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The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Student, creator of KnoNap wins grant to develop date rape prevention products

A junior was awarded $50,000 through a summit hosted by Toyota for her company, which is working to develop products that can detect date rape drugs.

Danya Sherman – founder and CEO of KnoNap, a company working to develop educational services and products to prevent drug-facilitated sexual assault – attended the ninth annual Tina Brown Live Media Women in the World Summit presented by Toyota this week. At the event, she was among three recipients of $50,000 awards.

The summit aimed to celebrate “pioneers who are driving positive change in the world through innovation and entrepreneurship,” according to a release.

“These women are game changers who are creating massive impact in the world around them and the team at Toyota is thrilled to support them in their mission to make a difference,” Jacquelyn Birdsall, a senior engineer for Toyota Motor North America, said in the release.

Sherman plans to launch her company by the end of the year. Her product, KnoNap, is a napkin that contains a chemical that will change the napkin’s color if the drink spilled on it has been drugged.

The program has recognized 22 women since it began in 2012 and awarded more than $1 million in grants.

“I couldn’t be more proud of this year’s Toyota Mothers of Invention participants whose breakthrough inventions offer incredibly smart and simple solutions to timely problems that affect us all,” Tina Brown, founder and CEO of Tina Brown Live Media said in the release.

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