Meet the DifferenceMakers

SmartEater is an Automated Diet Monitoring (ADM) System designed to help people manage their dietary behavior.

Happing Pinning is an effective, effortless device that clips clothing together.

Cyborg is a hybrid, cost effective, musical instrument, which has the ability to transform any object into a touch sensitive musical instrument.

Mayday upon activation can reach all emergency contacts in just a tap.

Lowell Sprouts is an organization that utilizes school gardens as a way to educate middle school children about the importance of sustainable, organic agriculture. Lowell Sprouts entered the DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge and won first place in the “Sustainable Environment” category, a $3,500 award.

An innovative way to harness and use hydrogen energy.

Masela Dentures creates a low cost alternative to expensive dentures.

A social media marketing co-op at financial firm MFS taught Nicole Resendes what goes into running corporate accounts.

Green Fertilizer technology aims to solve the problem of food insecurity in developing countries, like Uganda.

Smart Escape’s mission is to lead people to safety during a fire evacuation.

Solar Electric Vehicles allow people to travel by the energy of the sun.

ZHUUM is a mobile application platform aimed at helping owners across the food service industry drive out inefficiencies and reduce wait times.

SASS, also known as Solo-Adventurer Safety System, provides reliable GPS tracking and communication with a timed checking system to make sure the adventurer is always safe.

Word Builder is a fun toy that helps build a reading foundation for children.

Personalized Learning is a team that ensures students have the education that’s best for them in their college career by optimizing every student’s academic path.

USe Cart is a smart shopping cart that makes shopping faster and easier for customers, pushing self-checkout to a new level.

At the DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge, Healthy Habits won first place in the category “Significant Social Impact,” and was awarded $3,500 to further implement their idea.

Working to develop an efficient solar powered drone.

In the finals of the Idea Challenge the judges awarded PointStick, a product that gives tactile and kinesthetic feedback to patients for both correct spinal alignment and breathing mechanics, second place in the “First to Market” award category.

EV SmarT wants to create a charge sharing platform, where electric vehicle users can open up their home charging stations to other users, extending their ride times past what they are able to obtain today.

JamFuze is a tool that helps both artists and producers to find each other and become more connected for potential success.

Assessing and correcting rotational misalignments between the pelvis and thoracic spine.

WordPro is a vocabulary builder aimed at high school students learning a second language.

Guardian is a sensor platform that can attach to any commercially available drone for use in search and rescue operations.

AFED solves foot pain while also correcting posture.

Protected Pin is a software that randomly generates a new user PIN each time the banking app is accessed, creating safety and security for each user.

Nonspec participated in the first annual DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge where they received the prestigious title of “The Campus Wide DifferenceMaker” and the top award of $5,000.

Expect is an application that facilitates communication between referring facilities/emergency medical services and accepting inpatient/emergency units.

With an unbridled passion for learning, Sammy Santana is pursuing his numerous interests through the BLA program.

Breezy is a real-time air quality-monitoring device, which can be tracked through its cell phone application or online website.

Operation250 is an online platform consisting of an educational website, engaging videos and a large social media presence, focused on educating both young adolescents, parents and educators on how to prevent radical extremist recruitment.

ECG For Me is dedicated to stopping the harsh and fatal effects of an unexpected cardiac event with an integration software for a wearable device that detects underlying heart conditions before they are expected to occur.

Developing a robot tour guide to solve the problems of understaffing and poor customer service.

The BioBubbler is made from indigenous material and does not require chemicals or electricity to use. It is a slow sand filtration system that eliminates bacteria in water by absorption, predation, natural death and oxygen depletion.

Teach A Pal, otherwise known as T.A.P., is a team dedicated to helping student success through peer involvement.

ClassRoots is an organization striving to facilitate connections between students in the classroom and to share this with their instructors.

Developing a velcro piece that attaches to a garment and acts in the same way zippers do and can be used one-handed.

Terminus will solve the problem of food insecurity in the USA and beyond by by creating a system of multiple, stackable units that can grow food anywhere.

Learn a new language via a virtual reality platform.

After an increase of violence and hate crimes on the Asian-American community, Tommy Vi created a fusion of Asian flavors with Italian machinery and technique to create a new version of gelato in hopes of brining people together.

UML Green Roofs is attempting to provide secure green outdoor locations for the students at UMass Lowell.

Sandi DeRuntz invented ZipperBuddy, an aid for people with disabilities, through an interdisciplinary class and DifferenceMaker.

