Sanskruthi Priya Guduri, a third-year student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Carle Illinois College of Medicine, won the Falling Walls Lab Illinois competition sponsored by Caterpillar Inc., today to earn the title of Illinois Young Innovator of the Year. Guduri also won an all-expenses-paid trip to Berlin to compete at the global Falling Walls Lab finale on Nov. 7.
Named after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Falling Walls Lab competitions give early-stage innovators a platform to share their work and network. Falling Walls Lab Illinois is presented by the Illinois Innovation Network, a group of 15 hubs across the state that aims to boost Illinois’ economy through entrepreneurship, research and workforce development. Most of the hubs are located at public universities.
IIN, led by the University of Illinois System, celebrated the Falling Walls Lab Illinois winners at today’s IIN Council meeting, where it also installed new officers and named its new executive director.
Kyra Hulse, a second-year student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Carle Illinois College of Medicine, was the competition’s runner-up, and Julian Kage, a junior in economics and pre-medicine at the University of Chicago, placed third.
“I’m very proud of my Lapsonix team,” Guduri said. “Our innovation speaks for itself. We recognized the need for better laparoscopic tools by talking to surgeons. Even though laparoscopic technology has been in use since the early 1900s, we haven’t fixed the most common problem seen with laparoscopic surgery. The idea came to me as I was driving home one day in the rain, watching rain bounce from the window, and here we are ready to make surgery safer. I am very excited about going to Berlin.”
Guduri earned the top prize with her presentation “Breaking the Wall of Global Surgery,” in which she shared her team’s breakthrough use of ultrasonic waves to clear the field of vision provided by a laparoscope during surgical procedures. A panel of judges made up of leaders from Illinois’ public universities selected Guduri’s presentation out of a field of 13 young innovators and entrepreneurs.
“Sanskruthi has done a great job identifying a significant problem in surgery,” said system Vice President for Economic Development and Innovation Jay Walsh. “As a bioengineer by training and having been associated with laparoscopic surgery since its inception, I am very pleased to see ultrasound used to clear debris from the camera lens at the end of a laparoscope. This innovation will solve a very real problem for surgeons and decrease operative time for the benefit of patients. There is no doubt that Sanskruthi will represent the University of Illinois System, the IIN and the entire state of Illinois very well at the global Falling Walls Lab finale.”
The competition, which solicited applications from early-career researchers, entrepreneurs and students across Illinois, included entrants from Bradley University, Northeastern Illinois University, Robert Morris University Illinois and Urbana-Champaign.
Falling Walls Lab is a fast-paced contest where competitors have three minutes to propose a research-based solution to a global problem. The winners of the 77 Falling Walls Lab satellite contests will be entered into the global Falling Walls Lab finale on Nov. 7 — the eve of the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. All finalists receive a scholarship that allows them to participate in the Falling Walls conference in Berlin.
IIN installs new officers, executive director
The IIN also approved a new slate of officers and recognized a new executive director at its fall council meeting. The IIN Council is made up of a representative from all 15 IIN hubs. Denise Cobb, provost at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, was named IIN Council chair, taking over from Leslie Roundtree, who retired as Chicago State University’s interim provost and vice president of academic and student affairs at the end of June. Joining Cobb on the IIN leadership team are Vice Chair Chris Merrett, dean for innovation and economic development at Western Illinois University; Secretary Craig McLauchlan, associate vice president for research and graduate studies at Illinois State University; and At-Large Member Laretta Henderson, dean of the college of education at Eastern Illinois University.
Additionally, University of Illinois System Associate Vice President for Workforce Development and Community Engagement Jeannette Tamayo was installed as IIN’s new executive director. She takes over for Associate Vice President for Economic Development and Innovation Kyle Harfst, who is retiring from the system on Sept. 30.
