Disclosure Competition
Are you a UNI community member with a novel idea or research you'd like to pursue? Have you noticed a product or process that can be improved?
UNI Business & Community Services, the Intellectual Property Team, and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs sponsor the annual UNI Innovation and Disclosure Competition to generate new ideas and disclosures across campus. The top five disclosures will win $500 each and receive additional support for their idea or research. Information about the next competition will be shared in the fall.
This competition is designed to be a preliminary step in the disclosure process, and disclosures deemed to have commercialization potential may be selected to continue in the formal disclosure process, separately from the disclosure competition.
2025 Winners
Lawrence Escalada
professor of physics and science education
Escalada has identified the opportunity to update the Physics Resources and Instructional Strategies for Motivating Students (PRISMS) PLUS high school physics curriculum to adhere to the new Iowa Academic Standards for Science. PRISMS PLUS is an internationally recognized high school physics curriculum resource developed by UNI faculty in collaboration with high school physics teachers. To better align with the new standards, the curriculum resource will be updated to include new physics phenomena that students can connect with, such as amusement park rides, toys and gadgets, sports and automobiles. The updated PRISMS PLUS, aligned with current Iowa Standards, will be used in courses at UNI and in workshops for existing teachers. Escalada is exploring the possibility of marketing these materials nationally through the National Science Teaching Association bookstore.
Magdalena Galloway
associate professor of instruction in the College of Education
Galloway is creating an AI-powered agent to improve student performance on the Foundations of Reading Test (FoRT), a teacher licensure exam required in Iowa and Wisconsin. The exam assesses pre-service teachers’ understanding of reading theory and practice and requires an essay that includes appropriate terminology and demonstrates accurate knowledge. The AI agent will provide an interactive coaching experience: critiquing responses, asking guiding questions that lead to improvement, and offering practical suggestions for revision. By combining targeted critique with reflective questioning and examples, the tool becomes a personalized, judgment-free learning partner in a low-stakes environment.
Terence Moriarty
assistant professor of kinesiology and physical education
Smart garments for physiological monitoring are rapidly expanding in athletics, military training and occupational safety, but existing products are expensive and not tailored for heat-stress applications. Moriarty will develop a low-cost heat-stress smart shirt prototype that integrates textile stretch sensors (for breathing rate), skin-temperature sensors, and heart rate monitors into a single compression garment. The goal is to capture real-time physiological responses during cycling/running or real-life labor simulations like firefighting. This innovation not only enhances data collection in UNI’s own heat-stress and performance studies but also creates a scalable tool for athletes, firefighters, soldiers, and industrial workers who need personalized heat-readiness monitoring.
Nashiru Muniru
graduate student in applied engineering
Muniru developed Tap-Dom, an AI-driven platform that brings together sustainable fashion, event discovery, and social impact. This early-stage platform connects consumers with ethical brands and local events through personalized AI recommendations tailored to each user’s interests and location. Initial pilot testing with over 20 vendors and 100 users demonstrated strong engagement, with vendor visibility increasing by more than 60%.
Josh Sebree
associate professor of astrochemistry and astrobiology
Caves are delicate systems that require minimally invasive methods of analysis to understand geological history. Sebree has discovered a crystal formation that rings with an audible noise when light shines on it. Photoacoustic phenomena such as this have never been observed in a naturally occurring large crystal formation. This award will allow him to develop a standard “through air” setup for doing these types of in situ non-destructive studies. Through a combination of 3D-printed parts and a circuitry program, the device can more effectively record the photoacoustic effects and apply them in the field to study some of the most delicate crystals that form underground.
Maddy Tarantelli
assistant professor of instruction in horn, School of Music
To help people learn to play an instrument more quickly and with greater facility, Tarantelli has developed a practice method that supports students in practicing on their own, rather than with specific concepts. This method breaks down learning scales using incremental steps, helping students hone foundational skills found in their music. This idea is part of a method book that will help students achieve success in their individual practice and overall musical fluency.
2024
Tom Britt
ED PSYCH
Britt is working on an app that will help users find other people to share outdoor recreational activities. For example, one module is “HoopQuest” to locate public basketball hoops. Other modules work the same way for pickleball, tennis, and other outdoor activities. Users can rate the locations on a variety of quality measures so that the community of users can find the best options for playing.
Dheryta Jaisinghani
COMPUTER SCIENCE
Learning to brush teeth properly is difficult for children and adults alike. Dentists indicate that almost a third of Americans do not follow the guidelines for good oral health. Jaisinghani is developing a smartwatch-based app that can track how well a person is brushing their teeth and give suggestions on improving technique.
