Forrest Satterfield, pictured right, was the first prize winner of the Blazer Innovation challenge and received $5,000. Photo by Julie Senter Mark Linn - Copy Editorcopy@insideuab.com
The three winners of the Blazer Innovative Challenge, which began in October of this year, have been announced.
In addition to winning up to $5,000 in prize money, these students will have the opportunity to receive guidance from local executives and entrepreneurs in their respective fields.
The three winners are Forrest Satterfield, Jeremy Mock and Rebecca Klang in first, second and third place, respectively. The challenge was launched in October by the UAB Innovation Lab and the Collat School of Business and sponsored by IBERIABANK.
The purpose of the competition was to provide students who may have innovative ideas the resources and assistance they need to carry them out, while also bringing awareness to innovation and entrepreneurship opportunities on campus.
The five finalists were selected out of a total of 26 participants. They competed with one another with video presentations and a live Q&A session with a team of Birmingham business leaders and entrepreneurs on Nov. 16, and the three winners were announced on Nov. 18.
As the first place winner, Satterfield, a biomedical engineering major, was awarded $5,000 for his plan to develop a manufacturing system utilizing 3D printing to create braces for prosthetic and orthotic devices that use the same three sizes of motors for all products.
“So what that does is, it suddenly means if I go in and need a brace for a sports injury that I've had, I would use the same product as if I were to go in and I was missing a hand,” Satterfield said. “That makes the market a lot larger, which also makes it a lot more affordable for people because we can mass-produce the motors at a much higher quantity.”
He plans to use the prize money to purchase a new specialized 3D printer that prints with pure carbon fiber that Satterfield and his team plan to use to begin product testing.
Jeremy Mock is an economics and international studies major who received second place for his proposal to create a web-and-app based system to allow patients to connect to subscribing medical providers in their region.
“So they log on to the app, they set up their details, they type in their location and instantly they're given a list of primary care providers that are close by in their geographic regions," Mock said. "And similar to Uber, they've given a list of those providers with ratings they can choose from."
The app will give patients the ability to directly book an appointment with a physician, and will also offer a telecommunication option for doctors who allow their patients to communicate with them electronically. Mock plans to use his $2,500 prize to begin developing a prototype of the app.
Third-place winner Rebecca Klang, a business management major, submitted a proposal for an app that allows users to track grocery purchases and their expiration dates to help prevent waste.
She plans to put her $1,000 prize into developing and marketing the app.
Klang came up and submitted the idea as part of one of her classes and was encouraged by her teacher to enter her proposal to the competition. She encouraged anyone who might have a novel or innovative idea to enter the challenge.
“I never dreamed that my random idea was worth anything and would have never pursued this had it not been for my teacher,” Klang said. “I can only imagine the wonderful inventions that could be among us today if only they had had the courage to pursue them.”
Each winner has been paired up with one or more mentors, who are all experienced executives and entrepreneurs from the Birmingham area. The mentors will work with the winners to further flesh out their business concepts and help decide how to best utilize their prize money.
“A big thing we're pushing them on is to identify areas where there are unknowns that they need to get answers to in order to be able to move forward so that they're not spending money on things that they shouldn't be doing,” said Joel Dobbs, Pharm.D., entrepreneur-in-residence for the Innovation Lab.
Over the course of the spring semester, the winners will work with the Innovation Lab to further develop their business concepts. The students will be required to submit progress reports and at the end of the semester all three will do a live presentation on the progress they've made.
Dobbs said that the Innovation Lab and the Collat School of Business plan to host the challenge again next year.
“We certainly hope that this will become an ongoing annual event,” Dobbs said. “I think it's been very worthwhile for the students and I think it's really good publicity for UAB and a way to showcase how incredibly bright and creative many of our students are.”
Dobbs encourages any students who might have ideas for a business, nonprofit or just an innovative solution to a problem to speak with him or Katherine Hamrick, the Director of the Innovation Lab. You can find their contact information or learn more about the Innovation Lab at uab.edu/innovationlab.
