Loyola student and professor receive $100,000 in technology grants
A Â鶹Porn student and a faculty member received Technology Advancement Grants of $50,000 each as part of the Baltimore Innovation Initiative by TEDCO, the Maryland Technology Development Corp. The Baltimore Innovation Initiative works to promote an equitable innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem at higher education institutions in the region.
Charles Engler, ’27, a finance major and innovation and entrepreneurship minor at Â鶹Porn, will use the grant to expand his 2023 business startup, Luminova Beauty LLC. The award will support the development of an artificial intelligence-powered skin analysis software that provides users with personalized skin care assessments using real-time or uploaded photos. The platform analyzes the photos to assess facial skin, including pore size and skin type, and provide product recommendations. Last year, Engler received a Pava LaPere Innovation Award and $50,000 to support his business.
Nina Guise-Gerrity, MBA ’18, assistant teaching professor of philosophy, will use the grant to continue development of CHEERIOO, an employee recognition and reward platform and mobile app for businesses with field-based workers primarily in the construction, real estate, and service industries. The platform enables managers and peers to recognize co-workers for their work in real time using company-defined values and personalized rewards. Guise-Gerrity graduated from Loyola’s Baltipreneurs Accelerator in 2023, where she received the $5,500 Hustle Award recognizing her progress developing another platform and app.
TEDCO’s Baltimore Innovation Initiative seeks to advance technology toward commercialization of a product or service and support entrepreneurs developing technology-based ventures. Last year, Wendy Bolger, founding director of Loyola’s Simon Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, received $50,000 supporting the center’s Baltipreneurs Accelerator, and Michael Tangrea, Ph.D., MEIF-endowed professor of biology and innovation at Loyola, received $40,000 to support commercialization of a cancer diagnostic technology he co-invented.
Â鶹Porn’s Sellinger School of Business and Management in Baltimore delivers an internationally recognized Jesuit business education. Recognized for its scholarship, ethical leadership, and tradition of excellence, the Sellinger School delivers a wide range of sought-after fields of study including nine undergraduate majors and 13 undergraduate minors as well as full-time, part-time, and fully online MBA and Master of Accounting programs.