Purdue Research Park Entrepreneurship Academy officials award vouchers to Indiana high school students
June 29, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue Research Park Entrepreneurship Academy officials on Saturday (June 26) presented college tuition vouchers to Indiana high school juniors and seniors who were on the top three teams at the fourth annual event.
The vouchers, ranging in value from $100-$500, were presented during the academy's awards ceremony at Purdue University's Memorial Union. The vouchers can be put toward tuition costs at Purdue. Forty-seven students from 26 Indiana counties competed in the program.
Teams were given high-tech business cases from the life sciences and renewable energy sectors at the beginning of the academy. During the week, they tested the viability, identified capital needs and devised a management plan for the business cases.
"The students in the academy already have demonstrated an interest in science, technology, engineering, math and entrepreneurship, and we are working to foster that interest into something that they can take with them to college," said Gregory W. Deason, vice president of the Purdue Research Foundation and executive director of the Purdue Research Park, who served as keynote speaker at the ceremony. "Indiana needs future leaders like these students because the future of our economy lies in high-tech sectors. I believe they will have a profound impact upon the state and also the world."
The weeklong academy was based on an entrepreneurship program called "So what? who cares? why you?" by Wendy Kennedy, a technology industry executive and former professor who has written on the subject of commercializing innovative ideas.
First place went to Alco, with team members Jacob Barber of Crown Point High School; Dylan Barnett of Floyd Central High School, Floyds Knobs; Alanna Fennimore of Decatur Discovery Academy, Camby; Trent Koch of Higher Ground Academy, Muncie; and Shriya Manian of West Lafayette High School. The team was mentored by Joe Trebley of the Purdue Research Foundation's Office of Technology Commercialization.
"I learned to work with people whom I had never met before," Manian said. "We learned to pull the strengths from each other and find who can complement one another as we worked as a team to accomplish our goals."
Barber said the teamwork helped in researching important aspects of the business.
"The most difficult part of the academy was defining what we wanted to do as a business, trying to determine the different aspects of the business and getting really deep into details," he said.
Barnett said the team also gained confidence in speaking with the judges due to training sessions held throughout the week.
"Everyone on the team knew who would speak on what topics, which increased our confidence," he said. "The speech coach gave confidence boosters and tips on making successful presentations, including to relax and to speak clearly and loudly."
Fennimore said the academy has impacted her long-term goals.
"I am going to get a degree in entrepreneurship, hopefully associated with some type of engineering," she said. "I now know the basics of entrepreneurship, which I want to build on in college."
The David E. Ross Award for Entrepreneurship Distinction was presented to Erika Blake, a home educated student in Lafayette, who also was a member of the third-place team, Lightning Bug.
"You can't accomplish anything unless you have a good team of people ready to work with you. I was privileged to work with a great group of individuals who were dedicated to doing the work with me," she said. "I'm really encouraged from what I learned about entrepreneurship this week. The process seems more tangible now that I've experienced it."
Students from the second- and third-place teams and their high schools and hometowns were:
* Second place, Pinpoint Diagnostics: Clare Drummond, West Lafayette High School; Michael Frondorf, East Central High School, Sunman; William Rettinger, Triton High School, Bourbon; Carolyn Trueblood, Fountain Central High School, Attica; and Tyler Van Lul, Calumet High School, Griffith. The team was mentored by Chris McEvoy of Discovery Park.
* Third place, Lightning Bug: Erika Blake, home educated, Lafayette; Ryan Meyer, Community Montessori, New Albany; Steven Rice, Greenwood High School; Lawson Roth, Signature School, Evansville; and Chris Song, Carmel High School, Zionsville. The team was mentored by Neil Mylet of Cropfusion Inc.
Participating students were from Allen, Bartholomew, Benton, Clark, Dearborn, Delaware, Dubois, Floyd, Fountain, Hamilton, Hancock, Johnson, Lake, LaPorte, Marion, Marshall, Miami, Monroe, Orange, Perry, Porter, Ripley, St. Joseph, Steuben, Tippecanoe and Vanderburgh counties.
