Snuffed and Tensegrity Medical win pitch competitions.
The concept of detecting a wildfire from space and extinguishing it with a squad of firefighting drones is gaining support. Snuffed, a 22-member team including engineers, astronomers and firefighters, successfully pitched its plan to representatives of the City of Flagstaff’s Economic Development and Sustainability department on Saturday, May 4. The idea calls for launching 90 satellites to watch the West for ignitions.
Flagstaff Fire Captain Mike Felts, a member of Snuffed, shared his first-hand experience with Flagstaff’s Pipeline Fire that burned on the San Francisco Peaks in 2022 to highlight the need to catch wildfires early. The team won first place and $15,000 toward the development of its concepts in the city’s competition, Innovate Waste: The Carbon Neutrality and Water Conservation Challenge. This follows success in the global XPRIZE Wildfire competition earlier this year that has advanced Snuffed to the semifinals.
“I am both excited and inspired by the overwhelming interest and support our community has shown for our initiative to autonomously detect and suppress wildfires,” said Cody Hartman, a local aerospace engineer who assembled the team. “The old saying goes, ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ In our journey, it will certainly take the entire community to help our team cross the finish line in the four-year global XPRIZE Wildfire competition.”
Second place in the Innovate Waste Challenge went to Ariel Strong for her FireFlight concept. Al Shenkin with SmartFan took third place.
Meanwhile, entrepreneur Jesslynn Armstrong won Moonshot’s 5th Annual Rural AZ Pitch Flagstaff competition with her Tensegrity Medical concept, a medical device company developing light technology to be used in medical emergencies and clinical practice. “At the heart of our vision is knowing we can make an intelligent difference in the way people heal and tell their story of survival,” said Armstrong, who was awarded $2,000 and the opportunity to compete in the state pitch contest, Friday, Aug. 2, in Cottonwood.
“Being a woman-owned STEM company, I chose Flagstaff to develop my medical device here, knowing that the talent, industry and resources like POBA Medical, ACT Materials, Heetshield, Machine Solutions, TGen North, W. L. Gore & Associates, etc., would serve my vision and stakeholders best,” she said. “Finishing up second quarter strong with winning the Flagstaff Rural Pitch event gives Tensegrity Medical the funding to produce the next version of our MVP (most viable product) in time for the state competition in early August.”
Christina Zubieta was awarded second place with her Boop Project, which aims to match shelter dogs with their future owners. Danilo Dominici received third place for his LaundryBud idea – a business designed to take on the laundering needs of college students.
The city and Moonshot combined efforts to kick off their competitions together on Friday night, May 3, at the Moonshot Flagstaff Campus with a celebration that brought out Flagstaff’s startup community, local stakeholders and more than a dozen competitors.
“The competition featured impressive talent from across the city,” said Moonshot President and CEO Scott Hathcock. “The event highlighted the innovative spirit of the Flagstaff community and its commitment to sustainability and economic development. Participants and attendees left inspired by the creativity and dedication on display.” FBN
By Bonnie Stevens, FBN
Photo by Bonnie Stevens: Flagstaff Fire Captain Mike Felts, pictured second from left, won $15,000 for his Snuffed team toward the development of their wildfire detection and extinguishing plan.