Mathematics major Sam Hunt wins pitch contest with golf training tool
UW-Green Bay Mathematics major Sam Hunt (center in photo) won UW-Green Bay’s second annual Student Business Idea Contest, Monday, Feb. 26, 2018. Students from all majors pitched their innovative idea in 90 seconds for cash, scholarships to a summer entrepreneurship travel course in Portugal and/or the ability to keep pitching this spring for more cash and in-kind services. Here are the winners and their big ideas:
First place and $500 went to Sam Hunt (Mathematics) with his PrecisionLAG golf training tool. He won an additional $500 for the STEM in Business Award from WiSys to the best idea with intellectual property promise from a student with a STEM major. Hunt will be representing UW-Green Bay at “The Pitch” on Wednesday, April 11, 2018 for a $10,000 cash first prize. The Pitch will have two teams each from UW-Green Bay, UW Oshkosh, Ripon College, Lawrence University and St. Norbert College. In addition, this may qualify Hunt to apply to the WiSys Wisconsin Big Idea Tournament on April 21, 2018 and a chance to (to win $2,500 cash, $25,000 in additional seed funding from Ideadvance, and represent Wisconsin at the International Business Model Competition in Provo, UT in May for up to $27,000 in cash. (Also of note, Hunt was on the second place team last year with “The Local Food Experiment” business.)
Second place and $250 was awarded to Hannah Hastings (Business Administration and Accounting) with Pet’s Best Friend — a device that connects to a pet collar that communicates with an app to the pet owner based on how long a specific pet should be outside given the size and breed of the pet and the current weather temperature and conditions. Hastings will also represent UW-Green Bay at The Pitch on April 11. Hastings was also accepted to The Commons’ Hack-It Bracket One-Day Hackathon in Milwaukee, Saturday, March 3, 2018. Hastings already has her own business providing bookkeeping services for several small business clients.
Third place and $100 was awarded to Katherine Mikhail (Business Administration) for Piggy Bank — an app that connects to a Bluetooth piggy bank that teaches kids how to budget their allowance and earn money toward a goal (such as buying a desired toy), through gamification. Both parents and kids work within the app together. Mikhail was a member of the winning “Innovation in Aging” pitch competition on Friday, Feb. 23, 2018. That winning team may also be contacted by WiSys to also apply to the Wisconsin Big Idea Tournament.
Receiving honorable mention and $50:
- Luke Chambers (Businesses Administration) for his “Mind.Set.Go!” goal-reaching coaching program.
- Jake Taylor (Business Administration) and Jordan Shefchik (Psychology) for their “Taking Flight Innovation” app, which helps connect entrepreneurs and inventors to resources, from free to paid, to get help developing their ideas.
- Claire Bestul (Business Administration), with “Ice Detector” app which helps detect lake ice thickness.
- Jennifer Nowicki (Business Administration) with “Cultivate Taste” — an existing business. Nowicki is the only professional with particular tea expertise certification in Wisconsin.
- Courtney Gersek (Business Administration) with “Swift Shopper” app to help navigate a particular store’s floor plan and identify where sales are, etc.
- Ibrahim Budul (Computer Science) with 22nd Inc., a business intelligence software system for small ethnic grocery stores.
Click to advance slideshow or view the album on Flickr.
– Photos by Dan Moore, Marketing and University Communication
