Stooping is a long-time New York tradition: someone discards their no longer needed belongings on the stoop or sidewalk in front of their home, and any passerby can salvage the items for free. During the pandemic, first-year student Kaylan Tran noticed that stooping became an Instagram phenomenon with thousands of users sharing their finds. Inspired by this movement, Kaylan created Trove, an app that aims to turn stooping into a fun, treasure-hunting, community-based experience.

Class of 2023 student Cathy Tung has created Mousk—a digital product, platform, and brand that addresses the facial expression and nuance forced by the pandemic.

Kuddle is a wireless phone charger that encourages couples to spend more meaningful time communicating face-to-face. Designed by second-year student Crystal Ching Yi Lo, the dock only charges when two phones are placed side-by-side. “If only one partner puts their phone down, the device won’t charge,” Crystal explains. “Like a metaphor of a relationship, the phones will only charge if the two are close together on the dock.”

Theodore Scoufis developed FireLink, an information management ecosystem for firefighters that focuses on the 4 minutes and 30 seconds between receiving the call from dispatch and arrival on the scene. The purpose of the system is to provide firefighters with real-time insight into the conditions of the building they are responding to. Theodore explains that information gathered by FireLink allows firefighters to make more effective decisions more efficiently, which will reduce the threat to civilians, firefighters, and property. FireLink is a bifurcated system of data collection and information dissemination. Data is collected via the data standpipe and disseminated in two main modes: the Command Center tablet application and the helmet-mounted augmented reality heads up display (AR HUD).