Support our Students (SOS) is a nonprofit organization that addresses the issue of hunger in the UMass Lowell community.

Developing a program to automate order-taking for coffee chains.

Indoor Hydroponic System ensures an optimal environment for plants.

invisaWear is a discrete wearable device that connects to a smart phone that sends an emergency alert to predetermined contacts when the wearer is in need.

The Hydraulic Walker utilizes hydraulics, allowing for the legs to be quickly adjusted, so that it can be used on stairs.

The TrueFIT design can be used to help employees in various industries, like construction, healthcare, and more.

eNABLE is an international organization that makes 3D printed prosthetic hands for children in need.

Empowering the filmmakers of tomorrow by educating them through real-world experiences.

Apple a Day is a fun product that makes the process of taking pills more efficient.

ThermoEXA reduces energy costs and is aiding the environment.

An interactive educational experience that introduces people to some of the most famous minority inventions and inventors.

A website and phone application that connects people with plans, events and small businesses nearby.

Maddie Gear’s favorable first impression of UML steered her to a marketing co-op position at CarGurus.

Playable Therapy connects video games and physical therapy.

Taking the challenge out of finding the correct information regarding rent in your area.

Clot Catch is developing a new design to replace the current inferior vena cava (IVC) clot filters that are currently on the market.

Tendren is a wristband that monitors a patient's vitals while they are in the hospital waiting room.

Over Terrain Tactical Scuba Personnel Delivery Service crafted a solution to New England’s unforgiving terrain by creating a device that would either assist by moving the diver’s gear for them, or even moving the diver into the dive spot that they need to reach.

Mass Heartbeat is an organization focused on screening children and young adults for heart conditions and anomalies to ensure they seek treatment before any undiscovered issues occur.

Fresh Beets is a food truck and music venue based out of Lowell, Ma. that unites food, music, education, and revelry into one vehicle of change.

TermaGreen is a thermodynamic generator that captures heat and converts it into energy that can be reused.

UMass Lowell Japanese Student Association (UML JSA) is a student organization that aspires to promote greater awareness of Japanese culture throughout the University of Massachusetts Lowell community.

Vertical green walls reduce carbon dioxide and increase oxygen levels.

VieVest is a creative design that will protect athletes during weight lifting workouts.

Buddies Without Borders aims to bridge the gap between domestic students and international students.

YPG will aid the COVID-19 pandemic, while also helping the environment.

Jonathan Aguilar ’21 started a 3D printing company as an undergrad that he now runs at the Haverhill Innovation Hub.

Ariel Shramko is growing food for Earth and beyond.

Project Starfish is an effective, non-invasive, and cost-effective prosthetic hand for people with disabilities.

Hoppers was designed to help children build social skills and problem solving skills.

A summer co-op job with the DifferenceMaker program gave Nick Jarek a wider lens on his future career.

DEXTER is aiming to help reduce the costs financially and environmentally to fruit farms by improving the efficiency of spraying pesticides on farms, and to helping to reduce the financial strain that comes with dumping the pesticides over their crops.

Bio-Printing with Multimedia Curriculum is a cost effective 3D bio-printer for comprehensive and effective use in teaching the emerging science of 3D bio-printing.

Supporting mental health services with an education program to help children affected by the genocide in Rwanda.

Seeking to solve the problem around social media and the mental health crisis.

The Vital Sensing Patch is a remote, all in one vitals monitoring device, that will be affordable to consumers and usable from anywhere.

Spread the Love is an online platform that would consist of personalized lesson plans for struggling schools that cannot afford the resources that they need.

Grab a Bite received "Fan Favorite" at the Inaugural DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge, pushing them to the final round where they won the title “First to Market” and were awarded $3,500 by the panel of judges.

DigiBank is a software solution that aims to rid the world of pocket change.

This smart outlet device will save children’s lives.

Drawn to UML by the DifferenceMaker program, business major Cameron Famiglietti is now paid to help market it.

App that keeps track and notifies Muslims when it is time to pray.

RE-VIVE aims to lessen the fatalities associated with the opioid epidemic. The product consists of a wearable auto-injection system to administer Naloxone to those suffering from a drug overdose.

Helping bring together all entrepreneurs and creatives alike.

Tom Stranberg rounded out his business degree with co-ops at the Boston Federal Reserve and Wayfair.

Low Income Community Homework Center plans to improve test scores and the graduation rate of high school students.

