Tracey McGillivray was the big winner, taking home the $25,000 ICAIR Power Play Innovative Start-Up Award
Tracey McGillivray was inspired to make RAYMEX when her father began falling regularly at home. After looking for products that could solve her problem and finding none, she co-founded Axtion Independence Mobility and created RAYMEX, a lift built into a walker. The lift has a seat that lowers to the floor, allowing people to get themselves back up after they fall, safely transfer to bed or the toilet, and pick things off the floor or even do hobbies like gardening.
McGillivray’s dream to help people like her parents received a big boost last week when she won the $25,000 grand prize in the Power Play Innovative Start-Up Competition at the International Conference on Aging, Innovation & Rehabilitation (ICAIR).
She was one of 12 researchers and entrepreneurs who won awards at the conference for their groundbreaking ideas, science and start-ups. ICAIR organizing committee chair and KITE Director Dr. Milos R. Popovic gave out the awards at the historic Carlu on the last day of the event, capping off a conference that brought together 500 attendees from diverse disciplines to network, learn and be inspired.
The other winners were:
The Power Play Pitch Innovative Start-Up Competition
- Second place: Rachel Bartholomew from Hyivy Health
- Third place: Haitham Shoman from Qalam Health Solutions
Dr. Milos R. Popovic presents The Power Play Pitch Innovative Concept Competition award to Kulmanak Bajaj for Wonder Guard, an AI-powered device that detects urinary-tract infections early using catheter bags.
The Power Play Pitch Innovative Concept Competition
- First Place: Kulmanak Bajaj from Wonder Guard
- Second Place: Nevena Musikic from Auryx
- Third Place: Tiange Li from Urotech
Dr. Milos R. Popovic (left) and Jonathan Stutte from Springer Nature Group (right) give the Three Minute Talk (3MT) Competition award to Damian M. Manzone.
Three Minute Talk (3MT) Competition
- First Place: Damian M. Manzone, for “Is augmented reality a viable option for at-home hand rehabilitation? Assessing perspectives from individuals with cervical spinal cord injury.”
- Second Place: Joana Dilipkumar, “Investigating the effect of capsaicin-induced central sensitization on contralateral motor unit excitation”
- Third Place: Lianna Montanari, “Using a spatial navigation task to identify preclinical cognitive decline”
Scientific Spotlight Series
- First place (Paper of the year): Marc Powell, ReachNeuro Inc
- Second place: David Moses, UC San Francisco
- Third place: Behrang Keshavarz, KITE Research Institute