Beasley Media Group and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, unveiled the winners of the Media Innovation Hackathon initiative at CES 2019. The awards ceremony took place at 2 p.m. on Thursday, January 10 at the UNLV Office of Economic Development booth, located in Eureka Park inside the Sands Expo.
The purpose of the Media Hackathon initiative, officially launched in October 2018, was to generate potential commercial products and services utilizing existing media technology, data, and infrastructure, as well as to conceptualize the kinds of transformative, disruptive technologies that will become mainstream in the next 20 years.
Student teams spent the Fall 2018 semester detailing their visions of media innovation with guidance from UNLV faculty mentors. A panel of experts from Beasley Media Group and UNLV reviewed the proposals.
The winners received the following cash prizes provide by Beasley Media Group:
● 1st place: $5,000
● 2nd place: $2,500
● 3rd place: $1,000
1st Place Winner: Using AM/FM Frequencies to Charge Devices
Team members: Erick Serrano, Kristine Monsada, Matias Allietti, Ricardo Rodriguez, and Yuria Mann
UNLV faculty mentor: Natalierose Pennington (Communication Studies)
2nd Place Winner: Augmented Intelligence in Smart Cities
Team members: Edison Smith, Peter Hernandez, and Aldair Callejas
UNLV faculty mentor: Si “SJ” Kim (Entertainment Engineering and Design)
3rd Place Winner: Fernwell App for Tourism Using Social Media
Team members: Ricardo Guzman, Ashtin Hofert, Joshua Padilla, Francisco Reyes, Allie Ryerson, and Fausto Vega
UNLV faculty mentor: Bryan Blankfield (Communication Studies).
“We love the idea of smart and logical innovations to ignite our thinking as a media company preparing for the future,” said Beasley Media Group Chief Executive Officer Caroline Beasley. “Many thanks to UNLV and their next generation of brilliant minds for collaborating with us on the Hackathon initiative.”
“Part of UNLV’s Top Tier mission is to increase its community engagement, which is advanced through beneficial collaborations with industry partners,” said Zach Miles, UNLV Associate Vice President for Economic Development. “This collaboration with Beasley is one of these beneficial relationships, providing real-world opportunities for students, helping to solve industry problems, and potentially generating life-changing products and services for the general public.”
Photo: (L-R): Bruce Beasley, UNLV’s Dr. Mary Croughan, Consumer Technology Association Senior Director of Innovation & Trends (CTA) Ben Arnold, BMG’s Buzz Knight, UNLV students Erick Serrano & Yuria Mann, UNLV’s Zach Miles, UNLV Provost Diane Chase, and Brian Beasley
