Most breakthrough ideas do not fail because the technology is weak.
They fail because the path between innovation and real-world impact is difficult to navigate.
For the team behind SubQ Six, the journey through Crummer Graduate School of Business became part of that translation process.
On May 9, 2026, the members of SubQ Six crossed the Commencement stage as Crummer graduates. But long before graduation day, the team had already begun building something that extended far beyond the classroom.
Earlier this year, the student-led venture team was named the $10,000 Grand Prize Winner of the 2025 NASA Patent Remix Challenge for its work commercializing NASA’s Subcutaneous Structure Imager technology.
The team — Ava Ager ’26MBA, Matheus Westphalen ’24 ’26MBA, McKenzie Steuerer ’26MBA, Oliver Alcorn ’26MBA, Xandria Bramble ’25 ’26MBA, and Ryan Procopio ’26MBA — reimagined the near-infrared imaging system as a portable handheld device designed to help clinicians and first responders visualize veins beneath the skin in real time without contrast dyes, ultrasound equipment, or complex setup.
What made the project stand out was not only the innovation itself, but the team’s ability to translate technical potential into a compelling business opportunity.
Judges recognized SubQ Six for its strong value proposition, thoughtful commercialization strategy, customer discovery process, and clear path toward real-world deployment.
That ability to bridge technology and business became central to the team’s Crummer experience.
For the entire team — Ava Ager ’26MBA, Matheus Westphalen ’24 ’26MBA, McKenzie Steuerer ’26MBA, Oliver Alcorn ’26MBA, Xandria Bramble ’25 ’26MBA, and Ryan Procopio ’26MBA — the project represented more than a competition. It became an opportunity to learn how innovation moves from concept to commercialization.
For Xandria Bramble ’25 ’26MBA, who entered the Rollins 3/2 Accelerated Management Program after studying computer science, the experience marked a shift from simply building technology to understanding how innovation becomes viable in the real world.
“I always felt like I wanted to pursue something more than just working in tech,” Bramble shared in a recent Rollins feature story. “The opportunity to join the 3/2 AMP program and earn my MBA through Crummer felt like a good chance to broaden my experience and find interesting connections between computer science and business.”
The NASA project itself began inside the MBA capstone course led by entrepreneur-in-residence Dr. Peter McAlindon. Students were asked to select NASA patents and explore how they could be commercialized. Over time, the assignment evolved into something much larger.
The SubQ Six team developed a full venture concept, building financial models, operational plans, marketing strategies, customer discovery interviews, and commercialization pathways. They presented regularly, refined their thinking through feedback, and learned how to move from idea to execution.
Along the way, the experience reshaped more than technical or business skills.
It built confidence.
By the time we were presenting our capstone project to audiences that included Crummer alumni and people from NASA, I felt much more comfortable and confident.
That transformation reflects something increasingly important in business education today. In an era where technology evolves rapidly, technical expertise alone is rarely enough. The differentiator becomes the ability to connect innovation with judgment, communication, strategy, and execution.
That is where the Crummer experience became part of the SubQ Six story.
Not simply as the backdrop to an award-winning competition team, but as an environment that helped transform technical capability into business momentum.
Now officially a Florida-registered company, the team continues pursuing startup competitions, prototyping, clinical validation, and evaluation licensing opportunities with NASA.
For SubQ Six, Commencement did not mark the end of the journey.
It marked the beginning of what comes next.
If you’d like to learn more about the Accelerated MBA experience at Crummer, explore the program here.
And if you’re wondering whether this kind of challenge, growth, and community might be the right next step for you, our admissions team would be happy to talk: click here.
