Charlotte Students Make Waves At Collegiate Inventors Competition
Two students from UNC Charlotte’s Klein College of Science, Naz Fathma Tumpa and Aiden Hawkins, are making waves as finalists in the prestigious Collegiate Inventors Competition. Hosted by the National Inventors Hall of Fame, the competition highlights innovative breakthroughs by student inventors across the nation.
Tumpa, a Ph.D. student specializing in nanoscale chemistry, and Hawkins, a senior majoring in chemistry, have teamed up under the guidance of advisors Michael G. Walter and Tyler J. Adams. Together, they’ve developed a cutting-edge method for drug detection, which landed them among the top five student teams nationwide.
The innovation they are presenting, working in the Walter Lab, is a new solution for detecting illicit drugs, titled “Color-Metric Sensing of Amine Compounds for Illicit Drug Detection.” Their unique approach involves a color-changing reaction that identifies amine compounds present in drugs like fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine. The result is an easily visible color change—blue or purple—when the test comes into contact with these substances.
“When we add our product in the illicit or illegal drug, it actually reacts with the drug and it changes color to blue or sometimes purple,” explained Tumpa.
Hawkins echoed the significance of the project, stating, “We hope the impact of this invention is a decrease in the amount of fentanyl that is on the streets.”
In mid-October, Tumpa and Hawkins will head to Washington, D.C., where they’ll participate in the competition’s final round at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Virginia. The event provides an opportunity for finalists to present their invention, meet with patent examiners, and network with mentors.
UNC Charlotte’s team is up against fierce competition, including finalists from the University of Pittsburgh, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and two teams from MIT.
The competition also includes a People’s Choice Award, offering a $2,000 prize and patent acceleration for the winning team. Voting once a day is open until October 16.