Milestone: Fidgt shares first

The University of Washington’s Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering recently announced winners of its 2014 Shobe Startup Prize and one of the winning teams has a distinct Sequim influence.

The University of Washington’s Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering recently announced winners of its 2014 Shobe Startup Prize and one of the winning teams has a distinct Sequim influence.

Two of the team members on Team Fidgt, Katlyn Edwards and Phill Pasqual, are Sequim natives. Other team members include Kartik Rishi, Carlo Valentin and Kendall Morgan.

Team Fidgt created a wearable ring that controls Bluetooth-capable devices to allow for eyes-free computing.

Fellow prize winner Team Disco came up with a digital tool to create and share animated photos in a simple way.

Competing teams pitched their ideas throughout the winter quarter as the finalists were narrowed down. The 2014 competition was the largest to date, with more than 20 teams pitching their tech or design idea for the prize.

In addition to the $5,000 per team startup funds that the Shobe Prize offers, each team is given office space and one-on-one mentoring from department faculty member Matt Shobe and industry partners.