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BUFFALO, N.Y. —  The creators of an AI-powered tool to aid speech language pathologists took first place April 24 at the University at Buffalo’s Henry A. Panasci Jr. Technology Entrepreneurship Competition (Panasci TEC).

Hosted by UB’s Startup and Innovation Collaboratory powered by Blackstone LaunchPad, the event brought together UB students from science, technology, business and other disciplines to maximize their potential and create viable businesses in Western New York.

The winning team, PhD students from the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Wei Bo and Shuwei Hou, will receive $25,000 in startup capital and in-kind services valued at $40,000 for their company, SATE (Speech Annotation and Transcription Enhancer), which uses AI to save speech language pathologists time on manual annotation work, allowing them to focus on their patients.

The audio application is the first of its kind. Current tools for speech language pathologists rely on manual transcription, which can take days for humans to process. Using their patented AI process, SATE can generate annotated results in a fraction of the time.

Bo was inspired with the idea after she arrived in the U.S. to study and noticed some students received extra time for exams — a practice that wasn’t common in her home country of China. After digging deeper and discovering the accommodations were for students with speech and language disorders, Bo partnered with Hou and put their computer science skills to work to develop SATE.

“The Panasci competition was transformative. It not only helped us on the business side, but it also helped us improve our product, our algorithms and our vision for the future,” says Hou. 

Bo says the team benefited from the support of UB’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

“UB has been an incredible place for supporting student ideas, whether technical or entrepreneurial,” she says. “This experience pushed us to grow as founders and as individuals stepping onto the stage for the first time.”

In addition to $25,000 in seed funding, the winning team will receive in-kind awards valued at $40,000 for business counseling from Atlas Alignment Growth Partners; legal services from Colligan Law LLP; accounting services from Lumsden & McCormick LLP; website development and creative agency services from ThreeSixty; Intellectual Property legal services from Stake; and co-working space from the UB Office of Business and Entrepreneur Partnerships. 

In second place were Mariam Sadawi, MBA student from the UB School of Management, and Arianna Wink, MBA/MSW student from the UB School of Management and UB School of Social Work. The team will collect $10,000 for NIA (which rebranded overnight from HINT), a juice brand that provides freshly made, high-quality beverages using natural ingredients with no added sugars or artificial flavors.

UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences undergrads Jacob Velesko and Stephanie Brumbaugh took the Audience Choice Award and $1,000 for AGROWBOTICS, an autonomous robot that targets and eliminates weeds on small-scale vegetable farms.

Panasci TEC provided coaching and mentoring to participants to prepare them for their pitches.

Selected from a record 41 first-round pitches and 13 semifinalists, five teams of finalists delivered long-form presentations to judges and spectators on April 23. At the final event on April 24, they delivered 5-minute pitches, 43North style, to a panel of judges and other viewers, and were evaluated on how well they described the feasibility and marketability of their venture, proved the need for their product or service and presented potential sources of capital.

Other new venture ideas included a process that uses yeast bioengineering and natural plant products to produce small-molecule therapeutics; and an AI-powered mobile app that provides mental health support before, during and after therapy sessions.

In addition to the competition, organizers recognized the event’s 25th anniversary while celebrating the future of entrepreneurship and innovation at UB. Guests enjoyed free food from nine local “foodpreneurs” linked with UB’s entrepreneurial initiatives and engaged with the Queen City Connectors, a group of regional leaders who drive economic growth in Western New York. 

Hadar Borden, director, UB Startup and Innovation Collaboratory powered by Blackstone LaunchPad, and the Western New York Prosperity Fellowship program; and Thomas Murdock, clinical assistant professor of entrepreneurship, UB School of Management, served as masters of ceremony. Welcome remarks were given by Ananth Iyer, dean of the School of Management.

Judges for the final presentations were Lalit Goel, MUP ’90, MBA ’97, CEO, Aerostar Manufacturing; John Hannon, MBA ’87, PhD, founding director, Brook T. Smith Launchpad, Clemson University; Rachel E. Jackson, BS ’95, Esq., founder and general counsel, Realize Music, and managing partner, Jackson & Jackson LLP; Penelope Shihab Saidan, PhD, executive director for innovation and collaborative ventures, UB; and Trevor Titley, BA ’12, founder, The Ticketing Co., and co-founder/CEO, Good Looks Foundation.

Rounding out the evening’s celebration of entrepreneurship, 10 individuals received the Luminary Award, which recognizes friends of UB’s Startup and Innovation Collaboratory who have contributed support and guidance to students in their entrepreneurial journey, and assisted with the development of the campus-based entrepreneurship center. They are: Shonda Brock, StartSmartPlus; Pete Cimino, Lloyd Taco Trucks & Catering; Shanna Crump-Owens, BA ’94, UB Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program; Antonella DiGiulio, MM ’12, PhD ’21, Woom Management Inc.; Jacqueline Ghosen, MBA ’94, UB School of Management; Zack Glick, Zatik Security; Julia Jornsay-Silverberg, BS/MBA ’12, Bravery Beats; Sean Lewis, CEL ’10, SLC Advisory Group; Stephanie Peete, Say Yes Buffalo; Janna Willoughby-Lohr, Papercraft Miracles.

Panasci TEC was created in 2001 by the UB School of Management and the UB Office of Business and Entrepreneur Partnerships, and is funded with a $1 million endowment from the late Henry A. Panasci Jr. to facilitate and promote the commercialization of UB-generated technologies.