SOUTH KINGSTOWN – A team of five University of Rhode Island students placed second in the Health Tech Hackathon 2017 hosted by Cornell University last month.
The team was comprised of Nicholas Peltier of Coventry; Kile DaSilva of Warren; Matthew Constant of West Warwick; Josh Gyllinsky and Andrew Peltier, Nicholas’ brother.
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The prototype they developed, Vapegate, is an e-cigarette that pairs with a smart watch or phone that functions to ween smokers off nicotine, according to a URI press release issued Thursday.
The team insists that Vapegate controls the intake of nicotine in a way that nicotine patches or gum cannot.
“One of the goals of our participation was to show Johnson & Johnson that we have some serious talent at URI,” Nick Peltier said in a statement.
Apparently, it worked. Dee Dee Chatham, program director for entrepreneurship and innovation at the URI Business Engagement Center, said this was an important competition for URI and noted that Johnson & Johnson supported the team with food, lodging and transportation for the three-day event in New York City.
“Johnson & Johnson is creating a new health technology center in Rhode Island and plans to hire 75 people,” Chatham said. “Company representatives came to campus recently to scout URI’s computer science talent.”
As for Nick Peltier, he has already been hired to work in the company’s automated testing facility in Providence.
Chris Bergenheim is a PBN staff writer.
