Students Keith Reilly and Raja Muthyam advance to next round of ‘Greenlight Maine’
Keith Reilly (Business, ’21), and Raja Muthyam (Medical Biology, ’21) are the latest University of New England students to advance to the next round of the “Greenlight Maine” Collegiate Challenge, having received unanimous support on their business idea from a panel of judges in the show’s Feb. 23 episode.
“Greenlight Maine,” which airs on NEWS CENTER Maine, is a statewide collaboration of entrepreneurial catalysts and corporate leaders, designed to promote and mentor the development and growth of business in the state. The Collegiate Challenge special pits two college students against each other over the course of 13 shows in a chance to win $25,000 to kickstart their businesses.
Reilly and Muthyam competed together to secure funding for their company Gait Project X (GPX), which aims to reinvent the way health care providers and health insurance companies interact. The cornerstone of GPX is a smart shoe developed by the students that collects data on gait dysfunction using a system of sensors tied together with gamification and Salesforce integration.
The students say doctors will be able to identify gait problems in patients in real time. Currently, doctors have to film patients and watch the video footage for hours to analyze gait abnormalities.
“This will allow doctors to show their patients their traction to therapy, as well as lead them to better and more effective care,” Reilly said.
The students also say the technology will allow doctors to generate more accurate diagnoses with codifiable proof to provide insurance companies.
The show was judged by Martha Bentley, manager of small business entrepreneurship development at the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development; Skip Bates, director of Main Street Banking at Bangor Savings Bank; and Lynne Darling Melochick, director of community relations at Darling’s Auto Group.
Bates was particularly fond of the product, calling it a “giant leap forward in medical science.”
“The applications for this get broader and broader and broader,” Bates said. “[Reilly and Muthyam are] starting with a medical need, and it seems like they have a viable application and test case.”
Bentley lauded the interprofessional team involved in the shoe’s development, which involves business, biology, and the medical professions.
“I like the fact that they have that diverse team working on it,” she said.
Reilly and Muthyam will now join their colleague, UNE student Jillian Robillard (Marine Entrepreneurship, ’20), in the advanced rounds of the show. On Jan. 26, Robillard also received unanimous support from Bentley, Bates, and Darling Melochick for her business Green Bait, a cost-effective lobster trap bait developed using invasive green crabs.
