We’re thrilled to announce that Angela Deng and Ami Kshatriya have won the eighth annual Berkeley Student Innovator Award for their project, “ContactEco: A Contact Lens Recycling Initiative.” Their work stood out for its creativity, real-world impact, and potential to advance sustainability in eye care. As this year’s winners, they will receive a $5,000 scholarship to support the continued development of their project.
We also want to celebrate the incredible work of the other two finalists:
- Chenglei “Vera” Shan — A Novel VR-Based Approach to Evaluating Vision in Patients Post-Cataract Surgery
- Baldemar Torres — “Bored with Boards?” – The Innovative Card Game for Optometry Board Exam Review
On April 22nd, each finalist presented a 10-minute lightning talk highlighting their prototype, preliminary data, and implementation plans. A panel of faculty, alumni, and industry professionals provided feedback and selected the winning project, while attendees cast votes for an audience-choice recognition prize.
About the Award
The Berkeley Student Innovator Award is generously supported by VSP through the Jobson Rick Bay Foundation for Excellence in Eyecare Education. It recognizes student-led projects with the potential to make a meaningful difference in the field of optometry and vision science.
Read Their Proposal