Two teams of students from Missouri S&T will compete in the final rounds of the Regnier Venture Creation Challenge 2020, a University of Missouri-Kansas City business plan and pitch competition open to university students in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska.

Missouri S&T’s two teams will compete live virtually in the final round on Friday, May 1, in the Blue KC Healthcare Innovation segment of the competition. So far, the teams have competed against 50 other teams from seven colleges and universities, with projects ranging from medicine to computer science to accounting.

One team is named “The GuideLine” and is comprised of Deshawn Jones, a senior in biological sciences from Chicago, and David Clausen, a senior in mechanical engineering from Jefferson City, Missouri. The two have created a device to streamline lumbar puncture procedures and reduce the 25 percent of punctures that create potentially severe complications, such as paralysis.

Another team is named “Striae Away” and is comprised of Nathaniel Blackwell, a senior in biological sciences from St. Louis, and Jessica Crites, a senior in biological sciences from Marthasville, Missouri. Their project uses a bioactive glass composite that could treat pre-existing scars with pregnancy stretch marks as its first market.

The two projects were developed while the students were in a biodesign class taught by Dr. Julie Semon, an assistant professor of biological sciences and director of the Laboratory of Regenerative Medicine at S&T.

For more information about the competition, visit bloch.umkc.edu/entrepreneurship.