Cade Prize for Inventivity Announces 2023 Finalists

The 16th Annual Cade Prize for Inventivity has unveiled its fifteen finalists who will vie for $10,000 in various categories, including Environmental, Healthcare, Technology, Sports, and Wildcard. The awards ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday, October 14, at the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention in Gainesville, Florida.

Richard Miles, co-founder of the Cade Museum, expressed enthusiasm for the introduction of a Sports category, emphasizing the historical significance of athletic innovation to the Cade Prize's mission. Finalists will showcase their innovations in an expo-style format, engage in one-on-one discussions with judges, and later participate in live judging. Winners from each category will be announced, followed by the final five competing for the Grand Prize of $50,000, the Student Choice Award, and complimentary product consulting and legal services.

Key finalists include:

**Environmental:** - **Chemergy (Miami, FL)**: HyBrTec system converting organic and plastic waste into renewable hydrogen and green carbon dioxide. - **EZ Ag Innovations (Lakeland, FL)**: Smart Spray Systems, a technology for targeted pest management in specialty crops. - **Quornix (Bloomington, IN)**: Anti-virulence therapeutics for combating bacterial diseases in aquaculture.

**Healthcare:** - **CasNx (Gainesville, FL)**: CRISPR technology for safer organ transplants. - **Elias Sayour, M.D. & Adam Grippin, M.D.**: Cancer immunotherapeutic sensitization methods. - **NanoNeurosciences (Alachua, FL)**: Peptide-based nanomedicine for treating glaucoma and epilepsy.

**Technology:** - **CoFlow Jet Lift (Miami, FL)**: Jetsail technology reducing maritime fuel consumption. - **Flashpoint Building Systems (Boise, ID)**: A pre-printed layout solution for construction. - **Immunogenik (Gainesville, FL)**: CAR T cell therapy for aggressive cancers.

**Sports:** - **Boss Helmet (Jacksonville, FL)**: Helmet designed to minimize football-related head injuries. - **Mud Rat (Storrs, CT)**: Eco-friendly biomaterials for sports. - **Puttrax (Orlando, FL)**: A portable golf training and gaming system.

**Wildcard:** - **Crypto Tutors (Orlando, FL)**: A blockchain career training platform.