Project Summaries: USNH Entrepreneurial Contest
“Project Seaweed”- Winning Team
Josh Francis, Luke Hemenway, Kevin Ebert, Christine Carbone
University of New Hampshire
Summary: A problem arises when New England surfers change into and out of their wetsuits at the beach. Surfers perform what is known as a “towel change,” in which they secure a towel around their waist, and then remove their clothes or wetsuit from underneath. This leaves surfers wearing ONLY a towel. As a result of this changing method, many surfers repeatedly experience public nudity and exposure to extreme weather conditions.
Project Seaweed, a team of four University of New Hampshire business students, solved this problem with the creation of two products- The Hermit and The Shacker. These two changing devices solve the problem that surfers face while they change at the beach. Each provides shelter, warmth, and comfort- and allows them to minimize their time spent changing.
Chosen by the panel of guest judges for its simplicity, feasibility, and growing target market, Project Seaweed members were the proud recipients of a $500 prize, provided by the New York Times. Project Seaweed plans on using the prize money to develop prototypes and test each model.
When describing his experience, Luke Hemenway of Project Seaweed, stated “The USNH Entrepreneurial Contest brought forth so many brilliant ideas, and winning was an honor. It made us realize the potential the Hermit and Shacker have in the future, which we are very excited about. The USNH contest was a great learning experience, and has been a crucial stepping stone in Project Seaweed's development process.”
“That’s Life’s Imagistics”
Aaron Treadwell
Plymouth State University
Summary: That’s Life’s Imagistics was created by Aaron Treadwell, a student at Plymouth State University. Aaron has taken a risk by starting his own company. That’s Life’s Imagistics is a website that offers computer repair and services. With a current target market of Plymouth State University students, his promotional strategy is centered around referrals.
“The Exchange”
Joanna Kinsman
University of New Hampshire
Summary: Joanna Kinsman, a business student at the University of New Hampshire, presented a consignment shop in Durham, NH. Targeted to college and high school students, the shop would allow them to save money on shopping and make money by selling back their clothing. With a mission of expanding this idea to other supporting college towns, these shops will be successful enough to give back to the community at the same time adding to participating college atmospheres.
“Valuestrings Payment Method”
Jeff Laird, Swapnil Bhatia
Summary: The Valuestrings Payment Method is a payment method using character strings to represent value. The Internet economy awaits a simple, convenient, and inexpensive payment mechanism to take it by storm. This method is a contender in that race. In this scheme an escrow agent issues password-like character strings as tokens representing value held in escrow. The
symbolic tokens can be passed along as payments more easily than the physical valuables
that they represent.
“Team Revolution”
Jill Dolan, Kevin Grady, Tyler Kelley, Kristen O’Connor, Jen Natsios
University of New Hampshire
Summary: Team Revolution redesigned a beach chair for people over the age of 55. As this target market grows older and has more time to spend at the beach, their beach chairs begin to become less comfortable. Comfort is usually considered a want by consumers sitting in beach chairs, but as people begin to grow older comfort becomes more of a necessity for physical reasons of a weakening body. By interviewing people ages 50 and older, Team Revolution was able to obtain the information needed to design a quality beach chair that fits the needs of these consumers.
“Common Man Apprentice”
Kyle Allen, Trevor Hall, Graham Hoffman, Jessica Moyer, Kelly Piontkowski|
Plymouth State University
Summary: For an Organizational Behavior class, this team participated in developing a dessert for the Common Man Restaurants. The idea of the project was to let students take a product from the developmental stage to the market. This hands-on learning opportunity gave these students a chance to test their creativity, leadership, and decision-making skills.
“Tagsaler”
Mark Lepine, Adam Kernander
Summary: Tagsaler.com is a current website. As an E-Bay/Craigslist alternative, users can sell whatever they want on this classified site without a selling fee. Seller's contact information remains confidential until a prospective buyer uses a "Token" to reveal it and the negotiations start. Check out the website for more! Think of Tagsaler® as a gigantic Tag Sale, Yard Sale or Flea Market - on the Internet!
“Mountain Clean Up”
Bob Feeny, John Fries
Plymouth State University
Summary: Adventure tourism is a rapidly growing market. Each day there are more people that want to experience Earth’s wilderness. As more companies tap into this market of adventure tourism there will be a rise in the amount of mountain expedition trash. Mountain Clean Up is a non profit organization that organizes and guides adventure tourism trips with the purpose of removing old gear and trash that has been left behind by other climbers.
There is no guarantee with Mountain Clean Up that you will reach the summit of a mountain or that you will climb an entire big wall rock face, however it is guaranteed that you will make a difference in the environment and preserve some of this worlds most beautiful places.
