Custom Stable Cup Winners Take Home Three Scholarship Awards

Southern College of Optometry & UC Berkeley College of Optometry earned first and second place respectively in the Custom Stable Cup Challenge held at Academy 2017 in Chicago.

Valley Contax, a custom contact lens manufacturer, recently held the Custom Stable Cup Challenge at Academy 2017 in Chicago, October 11th to 14th. Current optometry students and alumni were encouraged to participate by visiting the Valley Contax booth where they partnered up and applied the Custom Stable lens with NaFl. Participants then used TelScreen’s dynamic imaging system and slit lamps to evaluate the lens on eye and record an estimated central clearance. Next, the fitters moved to an Optovue OCT and used its vault mapping software to record the actual central clearance. Once finished, the scorecards were turned in and the school with the lowest average difference between the estimated and actual central clearance, and with at least 10 participants, was to be declared the winner.

Hundreds of students and alumni from more than 20 schools of optometry participated. First place was awarded to Southern College of Optometry who received two $500 scholarships and the coveted Custom Stable Cup. The second place winner was UC Berkeley College of Optometry who was awarded a $500 scholarship. Along with Valley Contax, Menicon, Contamac, Optovue and TelScreen were also contributing sponsors along with special support from the AOSA.

Josh Adams, president of Valley Contax said, “The Custom Stable Cup Challenge at Academy was a great success and all who participated had fun. It’s rewarding to work with students and alumni in a relaxed environment where they can put their scleral fitting knowledge head-to-head. Promoting scleral lens awareness is one of our biggest goals and this event helps us do just that.”