Russell L. Agrusa CSE Student Innovation Competition
Associate professor Jaric Zola presents the award for first place in the 2023 Agrusa Competition to Liyao Li.
Russ Agrusa (BS ’76) generously donated $250,000 to establish the Russell L. Agrusa CSE Student Innovation Competition fund in late 2020.
The annual Agrusa Competition seeks to:
… encourage students to conduct and present research in areas where industry need is greatest in a world and where the demands for automation and connectivity are rapidly increasing; this could include but is not limited to, Internet of Things (IoT), mobile/wireless systems, AI, and cloud computing.
—Russell L. Agrusa
On This Page
The annual Russell L. Agrusa CSE Student Competition was set up to “encourage students to conduct and present research in areas where industry need is greatest in a world and where the demands for automation and connectivity are rapidly increasing; this could include but is not limited to, software engineering, Internet of Things (IoT), mobile/wireless systems, AI, and cloud computing.”
In each year, three cash prizes will be awarded for the winning solutions that address real-world problems with potential impacts on technologies and our society.
At least 80% of the annual spendable fund will be given as three or more prizes. How the total is distributed among the three winners is to be determined by the CSE Award Selection Committee. However, each winning team will have to reach an agreement on how the cash prize will be allocated at the time of the submission.
Award winners are expected to help promote the Competition and CSE department on social media and agree to share their success stories in school and after graduation with the donor and CSE.
Awards
Every year, three or more cash prizes will be awarded to the winning solutions that address real-world problems with potential impacts on technologies and our society.
The CSE Award Selection Committee will give at least 80% of the annual spendable fund as three or more cash prizes.
The CSE Award Selection Committee will allocate the total prize money among three or more winning teams. At the time of project submission, each student team will submit an agreement describing how the cash prize will be allocated among team members.
Competition Dates
- Submissions are due on November 1, 2024 at 23:59:59.
- Awards will be announced in at the end of November 2024
Eligibility
Students and their projects must meet four eligibility criteria:
- Individual CSE students or multidisciplinary student teams led by CSE students, with one or more CSE faculty mentors, are eligible to participate in the Competition and receive awards. Undergraduates, graduates, and PhD students are eligible to participate.
- The project must contain substantially new activities after January 1, 2024 for submission to this competition by November 1, 2024 in the same year.
- The project must have a prototype system/solution, whether it involves any hardware or not.
- The same project must have not won any awards from similar competitions at regional or national levels (except research grants and awards received to fund the project activities).
What to Submit
1. A cover page listing:
a. Title of the project and a list of up to five keywords;
b. The lead CSE student's name, contact information, and degree program (e.g., a sophomore in CS/CE, first-year MS, or fourth-year PhD);
c. The name and degree program information of each student team member, and the name and affiliation of each faculty mentor on the team.
2. A project summary, up to 1-page with a font size no smaller than 11, containing:
a. What the project has accomplished, specifically describing the proof-of-concept system and/or solution the project has developed;
b. Why it is new and what challenges/obstacles your project team has overcome;
c. The significant technological and societal impacts;
d. The specific contributions of each student (i.e., who did what);
e. A signed statement by all team members, including faculty mentor(s), that “There is an agreement in place on the use (or distribution) of the cash prize” (the agreement itself does not need to be submitted);
f. The project plan for the next step (e.g., any technology transfer or commercialization plans).
3. Attach up to six figures, screenshots, or photos, each with a brief caption.
4. A three-minute or shorter video clip showing the demonstration of the project idea. The video size should be less than 600MB.
5. A two-page resume of each student and faculty mentor.
How to Submit
Submit all application and project materials via the Agrusa Competition Submission Form.
Evaluation Criteria
The CSE Award Selection Committee will judge submissions based on their:
- novelty;
- technical contributions;
- potential impacts on technology and our society.
Previous Competitions
Press Coverage
About Russ Agrusa
Russ Agrusa founded and served as CEO of ICONICS, a leading industrial software automation provider, which was recently acquired by Mitsubishi Electric.
Agrusa is a long-term supporter of UB and CSE. He has chaired and is currently co-chair of the CSE Departmental Advisory Board (DAB) since its inception. He also served on the SEAS Dean’s Advisory Council.
In addition to the fund for the competition, Agrusa has made several other generous donations, one of which is recognized with the naming of Davis 101 as the Agrusa Auditorium.
Publicity Agreement
Student award winners must agree to:
- Help promote the Agrusa Competition and CSE Department on social media;
- Share their UB and post-graduation success stories with the donor and CSE.
Contact Us
Questions, comments, or advice? Please contact us at cse-agrusa@buffalo.edu.