Tag: Innovator

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Nouvo

August of 2016 changed the lives of my closest friend Amaury Saulsberry, who I consider to be a brother of mine. He created Nouvo shortly after his younger brother was diagnosed with a severe case of GERD, commonly known as acid reflux. It took about four months for him and his family to get the proper diagnosis, and by the time they did 80 percent of his brothers esophagus was damaged.

This led to the beginning of Nouvo. Nouvo is a healthcare tech startup that has created a smart pacifier that monitors  pH and temperature levels in infants saliva as a biomarker for acid reflux. The scope of the technology goes beyond just that as this data of the child’s vitals could potentially pinpoint many other ailments. This smart pacifier is patent.

This is our smart pacifier and integrated app

Through the University wide resources Amaury and the team were able to get act on entrepreneurial endeavors. Course in TEC, BADM, ARTD, Engineering  and even attending workshop and office hours for EIR ( Entrepreneurs In Residence) at the Research Park helped Nouvo get started. We were able to create our first working prototype with resources and skills learned here at the university.

Even now we’re finding more and more helpful resources the university has to offer. We’ve been able to accelerate our rapid prototyping with the use of Fusion 360 and the maker lab 3D printers. We’ve also upped our fabrication by utilizing the tools at the FabLab. They have a wide range of filament options, laser cutters, and milling machines. We were actually able to use the milling and 3D printing at the FabLab for the circuit board that housed our prototype. These Helped us be one of the health marathon winners this year.

To date Nouvo now has a team of six. All of whom are fellow students ranging from engineering to industrial design backgrounds. The advisory board is comprised of doctors, an FDA lawyer, financial specialist, and much more.

  • Nouvo at TechNexus

  • Nouvo at Think Chicago Roadshow

Nouvo showcasing at EoH 2019

Currently Nouvo is awaiting patent acceptance and the FDA approval process. The product is considered to be a class II device and could take upwards 9 months. During this time we are working on developing our other connected health products. We are working on acquiring additional funding that will go towards perfecting our MVP.

Links to a few of our featured articles

IL Startup Nouvo Is Making a Smart Pacifier to Diagnose Sick Infants
2019 Health Make-a-thon

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/2018-07-29/wired-amaury-saulsberry.html

https://foxillinois.com/news/local/startup-social-gives-sneak-peek-at-student-innovations


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Week 5

This week we were introduced to four guest speakers: Sneha Subramanian from the Illini service dogs, John Hornick author of “ 3D Printing Will Rock the World”, Jeff Ginger from the CU Community Fab lab, and the Illinois Informatics Institute. We began with a brainstorming session with the Illini Service Dogs. We specially were looking at areas of opportunity with improving disabled users independence with service dogs. Ideas bounced around and some really interesting things came from this. After the brainstorming session John Hornick brought so much of the 3D printing industry to our attention. There are so many trends out there, but John emphasised 3 main trends. One of which is that 3D printing spurs innovation, it also increases democratization. Lastly 3D printing is full customizable. I personally really enjoyed all the different innovative projects globally that John mentioned to us.

Jeff from CU community Fab lab gave a very energetic and passionate overview of the lab itself. He told us of all the resources and network we have here on campus. He then went into showing some of his personal projects, all produced at the CU Fablab. He designed this really cool solar power laptop case that charged his laptop. He also created this octopus dongle sort of thing that has every plug in port you could think of. Jeff seems to really be passionate about innovation and I though his overall presentation was inspirational.

After the guest presentation we were given on from our TA Mehmet Aydin on Design Thinking. During his presentation he introduced us to the Design Thinking Modules. You have Inspiration- Ideation- Implementation model. You then have Empathy- Define ( we focus on defining the opportunity from an empathetic standpoint. Then you have Prototype- Test phase. Mehmet also mentioned the idea of diverging, converging and repeating the entire process. You have to just do it. It kind of ties back to last weak guest Mike Henson statement of, “ Fail early, fail often.” The design process is a process of decision making and doing things. You have to ideated on an idea and act on it. Fail and fail and through each failure new innovation ill emerge.

Once Mehmet’s presentation  we broke off into our teams to do a “Stories & Experience” exercise. The task of the exercise was for us to look at our interview Q/A and diverge deeper insight from them.We were able to really figure out our users frustrations, emotions, limitations, pretty much the good and bad. Solicestice in particular, was able implement the experiences of the user to create more value with our potential product. It gave us a framework to further structure of customer discovery and validation of the idea itself.



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Finding Creative Confidence and Inspiration

Finding Creative Confidence

One of my biggest concerns of taking the Digital Making Course is my ability to be creative. There is so much fuss around the world about needing to be innovative; about how we should be changing the world. However, I never truly believed that I have the ability to leave such an impact through a creative idea. This lack of confidence caused me to feel nervous about the course. Yes, I wanted to learn about the overall process of designing a product. Yes, I wanted to learn how to use computer-aided design (CAD) software. Yes, I wanted to learn how to use a 3D printer and successfully be able to print an object. But I wanted to do more. With the help of the mentors, the professor, and the fellow students, I wanted to design a product that will bring a positive impact on someone else’s life. Yet, how am I supposed to do that when I do not even believe in my ability to do so?

Thankfully, the course began with learning about different mindsets necessary to be a successful designer, one of which was “Creative Confidence.” The concept of this mindset is that a designer needs to believe in oneself’s ability to have big ideas and act on them. Throughout the journey of designing, there will be many ambiguity and failure, but that doesn’t mean I should give up. I just need to continue to explore different ideas and learn from the failures. It may be easier said than done, but learning about such mindsets allowed me to be less nervous and be more excited about the journey.

Finding Inspiration

With my upgraded mindsets, I was eager to meet the mentors and learn about their stories. I was ready to be inspired. The meeting began with Adam, who showed the class around the Disability Resources & Educational Services (DRES) facility.

At DRES facility, you can find a wall of Paralympians who have competed in wheelchair racing.

It was amazing to see the training equipment that is used, a timeline of racing wheelchairs showing the evolution hanging from the ceiling, and a workshop where innovative ideas to help the athletes come to a reality. Along the tour, we were introduced to Ariel, who shared her story of 3D printing the wheelchair racing gloves and distributing them around the world at a more affordable price for the customers. Afterward, we were introduced to Ryan, Jenna, and Ron, who openly shared about their experiences with wheelchairs, prosthetic legs, and meeting others with similar experiences.

Even before meeting them, I knew that I would gain inspiration from them. But they surpassed my expectations. I wasn’t aware how much of an inspiration they would provide. I felt that every single experience that they shared were valuable, leaving me frantically taking notes throughout the whole session. One of the most important points that were brought up during the conversation was the problem of affordability. It is mostly not the technology or the idea that is lacking in today’s word, but it is more so that these innovative products are not really affordable right now to the majority of the people who they are created for.

From the conversation, I was able to immediately come up with several ideas that I would like to explore down the road. Not only did it raise my eagerness to dive into the project, but it also raised my confidence. Unlike my worry before, I was already developing multiple ideas, demonstrating that I am more creative than I think.

The conversation also changed my perspective about innovation. It’s not about changing the world. Rather, it’s about improving someone else’s world. Even if it makes a difference in a few people’s lives, that is completely fine. As long as you design for the people and create an idea or a product for them to improve an aspect of their lives, you are an innovator. After all, isn’t that what human-centered design is all about?