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UW College of Business $30K Entrepreneurship Competition Finalists Named

December 4, 2015

Eight student business proposals have been selected for the John P. Ellbogen $30K Entrepreneurship Competition sponsored by the University of Wyoming College of Business.

This semester, 47 teams entered the competition from various disciplines across campus, ranging from undergraduate to doctoral students. The final eight student teams have created companies, and each is working with a mentor until the final presentation next April.

Known as the UW $10K Competition until 2011, the John P. Ellbogen $30K Entrepreneurship Competition encourages students to act on their talents, ideas and energy to produce tomorrow's leading businesses. The competition awards cash prizes to outstanding teams of student entrepreneurs who submit their business plans for new ventures that show significant business potential.

For more information about the competition, visit the website at www.uwyo.edu/business/ellbogen-30k/ or email Caitlyn Emmett at cemmett3@uwyo.edu.

The eight finalists and their companies are:

-- Cowboy Performance and Manufacturing: Kyle Kuhn, a senior in mechanical engineering, from Laramie, is the team leader. The company will design, manufacture and market high-performance, after-market snowmobile components and provide sophisticated manufacturing services to Laramie and the surrounding area.

-- The Snorin’ Dog: Michael Colarusso, a senior in business administration, from La Jolla, Calif., is the team leader. His dog food trailer will sell food products to a niche market in college towns. The Snorin’ Dog wants to start a franchise in other college towns, starting with Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo., or the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo.

-- Roti maker: Dilraj Kaur, a master’s degree candidate in finance, from New Delhi, India, is the team leader. The team is developing a small machine that makes tortillas in about three minutes, compared to 40 minutes it takes to make by hand. The product can help markets overseas where particular types of tortilla/breads are handmade on a regular basis -- mostly by women. The team’s goal is to make a Roti maker available to larger consumer populations at a marketable price. Roti is another name for tortillas used in Asian countries.

-- Precision Probiotics: Boris Plotkin, a junior in microbiology, from Denver, Colo., is the team leader. The team is developing a bacterial drug production system that uses a specific probiotic to deliver other drugs. This process will deliver prescription drugs more efficiently and effectively, reducing the need to administer larger amounts of the drug to each patient. This process would save pharmaceutical companies on costs and allow more patients to take different prescriptions without negative side effects.

-- Paradox: Vinay Ramakrishnaiah, a doctoral candidate in electrical engineering, from Udupi, Karnataka, India, is the team leader. Paradox is a high-performance computing solution company.

-- SanMon: Trevor Trouchon, a sophomore in computer engineering, from Gillette, is the team leader. The project will use an advanced sanitary monitoring application software for Port-a-Potty distributors to ensure efficiency of cleaning and maintenance. The final design will include GPS capabilities to record asset locations and solar panels to recharge unit batteries.

-- Med Bow Skis: Weston Walker, a senior in mechanical engineering, from Taylorsville, Utah, is the team leader. His team is working on the company’s flagship model, “The Quiver.” The design fills a void in the current ski market so that consumers only have to purchase one pair of skis to fulfill their needs for all mountain skiing.

-- GuardFraug: Rolf Schuster, a senior in computer science, from Big Horn, is the team leader. GuardFraug is a software company focused on innovative applications for consumers’ personal safety and security. The project specifically targets applications for college communities, allowing each individual user of the application to alter the settings, preferences and use.

Contact Us

Institutional Communications

Bureau of Mines Building, Room 137

Laramie

Laramie, WY 82071

Phone: (307) 766-2929

Email: cbaldwin@uwyo.edu

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