Taraneh Matloob
EDUCATION
Building on recent successful projects that engaged children and encourage their interest in reading, Matloob proposed the project, “Storytelling Through Constellations,” which builds a bridge between science and literature. The goal is to encourage teaching science and literature in ways that connect with targeted groups of students.
Terence Moriarty
KINESIOLOGY AND ATHLETIC TRAINING
Smart watches provide a wide range of biometric data that can enhance training effectiveness—whether for general health or high-level competition. As a pilot project, Moriarty plans to use the Polar Vantage V3 to monitor athletes training for endurance events such as triathlons (swimming, cycling, and running). This project will examine three distinct sport activities and explore how smartwatch data, alongside additional performance metrics, can be used to optimize performance and minimize injury risk.
Penny Wang
LANGUAGES & LITERATURES
Wang is developing an app and online platform for parents to support mothers seeking to provide outstanding education experiences for their children while also maintaining a work/life balance for themselves. The app supports an online and mobile community for parents that enables parents to contribute their knowledge and skills to coach each other’s children and engage them with competitive and practical educational products to help develop not merely confidence, but mastery of key knowledge and skills.
2023
Semyon Drozdetckii
Program Assistant in the Department of Geography
Most of today’s maps focus on distance relationships, but time is another measurement that may define a space and one that depends on the mode of transportation available. Drozdetckii is working on maps based on indigenous people’s perceptions of space, focusing his attention on maps based on parameters other than distance.
Taraneh Haghanikar
Associate Professor of Literacy Education
Haghanikar’s new proposal involves an online system that allows users to create their own narration of a story through custom-made characters, actions, emotions, scenes, dialogues, music, sound effects, and plots. Partnering with the University of Chicago’s Data Clinic, the outcome will be an AI-equipped demonstration of the emotional patterns of characters in award-winning multicultural fiction books.
Nichole Harken
Assistant Professor of Instruction and Internship Director & Co-Director of Cornerstone
Making the transition into the “real world” involves many factors beyond simply knowledge of a discipline. This is why Harken plans to work on the development of programs that will help students in making the transition from student to post-graduate, working in their first job or professional program.
Thomas Hockey
Professor of Astronomy
This proposal takes Hockey out of his discipline and into an interesting area of Public Health. He will explore whether there is any link between patient response to the mRNA vaccines for COVID and history of vaccination or disease survival with regard to mumps, measles, chicken pox and/or rubella.
Terence Moriarty
Assistant Professor of Kinesiology and Physical Education
Moriarty has explored the use of virtual reality for exercise and improved cognitive functioning. This technology is of particular interest for people engaged in therapy for a variety of conditions, including breaking free of addiction.
Xinhua (Cindy) Shen
Associate Professor of Environmental Science
Shen is utilizing the Internet of Things and AI to develop a smart agriculture system. This involves deploying advanced sensors in agricultural fields to monitor soil conditions and plant health. Smart agriculture uses real-time data to help guide farmers in optimizing crop yields while reducing resource utilization.
Beth Dykstra VanMeeteren
Associate Professor of Literacy Education and Director of the Regents' Center for Early Developmental Education
Weight distribution and symmetry is varied by the child. Dykstra VanMeeteren is working on the development of a set of learning tools and table-top prototypes for preschool through second grade for children to explore balance and symmetrical distribution of weight.
2022
Taraneh Haghanikar
A challenge for teachers and librarians is evaluating multicultural books to identify which help promote diversity and overcome biases instead of perpetuating them. Haghanikar proposed a system using data visualization and artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze fictional diverse characters. It will inform users on diversity features and will improve with information from end-users.
Dheryta Jaisinghani
Developing effective social interactions that promote their learning is challenging for students. Jaisinghani proposed a smartphone app that helps students improve on their social skills, particularly those that engage in brainstorming and problem discussion with peers and professors.
Kirk Manfredi
Many pharmaceuticals, such as penicillin, have been derived from fungi and bacteria. Manfredi proposed isolating antimicrobial compounds from fungus. Fungi that may have unique new compounds are being analyzed from samples from caves (obtained from UNI’s Wind Cave Project) and insects.
Penny Wang
Learning a new language is difficult and the approach taken by many familiar language learning systems doesn’t support the development of natural conversation. Wang is working with collaborators in movie production to develop a virtual reality language class with voice recognition and 360 videos of real-world simulated situations. The initial system is for learning Chinese and will be extended to French and Spanish.