Demo Day 2025 Awardees: The NeedFinders and the Moonshots!
Every year, Project Invent hosts Demo Day events across the nation—our capstone celebration and the culmination of a yearlong journey to invent for social good.
Over the school year, our student inventor teams work tirelessly to identify real community needs, design innovative solutions, and bring their ideas to life. At Demo Day, they pitch their prototypes to a panel of 4–5 STEM industry professionals and showcase their journey from first spark of inspiration to fully functioning prototype.
To recognize their hard work and creativity, four awards are presented:
Explorer Award – for teams that prioritized learning throughout the process
Needfinder Award – for those who truly listened to and understood their user
Product Pivot Award – for teams that overcame major obstacles and adapted their approach
Moonshot Award – for ideas that are notably novel or impactful
We are so thrilled to celebrate this year’s Demo Day winners across the country—students who have shown the true power of combining heart, community, and technology to create tangible impact. Please enjoy reading about their incredible projects and innovations!
When
Fri, May 16, 2025
Demo day NORCAL:
Where
Cloudflare
101 Townsend Street, San Francisco, CA 94107
A Cubed
Team A Cubed!! A group from California that focused their invention on accessibility and mobility in their goal to design a device that can help enhance grip performance with ease for those with atrophy.
Their Community Partner was Brian Bocott who is partially quadriplegic, with limited arm movement and almost no function in his hands. It was important to him to regain his mobility and vocalized his need to grasp and grab on his own.
Team A Cubed attended Demo Day NorCal in San Francisco, California and won the Moodshot Award for a notably novel or impactful idea!
Tiger
Team Tiger! A group from California that focused their invention on accessibility and mobility in their goal to design a device that can attach to any wheelchair to hold cups from the size of a Yeti to a shot glass.
Their Community Partner was Brian Bocott who is paralyzed from the waist down and stays in his wheelchair. Brain has struggled to find a sturdy and reliable cup holder for his wheelchair, expressing how they can’t hold the larger cups he likes, get in the way of his mobility, or snap under too much pressure.
Team Tiger attended Demo Day NorCal in San Francisco, California and won the Needfinder Award for really listening to their user and staying connected with their Community Partner!
Blockheddz
TTeam Blockheddz! A group from California that focused their invention on food and water safety as they put their minds together to design the PourMate! A device that allows the user to ensure the cup and pitcher are aligned so the water level never overflows in the cup.
Their Community Partner was Jimmy Uharriet who needed a better way to pour drinks. Jimmy was challenged with over pouring or spilling liquids when moving them to different containers.
Team Blockhedds attended Demo Day NorCal in San Francisco, California and won the Moonshot Award for a notably novel or impactful idea!
Team Cyher
Team Cyher! A group from Minnesota that focused their invention on community design to create a people pairing device! It's a device that connects people who don't know each other. It can be used with any one who has social issues in places such as work environments where clients don't have the courage to connect with each other.
Their Community Partner was the Kulture Klub Collaborative Minneapolis who was challenged with encouraging and maintaining collaboration. They needed a way to connect their new and existing clients in a way that would bring a social workplace.
Team Cyher attended Demo Day NorCal in San Francisco, California and won the Needfinder Award for really listening to their user and staying connected with their Community Partner!
When
Sat, May 17, 2025
DEMO DAY SAN DIEGO:
Where
E3 Civic High
395 Eleventh Avenue #6th floor, San Diego, CA 92101
The Rebels
The Rebels! A group from California that focused their invention on accessibility and mobility in their mission to help people with SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy). The invention is a claw-like tool, similar to elderly grabbers. It features two buttons for opening and closing, and one for folding it in half.
Their Community Partner was Cole, a young boy with SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy) whose muscles are not strong enough for him to walk. Cole struggles with lifting his arms above his shoulders but he loves to be physically active in games such as catch.
The Rebels attended Demo Day in San Diego, California and won the Needfinder Award for really listening to their user and staying connected with their Community Partner!
True North
Team True North! A group from Florida that focused their invention on accessibility and mobility in their goal to help individuals with impaired mobility. The Invention is a non-invasive neural headset that transforms intention into motion.
Their Community Partner was Andrew Smith, aged 73. Andrew is challenged with an unknown neurological condition causing freezing of the gait (Gait: a person's manner of walking). Andrew’s foot randomly stops moving which poses a danger while he’s walking on his own or with his dog.
Team True North attended Demo Day in San Diego, California and won the Moonshot Award for a notably novel or impactful idea!
Access for Hope
Access for Hope! A Team from California that focused their invention on community design in their goal to make narcan vending machines easy access. Their product aims to have flexible locations, narcan availability, immediate 911 access, and information of safety laws.
