In one of the most impressive displays of entrepreneurial
endeavors since the competition began nine years ago, five teams of TCU
students presented their ideas for conscious capitalism ventures in a bid to
represent TCU at the global Values and Ventures® competition in April.
“We were impressed with the caliber of venture ideas
presented this year. They were all well thought out, viable, values-based
business ideas. It was a difficult decision for the judges,” said Rodney
D’Souza, managing director of the TCU Neeley Institute for Entrepreneurship and
Innovation (formerly the Neeley entrepreneurship Center).
First place and $500 was awarded to the TCU team of Mavis
Tang, Devan Peplow and Maddie Kingsbury for Distinct Sound, an app designed by
Dr. Liran Ma, associate professor of computer science at TCU, to help people
with hearing loss. The app breaks apart sounds and then pieces them back
together to produce the desired sound in less than 50 milliseconds, allowing
the user to hear in real time. The target market is the 70 percent of people in
the world who cannot afford hearing aids.
Second Place and $300 was awarded to the TCU team of
Charlie McKee and Peter Nagel for Adaptafit, magnetic strips sewn into clothing
to replace buttons and make it adaptable for people with limited mobility due
to Parkinson's, Cerebral Palsy, Arthritis, MS and other conditions. The
magnetic strips help take the frustration out of getting dressed to restore
independence and increase confidence.
Third Place and $200 was awarded to the TCU team of
Austin Ngo, Eric Ngo and Noah McLain for BirdNest, which produces sturdy,
environmentally-friendly straws made from Lepironia grass grown in Vietnam, to
replace plastic straws which harm the environment and paper straws which don’t
stand up to use.
Honorable Mention went to Madison Hoy for The Genius
Project, an arts accelerator providing college-age arts students with vital
funding for projects, and Taylor Holzheuser for Perfect Bag, which employs
veterans to create durable, custom backpacks for frequent travelers.
Judges for the TCU student competition were Ray Smilor,
emeritus professor of entrepreneurship at TCU Neeley; Mike Field EMBA ’14,
chief strategy officer for Catalyst Partners and Agile Management Enterprises;
and Dustin Dvorak EMBA ’15, chief information officer for Catalyst Partners and
Agile Management Enterprises.
The Distinct Sound team will advance to TCU’s Richards
Barrentine Values and Ventures® Competition, April 5-6, 2019, to
represent TCU among 56 universities from around the world.
Matt Smilor, director of the Values and Ventures® program
at TCU Neeley, received more than 130 applications from 76 universities across
the United States, plus Scotland, Canada, Nigeria, Poland and Bangladesh. The
56 chosen teams will compete at TCU for more than $100,000 in cash awards plus
in-kind prizes.