Charlotte team named finalists in national collegiate inventors competition

Klein College of Science students Naz Fathma Tumpa and Aiden Hawkins are team finalists in the Collegiate Inventors Competition presented by the National Inventors Hall of Fame

Tumpa is a nanoscale chemistry Ph.D. student, and Hawkins is a senior chemistry major working toward a bachelor’s degree. They have been working with advisors Michael G. Walter and Tyler J. Adams. Tumpa and Hawkins are representing UNC Charlotte as one of five student teams to make it to the finals in the nationwide contest. 

The Charlotte students, working in the Walter lab, are presenting an innovative drug testing solution, “Color-Metric Sensing of Amine Compounds for Illicit Drug Detection.” Using a bright, color-changing solution, they can test for drugs like fentanyl, heroin and cocaine, which all contain an amine compound.

“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,” said Tumpa.

“We hope the impact of this invention is a decrease in the amount of fentanyl that is on the streets,” said Hawkins.

Tumpa and Hawkins will travel to Washington, D.C., in mid-October on an all-expenses-paid trip to meet with patent examiners to pitch their work and network for national exposure with other inventors and mentors. The event will be held at the United States Patent and Trademark Office headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.

The four other graduate-level finalist teams are from University of Pittsburgh, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and two teams from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Collegiate Inventors Competition includes a People’s Choice Award, with $2,000 for the winning team and patent acceleration. Vote once per day through 5 p.m., Oct 16.

Read more on the Klein College of Science website.