Their Community Partners came from The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Karrie, Kelly, Chasity, and Marsha all pitched in their voices to express how those struggling with substance abuse can’t easily access narcan. This leads to dire situations that could have been prevented.
Access for Hope attended Demo Day in San Diego, California and won the Moonshot Award for a notably novel or impactful idea!
Vitabridge
Team Vitabridge! A Team from California that focused their invention on accessibility and mobility in their goal to help the homeless medically. Team Vitabridge created a waterproof medication vault and dose tracking system for those without reliable homes.
Their Community Partner was Kendra Hines from Father Joe’s Village whose mission is to prevent and end homelessness, one life at a time. They found it was a common challenge for the homeless to keep their medications organized, clean, and secure on a regular basis.
Team Vitabridge attended Demo Day in San Diego, California and won the Needfinder Award for really listening to their user and staying connected with their Community Partner!
Demo day NEW YORK CITY:
When
Fri, May 30, 2025
Where
MSCI Inc.
250 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10007
Team Owls
Team Owls! A Team from New York that focused their invention on health and wellbeing in their commitment helping those who have tried and failed with therapy or cannot afford the care. Their invention, the OwlBot, is an assistive tool for psycho education, emotion tracking, and more.
Their Community Partner was JD and Hope, (A 9 year-old boy and his mom) and Yasmin Cole-Lewis Togun (a licensed child therapist). JD is a child that struggles with anxiety and has not been able to find therapy helpful. Through JD, Hope, and Yasmin team Owls was able to come up with an idea to reduce and comfort the effects of anxiety.
Team Owls attended Demo Day in New York City and won the NeedFinder Award for really listening to their user and staying connected with their Community Partner!
Harlem Children's Zone
The Harlem Children's Zone! A Team from New York that focused their invention on community design in their commitment to creating a Solar Powered Tent. The invention is designed to offer safe shelter and off-grid energy for unhoused individuals, providing light and warmth.
The Harlem Children's Zone focused their efforts on helping their community and taking on the challenge of helping homelessness in New York City. Homelessness in NYC has been at an all time high since the great depression, impacting over 350,000 people.
The Harlem Children's Zone attended Demo Day in New York City and won the Moonshot Award for a notably novel or impactful idea!
demo day LOS ANGELES:
When
Sun, May 18, 2025
Where
Marlborough School
250 South Rossmore Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90004
Revair
Team Revair! A Team from California that focused their invention on health and wellbeing in their commitment to creating Revair. Their invention is a new affordable and market changing vape detector striving to stop students from vaping.
Their Community Partner was Mr. Newman who advocates for the disuse of smoking devices and is concerned about the safety for teens that do use it. He believes that smoking is a big problem in most school districts, causing health issues for those who use and are around those who smoke.
Team Reviar attended Demo Day in Los Angeles, California and won the NeedFinder Award for really listening to their user and staying connected with their Community Partner!
Adhera
Team Adhera! A Team from California that focused their invention on health and wellbeing in their commitment to helping those who take prescribed medication. Adhera invented a medical device that aims to not only help people to remember to take their medication, but also make the process more enjoyable.
Their Community Partners were those who needed to take medication as prescribed. They recognized some individuals find it challenging to feel motivated to take their medication, while others needed the simple reminder throughout the day.
Team Adhera attended Demo Day in Los Angeles, California and won the Moonshot Award for a notably novel or impactful idea!
demo day HOUSTON:
When
Wed, May 28, 2025
Where
TMC Innovation
2450 Holcombe Blvd. #Gate 2450, Houston, TX 77021
The Sheer Geniuses
The Sheer Geniuses! A Team from Utah that focused their invention on community design in their journey to inventing the B.L.E.A.T. (Biometric Livestock Evaluation and Tracking). The B.L.E.A.T. is an individualized livestock feeding and tracking system targeted towards farmers with livestock.
Their Community Partner was the Utah State University Bastian Agricultural Center. They care for animals within their facility but it’s hard to keep track of animals as well as what, when, and how much they eat.
The Sheer Geniuses attended Demo Day in Houston, Texas and won the NeedFinder Award for really listening to their user and staying connected with their Community Partner!
The C.V.M.C. Equilibreans
The C.V.M.C. Equilibreans! A Team from Texas that focused their invention on accessibility and mobility in their strive to create a residential flood defence. Their invention is a system that sets aluminum barriers on the perimeter of property to protect the property from flooding.
Their Community Partner was Paulette Boxie who’s experienced challenges with her basement flooding while also expressing her grandparents face the same struggle with their front patio. She voiced her need and concern for an affordable way to prevent flooding.
The C.V.M.C. Equilibreans attended Demo Day in Houston, Texas and won the Moonshot Award for a notably novel or impactful idea!