Illinois Tech Awards Grainger Computing Innovation Prize to Stablecoin Payment Solution to Benefit Mexico’s Unbanked

CHICAGO—The second annual Grainger Computing Innovation Prize was awarded to a team of Illinois Tech student innovators for their invention of a cross-compatible, simple-to-use stablecoin payment solution to solve the financial access gap for millions of Mexico’s unbanked. The winning team, named StarPay, was announced as the $15,000 first prize winner in a finals event judged live by a panel of Chicago’s technology experts.

Five finalist teams pitched their prototypes to a panel of esteemed judges, the Illinois Tech community, and invited guests as part of the Grainger Computing Innovation Prize Finals. The aim of the competition is to build interdisciplinary teams of students to exhibit their computing skills in big data, artificial intelligence, and data science projects with the potential to positively impact society. Teams were encouraged to tackle projects in “Computing with Data for Social Good” to address real-world problems in education, health, energy, public safety, transportation, economic development, sustainable smart infrastructure, climate change, and more. 

Stablecoins are the forefront of digital payment, with Mexico’s government aiming to launch its own Centralized Digital Bank Currency (Crypto-Peso) by 2025. As building local, crypto-native payment networks in Mexico will be challenging, Team StarPay is aiming  to become “the go-to payment solution for the future of the country’s CDBC infrastructure.”

“With 90 percent  of all transactions being in cash, fragmented smartphone capabilities, and inconsistent internet coverage, there is a great need for a simple, cross-compatible payment network,” says StarPay team leader André Guardia, (PHYS 4th Year). “Financial access in Latin America is profoundly important to us, as we've experienced firsthand the cascading consequences of being outside the traditional financial system: theft, corruption, predatory rates, and exclusion from digital services. We want to build a future where anyone can access financial services, regardless of what kind of phone they have, their location, or income level.”

Team StarPay was composed of André Guardia, (PHYS 4th Year), Jorge Plascencia (AE 2nd Year), Rishabh Tyagi (CS 4th Year), and David Singer (ITM 4th Year).

“The Grainger Prize finalists all demonstrated the talent and innovative thinking that abounds in the Illinois Tech community,” says Brian Walker, Illinois Tech trustee and vice president and chief product officer at Grainger, a Fortune 500 industrial supply company founded in Chicago in 1927. “Team StarPay shows our students’ passion for creating technological solutions that can impact the global community.”

The esteemed panel of judges also included Trenton Dunn, manager of the ThinkChicago Program, a national STEM talent attraction and retention program led by World Business Chicago in partnership with the city; Tim Stojka, co-founder of three technology businesses, including the cloud-based software and data analytics company Agentis, where he is now CEO; Keith Carlson, who as chief technology officer of Relativity leads one of the largest tech teams in Chicago producing global, secure, end-to-end legal and compliance software; and Jonny LeRoy, vice president and chief technology officer of Grainger.

A highly competitive field with a truly exciting range of projects composed the finalists in the second year of the competition, with projects ranging from a blockchain-powered microgrid system that efficiently manages renewable power and power distribution from Team GreenGrid who took home the second prize of $10,000, to a food courier app to facilitate restaurant donations to address communities’ lack of food access from third prize winning team DonateMates, who were awarded $5,000 for their innovation.

“Illinois Tech is purpose-driven. We harness the collective power of difference to drive innovation for all,” says Illinois Tech President Raj Echambadi. “The Grainger Computing Innovation Prize reflects this purpose as we call students to bring different ways of thinking to tackle some of the grand challenges of our time and advance technology and progress for all.” 

In conjunction with Illinois Tech’s newly established College of Computing, teams were made up of students from across different fields of study and from various backgrounds, with the goal of encouraging diversity of thought, unique solutions, and cross-disciplinary collaborations.

“Computing is key to addressing global problems of today and of the future,” says Lance Fortnow, dean of Illinois Tech’s College of Computing. “Using computing as a solution to those issues is a key mission of the College of Computing: infusing data and computing into the core of Illinois Tech’s educational approach across all disciplines.”

A generous endowed gift funded by The Grainger Foundation, an independent, private foundation established by William W. Grainger, the founder of W.W. Grainger, Inc., supports the Grainger Computing Innovation Prize annually, with student teams receiving $15,000 for first place, $10,000 for second, and $5,000 for third.

“The Grainger Computing Innovation Prize perfectly exemplifies what a difference philanthropy makes at Illinois Tech to provide students with hands-on experiences at innovating and using technology to solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges,” says Ernie Iseminger, vice president of advancement at Illinois Tech. 

“The Grainger Computing Innovation Prize gives our students an incredible opportunity to show what they’ve learned in the classroom and directly apply their skills to the challenges faced in Chicago and around the world,” adds Illinois Tech Provost Ken Christensen. “The Grainger Foundation’s generous gift empowers Illinois Tech students as life-long learners and as agents of change in the global community.”

Learn more about the Grainger Computing Innovation Prize and this year’s winning projects by visiting https://www.iit.edu/graingerprize 

Illinois Institute of Technology

Based in the global metropolis of Chicago, Illinois Tech was born to liberate the collective power of difference to advance technology and progress for all. It is the only tech-focused university in the city, and it stands at the crossroads of exploration and invention, advancing the future of Chicago and the world. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, computing, architecture, business, design, science and human sciences, and law. Illinois Tech students are guaranteed hands-on experiences, personalized mentorship, and job readiness through the university's one-of-a-kind Elevate program. Its graduates lead the state and much of the nation in economic prosperity. Its faculty and alumni built the Chicago skyline. And every day in the living lab of the city, Illinois Tech fuels breakthroughs that change lives. Visit iit.edu.

College of Computing

Illinois Tech created the College of Computing in 2020 as part of an effort to drive Chicago’s thriving tech ecosystem by educating a future diverse workforce that is rigorously trained in data and computation. Illinois Tech is home to the Midwest's only Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence degree, and the numerous cybersecurity and intelligence pathways at Illinois Tech explore not only the deep foundations of fast-growing fields of computer science, but also emphasize societal ethics in developing this technology. The United States Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency have designated Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech) as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education. The university’s Center for Cyber Security and Forensics Education (C2SAFE) is at the core of Illinois Tech’s designation. Additionally, the center is a member of the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) Academic Alliance and North American Defense and Security Academic Alliance (NADSAA).

The Grainger Foundation

The Grainger Foundation, an independent, private foundation based in Lake Forest, Illinois, was established in 1949 by William W. Grainger, founder of W.W. Grainger, Inc.  The Grainger Foundation provides substantive support to a broad range of organizations including educational, medical, cultural, and human services institutions.

Media contact

Petra Kelly
Communications Director
Illinois Institute of Technology
Cell: 773-771-1064
pkelly6@iit.edu