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
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.
The CSE Award Selection Committee will judge submissions based on their:
Students and their projects must meet four eligibility criteria:
Submit all application and project materials via the Agrusa Competition Submission Form.
Student award winners must agree to:
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.
Questions, comments, or advice? Please contact us at cse-agrusa@buffalo.edu.