The VT KnowledgeWorks Global Student Business Concept Challenge, August 29 – September 4, 2010, will feature student teams from around the world compete for a $25,000 grand prize and trophy at the Global Student Business Concept Challenge on September 2, 2010.
Here's a guide to the teams, listed in alphabetical order by business concept title, with names of team members attending the Challenge and a business concept description.
Artbeating, Paris, France
Team Members: Romain Lauwerier, Martin Houdbine, Perrine Izabelle, Mathieu Lima, Charles-Eric Gorron, Hugo Lepetit
Artbeating is an online creative marketplace which promotes students’ skills and creativity in communication, product, fashion and interior design as well as CGI animation. Brands can submit their brief to the community through a rewarding contest. It enables students not only to get a wide range of creative solutions but also worthy references to start their careers. Artbeating also provides information and various collaborative tools in order to enhance their opportunity to win and thus become essential to their day-to-day artist life.
EasyCheck, Ruppin Academic Center, Israel
Team Members: Efrat Nel, Shahar Peled, Hadas Geva, Inbal Gutman
Imagine a reliable, easily-operated, non-invasive device that enables early detection of breast cancer, before the tumor evolves. The device suits all women, shows results in minutes, and is IP-protected. EasyCheck develops such devices for early detection of breast cancer.
Ecosy, Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Team Members: Vincent Murray, Colm Connolly
Ecosy, a wood pellet fueled patio heater, is Ethical Energy’s flagship product and is the only product of its type on the entire outdoor heating market. Wood pellet technology has been utilised to reduce fuel costs, increasing mobility and reduce environmental impact in comparison to current patio heaters.
This product aims to extend outdoor entertaining by meeting the needs of commercial and domestic users whilst simultaneously producing significantly lower carbon emissions than patio heaters powered by gas or electric. By implementing the Ecosy, commercial and domestic customers can reduce the operating costs by up to 50%. The Ecosy combines a high output power, matching and exceeding competitors’ products, while outputting significantly less carbon pollution.
Nari-Filter, Tecnológico de Monterrey, ITESM, IMonterrey, México
Team Members: Alma Clarizza Jaramillo Cárdenas, Mario Emilio Quintanilla Petrocchi, Corina González Castañeda, José de la Luz Sáenz Garza
Our first and main objective is the creation of an ergonomic product, designed and developed with specific materials to enhance nostril protection, avoiding the entrance of chemicals and dust materials that cause damage during inhalation.
Despite the global attempt to reduce worldwide air pollution, the problem is far from over. These efforts must continue, yet as time passes, cities become larger in population, and more people are exposed to contaminants in the air, creating a potential problem in national healthcare. Cities like Mexico City, with over 20 million people, are exposed to an environment that several times a year surpasses the regular levels of contaminants in the air. On the other hand, thousands of workers in mining and construction alone are exposed to these environments every working day, diminishing their quality of life as well as their productivity. Breathing problems created by both of these contexts should be brought to a halt or at least to a considerably slower rate with an efficient, comfortable filter designed for each individual person.
Ötzi Finder, University of Trento, Italy
Team Members: Martin Egger, Federico Facchinelli, Alessandro Ligabo'
The name "Ötzi Finder" is closely connected to the mummy Ötzi the Iceman, found on September 1991 in the snows of the Ötztal Alps. Our idea consists of an avalanche transreciever meant to be plugged in modern smartphones. The benefit of such idea is in combining the sleek user interface of modern smartphones with a relatively inexpensive add-on antenna. In addition, the system could be enhanced by the other capabilities of smartphones like GPS tracking and many forms of data connection. Compared to avalanche beacons currently available in the market, Ötzi Finder is meant to be more powerful and less expensive.
PattonsList.com, University of Virginia Darden School of Business, Charlottesville, VA, USA
Team Members: Steven Cunningham, Mike Fallon
PattonsList.com is a free online classified website serving the United States military servicemen/women and families of the active duty, reserve and contractor communities. Contouring services and managing limited user access, PattonsList.com creates a select, trusted community online dedicated to military lifestyle, geographic location and needs.
Sauna Savu, Aalto University School, Finland
Team Members: Otso Virtanen and Matti Rekonen
Sauna Savu - Savu Oy (Savu Ltd). Our concept is to produce, market and distribute a Finnish-designed Sauna with its own trademark to international markets. Sauna Savu, a modular Finnish sauna, is a sensitive mixture of Finnish vernacular architecture and Scandinavian contemporary design.
SiMSI, Universidad ORT Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay
Team Members: Rodrigo Sánchez and Carlos Protasi
SiMSI provides a consulting service to Agriculture in order to optimize resources and increase quality and yields of crops.
SiMSI deploys a network of high quality telemetry and monitoring equipment which obtains real time data of environmental variables (such as temperature, soil, leaf and air humidity, wind, plant nutrients, etc) and that, supervised by SiMSI's specialized team of Engineers, offers the farmer/producer/investor all the necessary recommendations and controls to take the right decisions at the right time.
Through the SiMSI web application, our client can keep control of all the decisions taken, see and analyze the reports and graphics presented by SiMSI and access a network of knowledge where all the Agriculture actors (government, researchers, farmers, investors) are present and can interact with each other.
T2T, University of Kent, England, United Kingdom
Team Members: Sinan Assaf, Ben Giambrone
T2T is a revolutionary, convenient and safe method of paying for a taxi. It enables the convenience of being able to pay for a taxi using a mobile telephone.
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All the teams and more about the VTKW Global Student Challenge on Inside VT KnowledgeWorks
VTKW Global Student Challenge on Facebook
More about The Challenge and the schedule of events, where to register for the Workshop, Challenge, or as an advertiser, and where to register for the NCTC Fall Gala.
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The VT KnowledgeWorks Global Student Challenge is made possible thanks to the generous Global Challenge Event Sponsors, including COTA, G.J. Hopkins Inc., HCA VA Health System, Interactive Achievement, Novozymes, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Rackspace, TechLab, and The Branch Group Inc.
Virginia Tech Office of Outreach and International Affairs, Montgomery County, Virginia, Panera Bread, and Custom Catering will sponsor meals during the Global Challenge Celebration.
Welcome bags presented to each student finalist are sponsored by University Bookstore/Volume II Bookstore, the Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center, Downtown Blacksburg, Inc., Virginia Tech Graduate School, the Cranwell International Center at Virginia Tech, and Mountain Lake.
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