APRIL 28, 2025 — Four out of eight competing teams from across the U.S., Mexico and Canada took home $100,000 in prize money in the dramatic final round of the 2025 UTSA Draper Data Science Business Plan Competition.
On Friday, April 18, 2025, eight finalists made their pitches to a panel of industry leaders and entrepreneurs in the Weston Conference Center at San Pedro I, home of the UTSA School of Data Science (SDS). The UTSA Draper Competition is a team-based event open to all student-created and student-led business ventures that apply data science tools and techniques to solve everyday business challenges.
“The UTSA Draper Competition gives aspiring data scientists the opportunity to pursue their passion and present innovative, forward-thinking ideas,” said SDS Senior Program Manager Cynthia Rodriguez in her opening remarks.
Established in 2020 with a $1 million donation from Timothy Draper, third-generation venture capitalist and founder of Draper University, and his wife, Melissa Parker Draper, the UTSA Draper Competition is distinctive due to its focus on data science applications in entrepreneurship.
As in previous years, participating teams were evaluated based on the data science foundations of their proposed venture, the marketability and investment potential of their idea, and the overall quality of their presentations. Each team’s pitch was limited to five minutes, with an additional five minutes for questions from the panel of judges, which consisted of Rackspace Co-Founder Dirk Elmendorff, Geekdom Program Manager Cristy Lime, COO/Senior Vice President of FEDITC LLC Aaron McKee and Managing Director at Draper Startup House Accelerator + Fund Daniel Wiegand.
While the format of the UTSA Draper Competition has remained consistent, each year’s competition has surpassed the previous challenge in number of applicants and prize money awarded. This year’s competition bestowed a total of $100,000 to contestants, split between first, second and third place as well as an honorable mention, fan favorite and most data-science-driven categories.
The $7,000 honorable mention prize was awarded to SMAI, a team from UTSA and UT Health San Antonio, for its combination of computer vision and predictive artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance educational outcomes for students with autism spectrum disorder.
Third place, and $15,000, went to Perflection AI from Carnegie Mellon University and its app, Swingie, which is designed to turn any smartphone into a personal sports coach by using the phone’s camera to generate a 3D model of an athlete’s form—currently a golfer’s swing—and make personalized predictions to improve their game.
Perflection AI from Carnegie Mellon University took third place.
The $25,000 second place prize, as well as the $10,000 fan favorite award, went to SURV AI from UTSA. SURV AI claims to “bring law enforcement to the 21st century” by streamlining how officers do paperwork. The system combines natural language processing and computer vision to make use of officers’ existing bodycam footage to automate report generation.
SURV AI from UTSA earned second place and fan favorite.
Finally, winning the $35,000 first place and $8,000 most-data-science driven prizes was MedIQ LLC from Rice University with its InhalAIR system. InhalAIR is a combination smartphone app and smart device that clips on to metered-dose inhalers used by patients with severe asthma. Boasting various high-tech sensors, from accelerometers to nitric oxide detectors, InhalAIR can measure how effectively patients are using their inhalers and their corresponding lung health. The app also tracks symptoms and environmental conditions such as weather and air quality, providing patients – and, potentially, their doctors – with an in-depth analysis of their asthma.
MedIQ LLC from Rice University earned first place and most data-science driven.
SDS Interim Director and Dean of University College Jianwei Niu celebrated all the finalists’ efforts in her closing remarks.
“This year, we had eight teams who made it to the final competition,” Niu said. “Not only did they demonstrate incredible technical skills, but the efforts and creativity they brought to their ventures was truly impressive.”
Niu also took a moment to thank the Drapers, as well as the faculty, staff, judges and mentors who made the competition possible. The UTSA Draper Competition, Niu continued, is emblematic of UTSA’s position as a cutting-edge innovator in interdisciplinary fields and of its dedication to furthering research that serves to benefit the greater community.
“This competition reflects our university’s deep commitment to fostering innovation,” she said. “At UTSA, we always want to promote interdisciplinary collaboration and a real-world impact."
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