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The University of New England celebrated a year of student-driven ingenuity on April 24 with its annual Innovation Showcase, hosted by Office of Innovation. 

Held in the P.D. Merrill Makerspace, Design Lab, and Teaching Kitchen in Decary Hall on the University’s Biddeford Campus, the Showcase featured the work of Shaw Innovation Fellows and other student innovators whose projects spanned disciplines and addressed critical issues facing communities today.

The event offered students an opportunity to present their projects to an audience of faculty, professional staff, and local industry leaders. From addressing gaps in sustainability and workforce housing to advancing coastal health research and neuroscience education, �Ӱ���Ƶ students demonstrated how resourcefulness and collaboration can lead to meaningful change.

(Left): Lilly, a student innovator, showcases a conductivity temperature depth sensor for marine science research developed in the P.D. Merrill Makerspace at �Ӱ���Ƶ. (Right): Jessica Howard (’25) displays her 3D-printed models designed to reduce the use of animals in neuroscience research.

Among the featured projects was a 3D-printed training model for neuroscience research developed by Jessica Howard (Neuroscience, ’25). Howard’s designs aim to reduce, refine, and replace the use of animals in research training, offering students accessible tools to practice complex procedures without immediate reliance on animal subjects. 

"In addition to the main goal, the purpose is to show researchers that you can reimagine (testing methods), as well,” Howard said. “You can use novel ways of approaching training and tackling the problems you run into in your experiments to create more effective, humane solutions.”

Neuroscience wove its way into several of this year’s projects, as students from various — and not always obvious — disciplines came together to use their expertise to develop new and meaningful products.

"This is Your Brain on EEG" was presented by Milo Lypps ’25, a marine sciences major with an affinity for technological innovation. Lypps worked with Howard to revamp and improve equipment to create accessible demonstrations of brainwave activity via electroencephalography (EEG) interpretation.

Originally tasked with organizing unused neuroscience tools, Lypps built a system in �Ӱ���Ƶ’s Makerspace that allows real-time data capture and analysis.

“This is a very valuable tool to show and teach people how EEGs work in an accessible way,” Lypps said. “Neuroscience is seen as kind of a mystery, and so this is a way to open those doors to better understanding — for children, especially.”

(Clockwise, from top left): Jasmin Townsend-Ng (’26) presents a progress report on the SeaMade nutrition bar initiative; Sarah Swanick ’23 (D.O., ’27) talks with visitors about her project, a 3D-printed skeletal model; Tyler Janik (’27) discusses student research on Ram Island; robotic eyes for neuroscience research created by Milo Lypps (’25, at bottom left).

Ruth Ellis (Environmental Science, ’26) presented her work mapping sustainability initiatives across �Ӱ���Ƶ's Biddeford Campus. Originally launched as a classroom project, the interactive map grew into a comprehensive resource through Ellis’s Shaw Fellowship, highlighting �Ӱ���Ƶ's commitment to campus-wide environmental stewardship. 

Ellis said the project helped stretch her skills beyond mapping, teaching her how to collaborate and communicate across disciplines and consider the long-term impacts of her work. 

“I'm a natural science person, and so it's very easy to get stuck in a scientific mindset. It’s been really good to learn how to communicate my work to a broad public,” she said. 

A Shaw Innovation team also showcased the SeaMade nutrition bar project, an interdisciplinary project bringing together students from marine sciences, nutrition, business, and sustainable aquaculture disciplines. Students have taken over production of the cranberry-kelp snack, working across departments with the goal of scaling up operations using local ingredients — including kelp farmed by �Ӱ���Ƶ researchers and honey sourced from the University’s own bee population — and taste-test new flavors.

(Left): Ruth Ellis (’25) presents her project, an interactive map of sustainability initiatives across �Ӱ���Ƶ’s coastal Biddeford Campus. (Right): students present their research to David Evans Shaw, the prominent entrepreneur whose generosity supports the Shaw Innovation Program at �Ӱ���Ƶ.

A student-led project to track seismic activity off the coast of Maine garnered attention from attendees. Just hours before, students and faculty installed a seismograph on Ram Island, �Ӱ���Ƶ’s own research station in Saco Bay — only minutes from campus by boat.

 The "Raspberry Shake" device will allow students and faculty to monitor seismic activity and storm impacts in real time, contributing critical data to global scientific networks and offering new ways to understand and mitigate the effects of climate change on Maine's coastline.

Additional projects included an app designed to enhance ACL injury rehabilitation; a conductivity, temperature, and depth sensor paired with a drone for environmental research; a 3D-printed skeletal model for clinical training; and storytelling campaigns designed to promote patient-centered health care and workforce housing solutions.

(Left): Jayden Schoppee (’28) leads a taste-test of different SeaMade bar formulations in �Ӱ���Ƶ’s Teaching Kitchen. (Right): Isabel Ryan (’27) talks about her project organizing storytelling initiatives in collaboration with community partners.

Lisa Herschbach, Ph.D., director of �Ӱ���Ƶ’s Office of Innovation, said the Innovation Showcase highlights �Ӱ���Ƶ's commitment to preparing students for meaningful careers in interdisciplinary fields, connecting academic learning with practical experience and empowering students to create solutions that advance the public good.

"The Innovation Showcase demonstrates how �Ӱ���Ƶ students are not just preparing for their professional lives — they are already making an impact," Herschbach said. “Their work embodies the spirit of collaboration, problem-solving, and real-world engagement that defines a �Ӱ���Ƶ education.”