Environmental Ethics for the Future
Cormac Griffen
Summary: Environmental Ethics for the Future is a concept that reconciles Eastern and Western philosophies and calls for three major changes to Western society. The first change is in environmental policy and addresses the issue of a Western society predicated on waste. The second change gives economic incentive to individuals, businesses, and corporations to conserve the functions and services of nature through government subsidies and investment dollars. The third change calls for non-violent political involvement of individuals to sponsor bills in their legislature, organize grassroots campaigns, and vote in defense of the environment. This concept is vitally important to sustain the well-being of humans and the environment we depend on to build a healthyfuture.
“Organic Cells”
Adam Gilbert, Frank Horan, Keenan Leip, Anil Waghe
Plymouth State University
Summary: Rechargeable batteries are generally made from heavy metals. These metals are toxic and unless recycled properly can cause serious environmental hazards. Organic Cells proposes an innovative idea of storing electricity using organic dyes. Organic dyes can biodegrade easily and will be able to provide light weight batteries. These may have potential application in hybrid cars and space ventures.
“Bio-Diesel: A Plan for Small Towns”
Trevor Chandler, Peter Laufenberg
Plymouth State University
Summary: As the 21st century progresses, carbon based fuels will become more and more scarce, potentially leading to a worldwide fueling crisis. In today’s world, every small step helps in cutting our nation’s dependence on oil and with everyone taking small steps, we will be able to take one giant leap together to achieve energy independence. The objective of this project is to show how making several small changes, beginning first at the college town Plymouth, NH, can create a national, even global, tidal wave of energy efficiency and eventually independence.
“Software Skydiving Simulator”
Alexander Shyrokov
University of New Hampshire
Summary:. An average of 33 skydivers have died every year for the past 10 years. 50% of these deaths could have been avoided if the skydivers were better prepared to handle dangerous situations. Education and training are essential for skydivers. A software skydiving simulator can bring better education to every skydiver. The software skydiving simulator is a 3D educational computer game. The technology for creating high fidelity simulations already exists. Modern graphics and even physics accelerators are available for home computers. All of this makes it possible to create a software skydiving simulator that will drastically change skydiving education and save lives.
“ Pottery For Kids”
Kristine Remington
Plymouth State University
Summary: The Lakes Region of New Hampshire is growing with summer residents looking for short term commitment. The rise of duel wage earner families leads to an increasing demand for meaningful children activities, especially during the summer. Parents are seeking day camp experiences for their children with specialized activities. As an entrepreneurial venture to meet the needs of summer residents, Kristine Remington will be opening a Pottery for Kids day camp, in which children will have a hands on experience in pottery making.
“ Thirsty Pet”
Chad Wanderlich
University of New Hampshire
Summary: Through research and observation at his family’s busy convenience store, Chad Wanderlich realized that there is a need for providing beverages to domestic animals. The pet industry is currently a 35 Billion dollar market, and pet liquids are currently nonexistent. When walking, running, or driving with your pet, it is important to keep them hydrated, especially in warm weather. There is a definite need to providing pet owner’s with a healthy beverage in a pet-accessible container. Chad’s invention satisfies this need.
“ Chicago-Atlanta High Speed Rail”
Steven Nerenburg
University of New Hampshire
Summary: Chicago-Atlanta High Speed Rail is a proposed railroad that will service the needs of business travelers who prefer not to fly and who are not averse to paying a premium for comfortable travel in business class. There is a need for this connection for a few reasons including the fact that Atlanta is one of the largest business center in the South and ranks number three in terms of cities with the most Fortune 500 companies.
“ The Loop, Inc.”
Joe Iannoe, Rajesh Proaiyan
University of New Hampshire
Summary: The Loop will combine multiple gift cards into one, ubiquitous device. The Loop will use declining balance accounts to retain customers and use RFID technology to speed transactions for merchants. Merchants have been left using gift cards to maintain their customer base, but having to pay more per transaction to use these than traditional methods.
Consumers are feeling overwhelmed with the volume of gift cards in their collection which reduces convenience. The Loop will solve both of these problems
“ The Cooler”
William Skidmore
University of New Hampshire
Summary: The Cooler is a redesigned watercooler. This product update makes it much easier to use and clean for the every day person. The new cooler will replace the floor and remove the need to tilt the cooler forward to pour out the remaining fluid. Also, this will allow for flow and control of the liquid inside.
“ Boompack”
Kevin Grandy, Chairs Slark
University of New Hampshire
Summary: This is a product idea for an mp3-connected boombox backpack. Since the introduction of the IPOD there have been multitudes of accessories to serve as docking stations for mp3's such as pillows and chairs. One problem with these is their immobility or inability to be used in all locations. The Boompack solves this problem.