Purdue College of Technology team wins national social entrepreneurship competition
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A student-led team from Purdue University's College of Technology won the 2010 national Idea to Product Competition for Social Entrepreneurship on Saturday (April 17), showcasing a computer software product for the hearing-impaired.
Animation Speaks Louder, led by students Jason Lestina of Fishers, Ind., and Marcus Oania of Aiea, Hawaii, won the $10,000 top prize in the competition that drew a dozen teams from across the country to Purdue. Animation Speaks Louder is a computer software product addressing deaf education in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines.
The annual competition, held this year at Discovery Park's Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, challenges students to create products that address social needs and introduces the marketing plan that outlines a roadmap to commercialization.
"All 12 teams are passionate about their causes and put a great deal of effort into their projects," said Nancy Clement, interim director of Purdue's Social Entrepreneurship Initiative at the Burton Morgan Center. "It was a treat to be a part of an entrepreneurship competition where these young students designed innovative products or services that can address a known need in their local or global communities. And it was exciting to see a Purdue team come out on top."
Finishing second and claiming an $8,000 prize was a team from Colorado State University called AYZH - Technology Solutions for Rural Women. This social enterprise is intended to provide clean birthing kits to women in Bangalore, India, and the entire region's economy would benefit since the kits could be assembled in the community.
Linear Clock, a team from Ohio State University, received the $2,000 third-place prize with a project aimed at advancing the independence of children with Down syndrome by providing time-management tools.
Educational Laser Module, a team from Western Michigan University, received a $500 special award for its contribution to the education of the STEM disciplines, Clement said. The team's project is designed to create a more complete understanding of light reflection, refraction, transmission and absorption for middle school science education.
Two other Purdue teams competed with the following entries: Swirlz, a product intended to encourage children to drink more milk; and Universal Remote, a product created for individuals with various disabilities to remotely access home appliances.
Teams also came from the Illinois Institute of Technology, University of Virginia, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of California-San Diego, and the Catholic University College of Ghana in Fiapre, located in northwest Africa.
Event sponsors included the Motorola Foundation and the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA).
Lestina, of Animation Speaks Louder, also was awarded a scholarship by the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance to attend an upcoming Advanced Invention to Venture three-day workshop to help develop and advance his Purdue team's product to commercialization.
The Idea to Product Competition for Social Entrepreneurship is part of a consortium of universities adopting a product-feasibility approach as the first step in the commercialization process. Top teams from these competitions come together annually at the Global Idea to Product Competition held in November at the University of Texas at Austin.
GlucaGo LLC, a life sciences company led by three students from Purdue and Indiana universities, captured first place in the 2009 Global Idea to Product Competition, beating out 14 other teams and claiming the $10,000 top prize. That event in Austin, Texas, featured teams from 19 universities and eight countries.
Clement represents the Purdue Social Entrepreneurship Initiative at Discovery Park's Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, which provides a pathway for commercialization of products created by students for nonprofit organizations addressing social needs.
Writer: Phillip Fiorini, 765-496-3133, pfiorini@purdue.edu
Sources: Nancy Clement, 765-494-9884, nic@purdue.edu
Jason Lestina, jlestina@purdue.edu
Marcus Oania, moania@purdue.edu
Related web site:
Discovery Park