Engineering Freshman Places Second in Innovation Challenge
Staten Island native develops instrument that plays by moving hands over sensors
In Mario Montuori’s first year at Sacred Heart University, the computer engineering major completed 18 credits each semester, submitted two posters to the annual academic festival and came in second place in the first-ever SHU Innovation Challenge. To say he’s motivated would be an understatement.
When Montuori—a Staten Island, NY, native—was considering colleges, his main priority was a good computer science & engineering program. Sacred Heart fit the bill; its innovative courses, high-tech classrooms and labs, beautiful campus and Division I track team appealed to the 19-year-old.
Montuori lived in Bergoglio Hall his freshman year and particularly enjoyed his computer science courses. As someone who was always enthralled with engineering, he excelled. When he wasn’t busy with his studies, he ran distance on the track team.
“Mario is a freshman, yet his level of involvement, intellectual ability and maturity is beyond his years,” said Tolga Kaya director of the computer engineering program. “He is great academically, very social and helpful to others as well. He is an athlete and a musician while keeping a 4.0 GPA in a very rigorous engineering program.”
This past semester, Montuori had the opportunity to participate in SHU’s Innovation Challenge at the School of Computer Science & Engineering. The competition was similar to the popular TV show Shark Tank, in which participants pitch their product to a panel of judges.
“SHU’s Innovation Challenge is a business development and pitch competition,” said Kaya. “Students had three weeks to come up with an innovative idea and turn it into a feasible business plan. Several faculty members coached them along the way.”
Montuori likes to make music in his free time, especially electronic dance music, so for the challenge, he custom-built an electronic instrument for developing music remixes. The instrument uses seven sensors; a person simply touches the air above a sensor to make the instrument play notes that mimic a guitar or piano. It also connects to a computer to record and save the music. “I think it’s a cool idea. This is something that I would use when making music,” said Montuori, who named the device Wave Midi Controller.
When he pitched this project at the competition, he didn’t think he would win. “I was just excited to make something. I like coming up with new products and devices,” Montuori said. “And if something has been done before, I want to see if I can make it even better.”
Montuori was pleased and proud to come in second place.
“Mario’s project relied on simple electronics, but it showed a complete product with many applications,” Kaya said. “It was something that was not developed before, and his presentation showed a great understanding of both business perspective and technological innovation with a functional prototype.”
At the end-of-year academic festival—a culmination of all the activities related to undergraduate research at SHU—Montuori submitted a research poster on his Wave Midi Controller, as well as another poster on his invention of a Morse code transmitter.
This summer, he plans to work on improving the Wave Midi Controller and hopes to create an app to accompany the instrument.