Santa Clara Students Win NHL Innovation Competition in San Jose

A team of four Santa Clara University students won the Innovator Award at the NHL/NHLPA Innovation Competition presented by SAP on June 1 at SAP Center. Anna Mulderink, Liam Hadden, Alex de Ana Skiner, and Fletcher Craig developed Puck Pulse, a device that uses NHL EDGE puck tracking and haptic feedback to let visually impaired fans physically feel the action.

The competition, supported by the Sharks Foundation, challenged Bay Area college students to reimagine how hockey can drive greater access, youth wellness, and community connection. More than 150 students from 14 colleges and universities across California participated, representing 21 academic disciplines. Six finalist teams presented live at SAP Center to a panel of judges from the NHL, SAP, the San Jose Sharks, and the City of San Jose.

UC Berkeley's Cory La Roe, a disabled Air Force veteran, received the Changemaker Award for Hockey Without Barriers, a platform using AI narration, haptic technology, and real-time captioning to make live hockey more inclusive for fans with disabilities.

Former Sharks players Joe Thornton and Devin Setoguchi attended the event. "Innovation is a big part of Silicon Valley and everything spreads from here," Thornton said. "There's a lot of bright minds here, and this is where you want to be."

The competition marked the first Hockey Innovation Competition on the West Coast and the first presented with support from an NHL club foundation. Across its first four editions in Ottawa, Toronto, and Florida, the contest drew 154 submissions from 49 educational institutions involving more than 750 students.

Before announcing the winners, the Sharks Foundation and SAP presented a $230,000 Community Assist grant to nonprofit 10,000 Degrees. Seven students from San Jose, Oakland, Fremont, or Gilroy will receive $30,000 Finnovation scholarships to support their higher education, part of a three-year, $1 million commitment to address education equity.