or showcases the community. ‘ ‘ ‘ One such entry comes from Michele Migliuolo, the CEO of SD Medical. The one-month-old company specializes in medical devices and has created a portable oxygen concentrator to benefit people suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The illness causes diminished lung functioning, making everyday life difficult for patients. However, life quality can be drastically improved thanks to the concentrator, which was invented by Doug Galbraith of Waynesburg, Pa. ‘ ‘ ‘ The machine removes nitrogen from the air, making it easier for users to breath. While other similar devices are already on the market, Migliuolo insists his product is different. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Others are all the same. Ten pounds, noisy, low battery life. You can’t ask a 70-year-old who can’t breathe right to carry that around. They can’t go to church or a restaurant,’ he said. ‘ ‘ ‘ Instead, SD Medical’s concentrator is ‘the size of a dinner plate and quiet enough to use in the library. The battery lasts seven hours.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ When asked what he would do with the prize money, Migliuolo responds, ‘You call it a prize, I call it an investment.’ Migliuolo has plans to obtain FDA approval for the machine. ‘ ‘ ‘ Dan McVeagh, another contestant, has created the CompuTable, ‘a homemade 40-inch multi-touch display.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ The device uses a wide variety of applications created by McVeagh, including a photo gallery and games. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Unlike a computer, which can only respond to one mouse click at a time, the CompuTable can interact with 20 touches at once,’ he explained. McVeagh, a junior information technology and management student at Point Park University, started work on the table in January of 2007. Nine months later, he had his first prototype. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I saw a video of Bill Gates using a touch computer a few years ago. I knew that was the future. Then the fact that you could do it yourself really fueled the fire,’ said McVeagh. ‘Ever since the iPod Touch, multi-touch has gotten big buzz.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ If selected as the winner, McVeagh plans to start his own company called Multi-Touch Development Corp. and develop more products with touch technology. ‘ ‘ ‘ The fate of Migliuolo, McVeagh and other contestants is up to a panel of experts from technology industries that generally hire Pitt and CMU grads. Judges also include ‘local angels’ ‘mdash; area investment companies like Blue Tree Capital Group. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘They are the top people in their field, donating their time in hopes of finding new talent,’ said Connor. ‘Really, the money is only part of the prize. This is an opportunity to let the right people see your work.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Connor advised to potential applicants, ‘Push the envelope, don’t just show us something we’ve seen before. Great ideas come out of Pittsburgh all the time ‘mdash; it’s just a matter of putting it up on the Web site.’