Judges for the competition were Rebecca Ball, Barnes & Thornburg; Mark Cisneros, Nutrabiotix; Susan Davis, Small Business Development Center; Jody Hamilton, Greater Lafayette Commerce; Tim Harvey, Angie's List; and John Hertig, AMIPurdue (Alfred Mann Institute for Biomedical Development at Purdue University).
Academy sponsors were Accent on Business; AMIPurdue; Anson Group; Awards Unlimited; Barnes & Thornburg; Bill DeFouw Chevrolet-BMW; Camille's Sidewalk Café; Coldwell Banker Shook; CSO Architects; Dairy Queen; Purdue's Discovery Park; Flowers by Rustic Bouquet; Great Harvest Bread Company; Greater Lafayette Commerce; Katz, Sapper & Miller; Kendrick Nissan; Knoy Apparel; Lafayette Office Supply; Lafayette Printing; Mike Raisor Ford-Mazda; Mike Raisor GMC-Buick-Cadillac-Imports; Purdue Employees Federal Credit Union; Purdue Research Foundation; Sign Art Etc.; Sollé Coaching; and Twin City Dodge-Chrysler.
Other teams participating in the academy included:
Anemoi: Alex Deason, Benton Central High School, West Lafayette; Drake Krohn, New Washington High School, Marysville; Matt Marske, Guerin Catholic High School, Carmel; Amanda McCrory, South Ripley High School, Versailles; and Daniel Mosco, Victory Christian Academy, Valparaiso. The team was mentored by Juliana Spiker of the Purdue Research Foundation.
Custom Cartilage: Tyrone Clinton, Thea Bowman Leadership Academy, Gary; Bryan Smith, Fountain Central High School, Veedersburg; Patrick Thomison, Hamilton Heights High School, Cicero; Keith White, Harrison High School, Lafayette; and Sarah Worthington, Angola High School. The team was mentored by David Carpenter of Discovery Park.
Emerald Fuels: Spencer Herzog, Cannelton High School; John McCrum, Chesterton High School, Porter; Shravni Merugureddy, West Lafayette High School; and Lauren Van Buren, Carmel High School, Westfield. The team was mentored by Jon Gortat of the Purdue Research Foundation's Office of Technology Commercialization.
Lh2ottsa Wh2atts: Joshua Crase, Silver Creek High School, Sellersburg; Jordan Gasaway, LaPorte High School; Lucy Guo, Columbus North High School; Kassie Robinson, Jefferson High School, Lafayette; and Chase Silvers, Orleans High School. The team was mentored by Shane Fimbel of the Purdue Research Foundation's Office of Technology Commercialization.
S.T. Free: Trae Bobillo, Central Catholic High School, Lafayette; Hannah Downing, Triton High School, Bourbon; Young Hoon Koh, Bloomington High School; Kevin Kohrman, New Haven High School; and Garrett Peterson, Attica High School. The team was mentored by Stroh Brann of Discovery Park.
Watt Now: Michael Fouts, North Miami High School, Macy; Aayush Gupta, University High School of Indiana, Indianapolis; Brianna Keen, Faith Christian School, Lafayette; Eric Obermeyer, Jasper High School; and Kyle Rice, John Adams High School, South Bend. The team was mentored by Rich Mussmann of Nano-Rad LLC.
Wilson Neurotechnologies: Kevin Brown II, Lawrence Central High School, Indianapolis; Samuel Fuller, New Palestine High School; Nathaniel Griffith, Faith Christian School, Lafayette. The team was mentored by Tim Peoples of the Purdue Research Foundation.
About Purdue Research Park
The 725-acre Purdue Research Park of West Lafayette (https://www.purdueresearchpark.com) is the largest university-affiliated business incubation complex in the country. The park is home to more than 160 companies. About 110 of these firms are technology-related and another 39 are incubator businesses. The park is owned and managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, a private, nonprofit foundation created to assist Purdue University in the area of economic development. In addition to the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette, the foundation has established research parks in other locations around Indiana including Indianapolis, Merrillville and New Albany.
Purdue Research Park contact:
Steve Martin, 765-588-3342, sgmartin@prf.org
Source:
Gregory W. Deason, 765-588-3363, gwdeason@prf.org
