Alex Suscha earns first place at UW-Stevens Point WiSys Quick Pitch competition

Photo credit: Carrie Hutton, UW-Stevens Point

Stevens Point-Alex Suscha and Claire Tesch were honored for their research at the UW-Stevens Point WiSys Quick Pitch competition on Friday, May 3.

Freshman Alex Suscha won first place for his pitch, titled “Sourcer AI - Article Integrity Companion.” Suscha discussed how AI has revolutionized how online media has been assessed, and how Sourcer AI instantaneously analyzes news articles to find their reputability rating and political bias. Sourcer AI is a first of its kind, AI fact-checker.

Suscha’s advisor is Patrick Gatterman, the director of the Small Business Development Center at UW-Stevens Point. Suscha is invited to represent UW-Stevens Point at the WiSys Quick Pitch State Final, which will be held during the WiSys SPARK Symposium at UW-Superior this July.

Junior Claire Tesch earned both second place and the audience-voted people’s choice award for her pitch, “Pre-service Educator Mental Health Literacy: "Talking About It" is no Longer Enough.” In her pitch, Tesch shared the dire need for education surrounding mental health literacy in students looking to pursue a career in the education field so they can be prepared to help the students they teach.

Tesch’s faculty advisor is Jesse Mossholder, an associate lecturer in the Education department.

Additional participants included:

  • Ella Hunter, “Living Legacy of Camp Pattison: Civilian Conservation Corps at Pattison State Park”

  • Lexi Kurszewski, “Man or Markets?: How Assessments Turn into Tax Values for Homes Across Differing Values”

Judges for the event were:

  • Dr. La Vonne Cornell-Swanson, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, UW-Stevens Point

  • Dr. Shanny Luft, Associate Dean of University College, UW-Stevens Point

  • Leon Ostrowski, Emeritus Board Member, WiSys

  • Dr. Al Thompson Jr., Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, UW-Stevens Point

Pictures of the event can be viewed here. Thank you to Carrie Hutton, marketing specialist at UW-Stevens Point, for attending and taking pictures.

To learn more about WiSys Quick Pitch, click here. For questions about Quick Pitch, please contact Margot DeBaker, Regional Intellectual Property and Licensing Associate, at mdebaker@wisys.org.

Wilson Fay