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UNLV students are on a mission to wipe out COVID-19. For them, it's about breathing cleaner air. 13 Action News anchor Tricia Kean speaks with one of the young innovators, who just got a boost from their own school.

A promise of pure air might sound too good to be true, but an innovation from Ê×Ò³| Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ students could make guests feel safe enough to return to hotels and entertainment venues, a challenge that the hospitality industry has faced since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With Nevada's tourism sector in free fall this past spring, the Lee Business School at the Ê×Ò³| Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­ (UNLV) and the Ted and Doris Lee Family Foundation looked to accelerate recovery with the May launch of the Lee School Prize for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

One-time-use, recyclable bed sheets; a durable cleaning robot; and a virus-capturing HVAC system were among the winners of the competition spearheaded by the Troesh Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Ê×Ò³| Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­.

The results are in. UNLV announces the winners of its global contest to help bring business back to Las Vegas after taking a hard hit from the pandemic. 13 Action News anchor Tricia Kean has the top innovators, including a look at a local entry.

Plywood covered entryways that weren't even designed to have doors. Streets once choked by bumper-to-bumper traffic and sidewalks stuffed with tourists now were deserted. The unnatural calm on the Las Vegas Strip came after Gov. Steve Sisolak's mid-March order to close casinos in an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Five teams of entrepreneurs have been awarded $900,000 combined to help the hospitality, entertainment and travel industries recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Financial adviser Ana Raviña used to travel overseas almost every week of the year, hopping from one hotel to the next. As part of her job in international development, she regularly flew to Latin America and Africa. She also traveled widely around Europe to meet with donors, investors and clients.

Great Lakes cruise lines, much like their international industry peers, are feeling the challenges of operating in a pandemic but have high hopes that their ships can be back in the water for 2021 and bringing new cruising options for eager travelers.

Executive Director at the Troesch Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at UNLV Leith Martin explains that the University is set to hold its competition for the Lee School Prize for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, which hopes to speed up development of innovations necessary to address problems the Hospitality, Entertainment, and Travel industries are facing during this pandemic.

Andre Carrier is the COO of Eureka Casinos, Nevada's first 100% employee owned casino. He is also a Prize Steering Committee Member for the Lee School Prize for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a partnership between The UNLV Lee Business School and the Ted and Doris Lee Family Foundation aiming to speed entrepreneurs in the development of innovations necessary to rapidly address the urgent problems facing the hospitality, entertainment and travel industries resulting from COVID-19.

More than 250 entrepreneurs and inventors are competing to create a solution that can help the hospitality, entertainment and travel industries recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, with the potential of seeing their idea brought to market.