The Erie Hack competition is over, with $40,000 and consulting services awarded to Micro Buoy, a team from Wayne State University in Detroit. The team’s idea is a nano-sensor that can be attached to a buoy that will be able to detect temperature, lead, and nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen. Wednesday’s final was the culmination of a months-long competition that started with 37 teams from around Lake Erie. The winner was chosen from nine finalist teams from Detroit, Buffalo, Cleveland, and Toledo.Extreme Comms Lab, a team from the University at Buffalo, placed 2nd with their network of aquatic sensors. Water Warriors, recently profiled by Great Lakes Today, placed 3rd. University of Michigan-based team Purily took the 4th place prize for their mobile app that would allow residents to track their water usage and earn rewards from local businesses.Each prize includes cash and dedicated funds for support services – money to invest and help each idea get off the ground. Wednesday also marks the end of a two-day summit featuring keynote speeches and discussion with representatives from the Ohio EPA, NASA, Ohio Sea Grant, the Joyce Foundation, IBM, and Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality.“Erie Hack has given us a very big platform to make this sensor,’’ said Micro Buoy team member Nirul Masurkar in statement.“Now we’d like to implement this in the real world.” Copyright 2017 Great Lakes Today. To see more, visit Great Lakes Today.
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Erie Hack grand prize goes to Wayne State team
