Mar 17, 2015

In this July 23, 2014 file photo, Lindsey Tropf and her husband Ryan, with Immersed Games, work from a Starter Space office in Gainesville. Matt Stamey/The Gainesville Sun Published: Tuesday, March 17, 2015 at 3:56 p.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, March 17, 2015 at 3:56 p.m. Here’s a Sweet 16 that Gainesville can root for: The Cade Museum for Creativity + Invention announced the finalists Tuesday for the sixth annual $50,000 Cade Museum Prize for Innovation that includes six entries with Gainesville ties. The 16 finalists were selected after two rounds of judging from 85 entries from around the state. The prize awards early-stage inventors and entrepreneurs to provide seed funding and publicity for inventions and ideas with market potential. Gainesville finalists include aqUV with its reusable solar-powered bottle that purifies water, Immersed Games with an educational video game, NeXtGen Biologics with a cellular matrix wound healing product, Rehoboth Innovations with a device and software to improve function in osteoarthritic shoulders and SurfPlasma with a plasma energy surface sanitizer that destroys viruses, bacteria and fungi. LifeNet Systems, based in Wellborn, is commercializing a roadway barrier that came out of founder Mary Ohlfs’ project for the Startup Quest program in Gainesville. Other finalists include Didrick Medical of Naples, a Final Four selection in 2013 for its artificial finger for partial amputees. Innovatia Medical Systems of St. Petersburg made the Sweet 16 for the second straight year for miniature wireless network in vivo surgical devices. New this year is a $10,000 cash prize from the Vision Fund in Ocala for the top healthcare entry. The Final Four will be announced April 21 and the winner announced May 16 during the Inventivity Bash at the Santa Fe College Fine Arts Hall. For more information, visit www.cademuseum.org/. In this July 23, 2014 file photo, Lindsey Tropf and her husband Ryan, with Immersed Games, work from a Starter Space office in Gainesville.... Gainesville.com March 17, 2015 3:56 PM <p>Here's a Sweet 16 that Gainesville can root for: The Cade Museum for Creativity + Invention announced the finalists Tuesday for the sixth annual $50,000 Cade Museum Prize for Innovation that includes six entries with Gainesville ties.</p><p>The 16 finalists were selected after two rounds of judging from 85 entries from around the state.</p><p>The prize awards early-stage inventors and entrepreneurs to provide seed funding and publicity for inventions and ideas with market potential.</p><p>Gainesville finalists include aqUV with its reusable solar-powered bottle that purifies water, Immersed Games with an educational video game, NeXtGen Biologics with a cellular matrix wound healing product, Rehoboth Innovations with a device and software to improve function in osteoarthritic shoulders and SurfPlasma with a plasma energy surface sanitizer that destroys viruses, bacteria and fungi. LifeNet Systems, based in Wellborn, is commercializing a roadway barrier that came out of founder Mary Ohlfs' project for the Startup Quest program in Gainesville.</p><p>Other finalists include Didrick Medical of Naples, a Final Four selection in 2013 for its artificial finger for partial amputees. Innovatia Medical Systems of St. Petersburg made the Sweet 16 for the second straight year for miniature wireless network in vivo surgical devices.</p><p>New this year is a $10,000 cash prize from the Vision Fund in Ocala for the top healthcare entry.</p><p>The Final Four will be announced April 21 and the winner announced May 16 during the Inventivity Bash at the Santa Fe College Fine Arts Hall.</p><p>For more information, visit www.cademuseum.org/.</p>