Students win $22,000 in prizes for enterprising ideas

A team that developed a special device for diagnosing spine problems was the first-place winner in the G. Steven Burrill Technology Business Plan Competition.

Biomedical engineering students John Pucinelli, Scott Wiese and recent graduate Brian Asti joined business master’s of accountancy student Chad Empey to develop a business plan for the device, which won them $10,000 in the annual UW–Madison competition. Their company is Spine Dr.

Teams were judged on their business plans and 20-minute presentations, particularly on the feasibility of their business prospering.

Second prize of $7,000 went to a team that developed a product for placing advertising messages on hockey ice and other ice surfaces. The case for BriteIce Technologies was presented by Michael Casper, an undergraduate in mechanical engineering and business, Paul Hohag, an undergraduate in consumer science, and Anthony Nichol, a senior in mechanical engineering. Their product is already being introduced at the Kohl Center.

These two winning teams will be automatically included in the Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Competition, which will hold its final competition in June.

Third prize of $4,000 went to Auris Solutions, LLC. The team consisted of MBA students Asad Alam, KimAnh To and Lance Mikus, and Orlando Rivera, an MBA and engineering student. The company will offer a product that more precisely detects hearing problems in underserved age groups than existing products.

Fourth prize of $1,000 was awarded to Nate Altfeather, a student in biological systems engineering, and Ricky Lam, a second-year MBA student, for their company, Mercury, which will offer an analytical device to monitor and enhance athletic performance, particularly in rowing.

A special award for a business concept providing benefits to society went to Andrew Martin, a student in business and engineering, Jon Kuchenreuther, a chemical engineering student, and business student Andrew Shannon for their Green Automotive Systems, which involves hydrogen fuel for cars. The same award was given to the team of Good Neighbor, Inc., which specializes in home grocery delivery for the elderly. That team is made up of William Orkin, an MBA student in product management, and Chongsun Oh, a student in Industrial Engineering.

A special award for a business plan that involves coming up with a better way to do things was given to Avella Nets for a landing net for ice fishing. That team consisted of Sarah Vaudreuil, business, and Nick Passint, Bryan Wilson and Joe Cessna, engineering students majoring in mechanics and astronautics.

This is the seventh Burrill competition on the UW–Madison campus. Previous winners have gone on to start their own businesses and work in all areas of economic development.