The Zoner Team places first at the 13th Annual Innovation Challenge
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Laili Shahrestani Editor-in-Chief
On March 25, the O’Malley School of Business (OMSB) at Manhattan University (MU) hosted the 13th annual Innovation Challenge, an event where various student entrepreneurs develop a well-generated product or service, which is then pitched in front of a panel of judges. This year, a total of five different teams went head-to-head, with the top three winners receiving cash prizes.
All students from various academic disciplines were encouraged to participate. Hany Guirguis, Ph.D, the dean of the OMSB, expanded on this and shared his insight on why he thinks the Innovation Challenge leaves an impact on the campus community.
“The Innovation Challenge highlights the power of collaboration by bringing together students from Engineering, the Kakos School of Arts and Sciences and the O’Malley School of Business to work on shared, real-world problems,” Guirguis wrote in an email to The Quadrangle. “By combining technical expertise, analytical thinking and business strategy, the competition reinforces that strong ideas are best developed through interdisciplinary teamwork.”
The first-place win went to “Zoner,” a real estate intelligence platform that is specifically geared towards property developers and even first-time homebuyers. This innovation is meant to assist in finding places for people to live that align with their own personal needs and priorities.
Ashlee Okunoke, a senior computer science major, David Kema, a senior management information systems and supply chain management major at Rutgers University and Bryce Knight all serve as part of the Zoner team. Okunonke, who first spearheaded the company, spoke a bit more in depth about what drove her to do so.
“Every state, town and even certain parts of neighborhoods have different zoning patterns, zoning laws and new infrastructure parts that are coming to the area,” Okunonke said. “We take that all into account to tell if you’re interested in things like commercial real estate, luxury apartments, affordable housing … So it’s a very personal platform at the end of the day.”
As Zoner placed first in the competition, Kema gave extra insight as to what made the team’s presentation stand out to the judges during the Innovation Challenge, ultimately leading Zoner to victory.
“There were a couple of teams that also had competition traction… one team had $100,000 in capital already, but they weren’t able to answer a couple of questions from the judges,” Kema said. “However, we did these interviews for the purpose of trying to make Zoner better for the coaches and for the understanding of our consumers. And I think that has been a big contributing factor to our victory.”
Going forward, Okunonke expressed that she hopes to take Zoner to the global stage, and is striving for it to develop into a household name. With a grand prize of $5,000, Okunonke spoke more in depth about how she and the team will utilize this money.
“This is just the beginning,” Okunonke said. “We’re really trying to become a household name. When you think of Zillow, I want you to also be thinking of Zoner as well… We have a business account already, so the check is going straight into that. And we got into the Web Summit, it’s an international exhibition in Portugal… we’re going to bring Zoner to the global stage.”
In addition to Zoner, second-place in the competition went to Anthony DeCastro with “Rest and Dress,” an AI powered smart closet designed to make the process of choosing what to wear easier and more time-efficient. DeCastro is a junior marketing and management major, and presented his idea to the judges as a solo project — the only solo project within the challenge.
“I was really proud of placing second, and honestly I didn’t even realize I was the only solo project at the time,” DeCastro wrote in an email to The Quadrangle. “That made the recognition even more meaningful and motivating for me.”
When it comes to the future goals of Rest and Dress, DeCastro plans on continuing to develop his innovation, as a way to keep allowing people to have more ease in their day-to-day lives, through the usage of modern-day technology.
“I definitely plan to continue developing Rest and Dress,” DeCastro wrote in an email to The Quadrangle. “I hope it can eventually help people save time, reduce decision fatigue and make getting ready each day more efficient and personalized.”
The third-place win was given to Wave to Energy Breakwater. This team consisted of the three individuals present at the Challenge: Manahill Gohar, a senior mechanical engineering major, Augustus Calamari, a senior business management major and Isaiah Merisier, a senior electrical engineering major. Other team members who were not present at the event yet helped behind-the-scenes were Steven Aquino, Eze Barrah, Kevin-Loha Pillco and Tenoch-Velazquez Maceda, all under the advisory of Bahareh Estejab, Ph.D, associate professor of mechanical engineering.
Gohar gave a brief description of her team’s innovation, and how it previously stemmed from the work of Estejab.
“Our advisor, Estejab, had worked on this competition [The Marine Energy Collegiate Competition or MECC] for a year or two now,” Gohar said. “We basically refined her idea… But it’s four barrels that come together and rotate like a water wheel, and use the rotational motion of the barrel to power a generator, which can then be used to provide electricity in a reliable and cost efficient manner… converting salt water into fresh water.”
With the team placing third in the competition, many on the Wave to Energy Breakwater team expressed that they were filled with joy once the results were announced.
“I was over the moon, because I’ve personally never won anything before,” Calamari said.
With a $3,000 prize, Calamari shared what the money will go towards for his team.
“We decided to divide up the money, so half of it will go towards the mechanical engineering department, and to our advisor, Dr. Estejab,” Calamari said. “And because there’s six of us, we decided that we’re also going to split half of the winnings amongst ourselves.”
With each team showcasing their own creative innovations and portraying a sense of entrepreneurship, Guirguis shared that the Innovation Challenge this year left him thoroughly impressed.
“As dean, I was proud and impressed by the creativity, thoughtfulness and confidence students showed throughout the competition,” Guirguis wrote in an email to The Quadrangle. “The winning teams stood out for combining strong ideas with clear execution: Team Zoner used data analytics to simplify real‑estate decisions, Team Helical [Wave to Energy Breakwater] focused on building a practical and efficient water turbine and Team Rest and Dress applied AI to everyday fashion choices. Together, they reflected the seriousness, innovation and real‑world focus students brought to this year’s challenge.”