The winning student team, Fire Warden, with competition judge and founder, Santanu K. Das
Half-way through their training and mentorship program, the student teams preparing for the Innovate x LA: Das Family Student Competition witnessed the high stakes of innovation in Los Angeles. The January 2025 wildfires resulted in the destruction or damage of over 16,000 homes in Los Angeles County, highlighting the urgency of new solutions for sustainable urban living.
As a result, several of this year’s pitches are targeted towards disaster resilience, a key focus area of the Sonny Astani Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering (CEE) strategic vision alongside environmental stewardship, urban livability, extreme habitats, and transportation systems.
Hosted by CEE with the generous support of the Das family, the annual competition invites entrepreneurial students from across the university to develop and pitch impactful startup ideas informed by civil and environmental engineering concepts. The city of Los Angeles provides a test site for ideas with global application, motivated by the commitment to strengthen communities and address the ecological health of the planet.
Over the course of the academic year, student teams attended six monthly seminars and received guidance from industry leaders and startup founders. The startup ideas were put to the test on Demo Day, May 1, 2025, when teams presented to a panel of industry leaders and compete for a $20,000 prize.
This year, the panel included Santanu K. Das, CEE alumnus and CEO/co-founder of EIRIS; Madalina Lavinia Preda, an innovation strategist, venture builder, and global connector of startups and capital; Alif Khalfan, director of innovation at The Walt Disney Company; and Karl Jacob, an entrepreneur, investor and startup advisor, currently the CEO/co-founder of LoanSnap. Speakers at the event included Professor Ellis Meng, vice dean for Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship at USC Viterbi, and Professor Ishwar Puri, who oversees the USC Office of Research and Innovation.
The winning team was Fire Warden, who pitched a surprising solution for wildfire protection: an easily installed kit that transforms backyard pools into a water source for fire-fighting.
“We went to ground zero in the Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles after the fires, and that’s really where our idea formed,” said a representative from the team .”We were conducting research on how to create potential solutions in response to this disaster – seeing the impact this had on people’s lives, we all connected and were driven to work together to help in any way we could. By giving homeowners agency to use Fire Warden, we are not just protecting individual properties – we’re building a decentralized, citizen-powered, safety net. To reduce pressures on first responders, lower insurance risk, and redefine what it means to be prepared in an era of climate uncertainty.”
The judges praised the winning pitch for its resourcefulness, accessibility, and potential to scale across sectors. They also commended the pitches of the other 4 competing teams, all of which demonstrated a high-impact idea to empower vulnerable communities. If you were on the judging panel, which business would you choose to invest in?
Fire Warden
Snegha Sugandarraj (Construction Management), Mitchell Kirby (Mechanical Engineering), Reeth Kawad (Mechanical Engineering), Santie McKenzie (Computational Neuroscience), Michella Casaretto (Business Administration and Economics), Zach Lustbader (Business Administration)
Fire Warden is a simple, data-driven platform that turns backyard pools into wildfire defense systems. Homeowners input their address to identify home and pool dimensions. This data is applied to generate specs for a wildfire protection kit (to be installed DIY or by a contractor) along with an estimate of system cost and coverage duration. Furthermore, data-sharing features assist emergency planning and fire response efforts across regions.
ReSwap
Breanna Monsivaiz (Environmental Engineering), KC Concepcion (Business Administration / Marketing), Ian Wang (Aerospace Engineering)
The team noticed that LA’s student neighborhoods are overwhelmed with waste, inefficiency, and disconnection when it comes to housing, furniture and everyday essentials – especially during move-in/out seasons. ReSwap is designed to create a centralized, community-driven marketplace where students can discover, swap, and share resources.
The development of a centralized marketplace starts with housing through Space Share — a platform that streamlines subleasing via student-focused filters and trusted real estate partners. By bringing housing and other key needs together in one user-friendly platform with infrastructure based on an automated locker system, ReSwap empowers students to focus on what truly matters: thriving in their studies and enjoying the full college experience.
Kryptonate
Kevin Wang (Civil Engineering), Linh Truong (Pharmacology and Drug Development), Ryan Yeung (Computer Science/Business Administration), Roshan Raj Kantharaja (Construction Management), Bipshyana Khanal (Non-Governmental Organizations and Social Change), Jacqueline Yang (Narrative Studies)
The team was concerned by the comparative inefficiency of donation platforms when it came to supporting communities after the Los Angeles wildfires.
The goal of Kryptonate is to leverage the cryptocurrency industry to foster conscientious giving by enabling fast and low-cost donations with a minimal 1% fee; users can instantly donate to existing campaigns or launch their own. Donations would move directly from donors to recipients in record time and without bureaucratic delays or heavy fees, expediting recovery and restoring confidence to communities. The goal is to transform disaster response globally, ensuring that timely and reliable help becomes the standard rather than the exception.
MyStuff
Josiah Hickman (Astronautical Engineering), Amira Trueblood (Civil Engineering), David Canlas (
Integrated Design, Business and Technology), Amee Van (Biomedical Engineering), Kevin Tan (Environmental Studies), Laura Korobkova (Neuroscience)
MyStuff is a secure AI-powered app that transforms photos into ready-to-use insurance claim files, with the goal of making disaster recovery more efficient. The idea is informed by observing the turmoil and delay of securing insurance funds after the wildfires – 60% of people don’t have documentation for their homes, and when they do make a claim, they receive 30% less than people who do. By easing the claims process, MyStuff has the potential to allow people to recover more of their money and therefore rebuild and recover more quickly.
Relief Match
Brandon Kim (Environmental Studies and Political Economy), Maddie Muller (Cognitive Science), Rila He (Environmental Studies and Business Administration), Sophia Tranguch (Business Administration / Marketing)
Relief Match enables users to donate items directly to wildfire victims while they do their regular shopping on Amazon. Impacted individuals can make requests via a Relief Match browser extension – for instance, if they need clothing, tools, toiletries, or any other necessities. Donors also using the Relief Match browser extension can see those needs as they browse on Amazon and can easily add them to their cart. The Amazon Wishlist feature automatically ships the item to the correct address (hidden from the donor); alternatively, the items can be shipped to Amazon lockers near the location of displaced individuals. By partnering with vetted nonprofits, Relief Match restores intention and connection to the donation process; waste is mitigated and donations are specifically targeted to those affected.
Click here to learn more about the Innovate x LA: Das Family Student Competition
Published on May 9th, 2025
Last updated on May 9th, 2025
