March 20, 2009
News View Article
Several Engineering Students Win Awards In Big Idea CompetitionThe fourth annual campus-wide Big Idea Competition, hosted by the IEE, culminated on March 3 with a large-scale networking event, presentation by competition finalists, and an awards ceremony.
Several Swanson School of Engineering students received awards at the
Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence (IEE) Big Idea competition. The competition challenged students to create a new product or service idea that could be turned into a functioning business or to develop strategies for improving their own existing businesses.
Michael Lehman, director of PantherlabWorks and Student Services in the IEE, believes this is a way Pitt can help alleviate some of the pressures for Pitt students by helping grow existing student businesses and building new ones. "We want to provide alternative outlooks for students in an unstable job market, and offer them the necessary assistance to reach their entrepreneurial goals," Lehman said.
For students already running their own businesses, the competition offered support to keep going despite challenging circumstances. "I felt this was a great opportunity for me. Having my work recognized has inspired me to keep going," said Micah Toll, a sophomore mechanical engineering student who won first place in the Business Growth Idea category for his company, Disaster Rebuilding Solutions, LLC.
Winners were awarded both a monetary prize and professional services to be used to grow their business idea, with top winners in each category receiving $1,000 to cover business expenses. Among the professional services offered were legal assistance for starting a business, a networking dinner with local businesses relevant to the winners, and strategic consulting sessions from the Small Business Development Center.
Swanson School of Engineering winners included:
New Product Idea
1st Place: Samuel Dickerson, a PhD candidate in the Swanson School of Engineering, developed a low-cost, portable cytometer, a device for counting the number of cells in a fluid sample such as blood. The mobile nature of the product would enable diagnostic tests, such as for HIV, to occur more easily in rural medical clinics.
3rd Place: Rong Zong, a PhD candidate in materials science at the Swanson School of Engineering, invented and filed a provisional patent for a device that expedites the grinding of multiple samples for study with a transmission electron microscope. Use of this product will save time and resources for researchers and technicians in academic and private research institutions.
Business Growth Idea
1st Place: Micah Toll, a sophomore mechanical engineering major at the Swanson School of Engineering, is the founder of Disaster Rebuilding Solutions, LLC. He developed a lightweight, patent-pending portable construction beam to be used for rapid deployment shelters and other utilitarian structures in third world and refugee populations.
2nd Place: Colin Huwyler, a freshman engineering student, is the owner of Fossil Free Fuel, LLC, a company that designs and manufactures fuel systems that enable diesel engines to operate on clean burning, renewable, plant-based fuels. After developing its first system, Fossil Free Fuels is creating a prototype for the next innovative system, a modular unit that will work universally on bigger diesel engines and is well-suited for large scale commercialization.
The IEE partnered with a number of organizations throughout the Pittsburgh region to lend support and help connect students, including PNC Bank; Allegheny County Economic Development; Blue Tree Allied Angels; Bridgeway Capital; Innovation Works; Meyer, Unkovic & Scott LLP; Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh; and Wilke & Associates, LLP.
Article courtesy of the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business and College of Business Administration.
Additional information and photos can be found in Pitt Business, the e-newsletter distributed by the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business and College of Business Administration.
