Wednesday, May 5, 2021
The field of six student teams has been set for Technology Management’s 2021 New Venture Competition (NVC) Finals. Organizers selected AquiPur, EEL Armor, Scopen, Skillside, Solaris, and Tesserol to advance to the finals, where they will compete for cash awards. They were among the twelve multi-disciplinary teams that competed last week in the 22nd Annual New Venture Fair. The format of the virtual fair included pre-recorded pitches, followed by live question and answer sessions over Zoom.
The NVC is UCSB’s flagship entrepreneurial experience. Students in the competition have been working for eight months under the guidance of faculty and mentors to take their business ideas from concept to launch.
The 22nd annual NVC Finals will take place at 3 PM on Thursday, May 20. To register for the virtual event, click here.
Descriptions of the finalists, taken from the NVC website, are included below:
AquiPur: Designed a less expensive and more efficient filtration system for drinking water, utilizing a multi-phase graphene oxide (GO) filter designed to remove contaminants that impact the taste and health of water. (Two PhD students, two undergraduates)
EEL Armor: Created lightweight rifle armor made from a unique ceramic design that offers protection, safety, and improved comfort to law enforcement officers and first responders at a fraction of the price of what is available today.
Scopen: Designed a portable wireless oscilloscope that provides visual signal measurement to any computer or smartphone in any location. The flexibility of their software allows it to be employed at home and in labs, eliminating the need for expensive fixed processing equipment at each location.
Skillside: Created a locally focused marketplace for teachable skills, from sports and coding, to music and language. Skillside helps service providers grow their businesses and run a freelance business by providing a platform to monetize their skills.
Solaris: Designed autonomous infinity flight solar drones that can collect and analyze vast amounts of high-resolution data to optimize agriculture.
Tesserol: Designed ethanol fuel cell modules to power the $6 billion commercial drones for delivery, agriculture, and surveillance. Entering the market as a replacement to similar-sized Li-Po batteries and H2 fuel cells, the team’s solution provides increased endurance, extended operation times, and higher payload capacity.
