Baton Rouge, La. — Nexus Louisiana, in partnership with Ochsner Health, today announced Kneva, an all-female student team from the University of Louisiana at Monroe, as the winner of the DevDays HealthTech Challenge. DevDays attracted 160 students from 11 Louisiana universities who submitted 45 innovative solutions, addressing issues ranging from athlete safety to carbon management.
The competition challenged students to build digital solutions that improve ACL injury prevention and recovery for Louisiana’s youth athletes. Developed by computer science students Sian Rose Vincent, Yukta Karki, and Nirjara KC, Kneva is a Biological Intelligence platform designed for the physiology of female athletes, who are eight times more likely than their male counterparts to suffer these injuries. The system unifies two critical data points, hormonal fluctuations and biomechanical movement, to predict elevated injury risk and deliver real-time, micro-adjusted training feedback. A wearable knee sensor monitors movement patterns, while the platform maps an athlete’s menstrual cycle to identify when they are more susceptible to injury, creating a personalized, adaptive approach to performance and injury prevention.
Team Kneva shared that the competition affirmed their mission to build injury-prevention tools that truly reflect the physiology and experiences of female athletes—not systems retrofitted from male data. “I was raised in a world shaped by strong women, and Kneva lets me pour that energy into a platform that finally acknowledges and supports female athletes,” said KC. “Leading the research and development for our ACL prevention prototype proved that innovation is iterative, and this win fuels our next chapter. We’re excited to take on the engineering challenges needed to move from concept to a production-ready solution.”
The six-week competition brought together student teams from across the state to confront a real and pressing sports medicine issue. “DevDays is about putting our state’s brightest minds on our state's hardest problems,” said Tony Zanders, President and CEO of Nexus Louisiana. “The quality of ideas we saw reflects the strength of the talent emerging from Louisiana’s universities and the value of connecting that talent to real industry needs.”
As the presenting partner, Ochsner Health emphasized the importance of strengthening pathways between students and industry. “DevDays shows what happens when we give young people real problems to solve and the room to innovate boldly. These students aren’t just imagining the future of sports medicine — they’re building it. I’m proud that Ochsner is helping open doors, strengthen pathways, and champion the next generation of Louisiana talent,” said Christy Reeves, Vice President, Network Development and Government Relations at Ochsner Health.
With strong student and industry partner participation, Nexus Louisiana has confirmed that DevDays will return next year with new challenges and expanded collaboration opportunities. Organizations interested in partnering for the 2026 series may contact hello@nexusla.org.