CSL research team is a 2015 Cozad New Venture Competition Winner
5/22/2015 Preena Patel, TEC
Start-up PSYONIC, the winner of the University funded track, is creating highly advanced prosthetic hands at 10 times less cost to improve the lives of people with amputations worldwide.
Written by Preena Patel, TEC
This January marked the beginning of the 15th Annual Cozad New Venture Competition hosted by the Technology Entrepreneur Center at the University of Illinois. Nearly 100 teams applied for this year’s competition and competed through a series of rounds, including elevator pitches and the submission of portions of the Business Model Canvas. The teams were then narrowed down to 18 finalists that competed in the Finals Event this spring for nearly $160,000 in funding and in-kind prizes such as legal counseling, branding packages, incubator space.
PSYONIC, a start-up that formed out of work conducted in the research lab of CSL Associate Professor Tim Bretl (Aerospace Engineering), was selected as one of two 2015 Cozad New Venture Competition Winners. The start-up, which won the University funded track, is creating highly advanced prosthetic hands at 10 times less cost to improve the lives of people with amputations worldwide. PSYONIC is co-founded by Aadeel Akhtar, PhD candidate in Neuroscience, and Patrick Slade, junior in Mechanical Science & Engineering.