ETRALock is a team focused on helping individuals with physical limitations, get into their homes using smart locks with simple proximity activation.

An SMS Lifeline and smartphone application to prevent relapses in substance abuse.

ConnectKnee strives to accurately track the recovery of a patient with a knee injury, while saving time and money.

Veteran's QRF is a web platform that will simplify the application process for service connected disability benefits.

NerdOnyx is a web-based learning tool that will provide articles, videos and other resources to enhance the learning of engineering students and help bridge the gap between the classroom and the industry.

OmniSense is performance tracking for athletes, giving users a low cost option of tracking lifting metrics.

Developing a way to use uses high-voltage plasma to find contaminants using spectroscopy.

As she begins her career at Fidelity, Yeaharne Hout sees how transformative her UML experience has been.

Working to create a product that enhances safety in EV vehicles and prevents EV fires from starting.

BASH plans to create and implement a new waste management system for the city of Les Cayes, Haiti.

NavLens will help those who are visually impaired by providing navigation in these unfamiliar areas as well as supplemental audio-visual cues to avoid obstacles.

Create more financial stability and less frustration about finances by educating people on how to best use their money.

Ambulatory Innovations brings the outdoors in, with a mat that will allow physical therapists to treat their patients’ deficits throughout the body, from the musculoskeletal system to sensory systems.

A functional textile fabric company, which is eco-friendly and will assist in agricultural and horticultural means.

Organizes important documents in one workspace and allows users to simply tailor their resume for each job application.

MyGrow Fabrix is an environmentally friendly solution when growing crops.

Developing software to those who struggle with traditional communication methods to express feelings and achieve a higher level of emotional connection with whom they are speaking to.

Bar Scene is a mobile app that serves as a one stop shop for all things night-life and entertainment.

Votecational is a non-bias informational platform, which allows voters to receive crucial information regarding elections.

A series of mentors helped Cleidir Mendes thrive at UML — and land a job at Fidelity Investments.

QBell is a mobile application that improves upon the current nursing call bell system.

Iron Legion, the 2018 Campus-wide DifferenceMaker, is a team aiming to expand the effective use of drone technology in emergency response, particularly with police departments.

Happy Heart Cart is a program that provides advanced therapeutic and holistic practices to improve patient stays in adult hospitals

A “Robot for the Visually Impaired” (RAVI) to help assist in navigating daily life for people with visual impairments.

Love of the Game will unite universities and people with physical and cognitive disabilities through sports.

VotED works to put the knowledge back into the user’s hands and create a platform that gives all of the information necessary on upcoming candidates and elections.

Playtlist is dedicated to helping those with dietary restrictions work around their food restrictions when eating out.

TopaCan is a product development company whose first product turns any empty can into an environmentally friendly way to dispose of cigarette butts.

After a three minute rocket pitch to a panel of alumni judges Philip Colangelo's Robotic Feeding Arm was awarded first place in the “Innovative Technology” category, $3,500 award.

Developing a device to sense when toddlers are about to have a nocturnal asthma attack.

Jeurys Santiago credits his entrepreneurship classes and experiences with helping him launch his networking and marketing company, Minds With Purpose.

Developing a solution that consists of an impurity concentrator and a reverse osmosis filter to detect and localize the impurities in water.

Inspired by Assoc. Teaching Prof. Deborah Finch, Adam Basma published his first novel for his senior Honors College project.

Developing an open-source software to protect user data privacy.

OTTOnomous Technology is a novel solution for replacing camshafts in car engines with electro-mechanical actuators.

Developing an independent messaging service and leveraging a corresponding new cryptocurrency.

The goal of Digital Life is to develop an affordable solution for those in need.

Richard Juknavorian ’98 volunteers online and in person to support students. He raises money for scholarships, mentors students and serves as a judge at symposiums and events.

Benji Ball, the 2019 Capus-wide DifferenceMaker, is a baseball training tool for children that is composed of a bat and ball with the ball having multiple sides, each side showing the different outcome of an at bat.

StockToMe is the first stock opinion community, where anybody can post an opinion about a stock.

Wonder Wheel is a novel device that will aid wheel chair users.

An affordable device that integrates with permanently mounted security window bars, allowing removal in an emergency.

Taking preventive actions by alerting athletes when they possibly experienced trauma to the head.

Security Top is a reusable bottle cap designed for the purpose of increasing the prevention of contaminates entering a bottled beverage.

KEnDERS Body Armor is a new design for sports equipment using shear-thickening fluids.