On Wednesday, April 10, 2019, the Skandalaris Center hosted the second annual Skandy Awards. The awards welcomed members of the WashU and St. Louis community to celebrate the innovative, creative, and entrepreneurial achievements of Washington University students, faculty and alumni.

The awards featured remarks from Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton and recognition of honorees by II Luscri, Skandalaris Center Managing Director and Assistant Vice Provost for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Jessica Stanko, the Skandalaris Center Assistant Director of Programs.

Skandalaris Center Awards in Creativity 

• Caitlynn Bohanon, LA’22 and Garrett Passamonti, EN’22 – for creating a new Immersive Experience Program as part of the new Bear Beginnings orientation.
• Arnav Kannan, BU’22 – for creating video content that captures the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship at WashU.

Skandalaris Center Awards in Innovation 

• Dr. Phillip Cuculich – Co-founder of Cardialogica Ablate Smarter. Cardialogica: Ablate Smarter is a way to fix heart rhythm problem non-invasively, with a beam of energy, in a single treatment under 10 minutes. Cardiologica is the intelligent software that shows you how.
• Dr. Jennifer Silva – Co-founder and CMO of SentiAR, Inc. SentiAR is a 3D augmented reality platform featuring real-time holographic visualization of the patient’s actual anatomy, “floating” over the patient.

Skandalaris Center Awards in Entrepreneurship 

• Ony Mgbeahurike, founder of the Good Soul Company, 2nd year MBA.
• Danielle Wilsey, founder of The Confluence, 1st year MBA.

Skandalaris Center LEAP Mentorship Award

• John Hardin – President of Acceleron, LLC and on the Board of Directors of Cognition Medical based in Boston, MA. John has 40 years of commercial leadership experience in the med-tech sector and was instrumental to the success of LEAP this year.

Skandalaris Center Excellence in Service Award 

• Cliff Holekamp, GM’01 – Outgoing director of the Olin Business School’s entrepreneurship program. Cliff taught the Hatchery and several other entrepreneurship courses during his time at WashU. 50% of the businesses in the Hatchery have launched and 75% are still operating today.

In addition the Skandalaris Center Awards, the Center also recognized students earning Honors and Scholarships, members of the Entrepreneurial Student Advisory Committee, and the winners and finalists of Skandalaris Center competitions including LEAP, the Global Impact Award, and the Skandalaris Venture Competition.

“The WashU community of innovators and entrepreneurs continues to grow due to the work of our honorees,” said Luscri. “I continue to be amazed by our students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Thank you all on behalf of the Skandalaris Center team.”

Photos from this year’s awards are available here.

Congratulations to all of the participants and honorees!