Three student teams from Missouri University of Science and Technology have
been invited to compete in the regional round of the Idea 2 Product
Competition, where they will have the opportunity to meet and network with
potential investors that could help them launch their ideas into a successful
business.
Missouri S&T graduate students Ryan Meuth and Paul Robinette, both of
Rolla, and undergraduates John Gier, of Marshalltown, Iowa, and Paul Drews, of
Foristell, Mo., will represent the university at the competition, hosted by St.
Louis University, on March 7 and 8. There, they will go head to head with
student teams from SLU and Washington University.
According to Barry White, director of Missouri S&T’s Center for
Entrepreneurship and Outreach, these students exemplify the caliber of talent
at Missouri S&T, and the level of innovation that occurs at the
university.
“I am quite impressed with the entries submitted by the students,” White
says. “The ideas presented are genuinely cutting edge, have the potential to
advance the state-of-the-art in their respective fields and could prove
financially rewarding.”
Entries submitted by the Missouri S&T student teams include a more
efficient and effective cooling system for body armor designed by Gier, a
low-cost, interactive white board designed by Drews, Robinette and Meuth, and
an advanced enterprise management software system for small businesses designed
by Robinette. Because of the timing of the competition and Missouri S&T’s
winter break, the students had less than three weeks to prepare their
entries.
White says if the students win at the regional Idea 2 Product Competition,
they will be invited to the national competition. If they fare well at
nationals, they could go on to compete with teams from around the world in the
international contest.
The Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach (CEO) is part of the Office of
Technology Transfer and Economic Development at Missouri S&T. CEO
integrates the activities of faculty, students and inventors. It offers short
courses and seminars on entrepreneurship, provides linkages with
technology-based small business to create commercialization opportunities,
showcases technologies to government and industry partners, and identifies
business issues that require public policy attention.