Augusta University students find solutions to city issues
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Between Augusta University, Paine College, Augusta Tech, Aiken Tech, and the medical school, it’s no secret we live in a big college community.
Getting students engaged in the community is one thing, but there’s a growing push for keeping talent local after the degree is in hand.
The Cyber Innovation and Training Center is leading that push with Augusta University.
It’s one thing to complain about a problem and wait for someone else to fix it. It’s another thing to roll up your sleeves and try to solve it.
That’s what Augusta University students are doing this week to solve community issues in Augusta’s very own version of Shark Tank.
Every garden has a few weeds, and Gigi Addai-Domfe says it didn’t take her long to notice them in the garden city when she moved here for school.
“I wondered why they called (the city) disgusta,” she said. “You hear people say it smells like farts, rotten eggs even dead bodies.”
Addai-Domfe says she realized there was only one way to escape the smell.
“I look to fix issues. And I’m a very critical person. So, when I came here, that was a prevalent problem that would impact my lifestyle. And sometimes I wouldn’t go on runs, or I would just be in a bad mood I realized that something needed to be done,” said Addai-Domfe.
This year she ed other AU students like Alex Larson in a 5-minute pitch competition, addressing local challenges and ways to improve.
“When we first started to develop the solution, we realized that regular filters and ventilation systems don’t regulate odor. There is no legal obligation to regulate the odor, so we decided we needed to find a way to filter that targets odorization,” said Addai-Domfe.
So, she created a carbon filter that factories would be able to use that would hopefully eliminate some of the odors that carry into the city.
Larson’s idea came from his job at Food Lion.
He’s seen how inflation is affecting families, which sparked his idea of creating an app to help locals find better deals on groceries.
“This idea came to me to deal with customers on a regular basis. I’ve had customers who said they won’t shop unless there is a sale because without that sale they can afford to feed themselves, let alone a family of three to five. So, it’s definitely something that they needed,” said Larson.
Students are sealing the deal to the judges to build a better Augusta.
Jack Evans, Board Chairman for Downtown Development Authority, said: “It makes me feel great that people want to not just identify a problem but identify a solution for that problem. It’s easy to see something that you don’t like or to complain about something that’s not perfect. But taking the extra step to go through the energy of saying how would I change that or how can I pull people together and make a difference that would make that better for everybody.”
Both Larson and Addai-Domfe’s teams took home trophies and some cash. But because Larson’s team placed first, his idea will get a patent to help bring this to life in the community.
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