Huntsville EMBA Team Competes in Global Venture Challenge
Thursday, April 22, 2010
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Posted by: Mary Kathryn Buchan
Huntsville EMBA Team Competes in
Global Venture
Challenge
The
University of Alabama was selected as one of 12
universities out of 44, to advance to the semi-final round of the 2010
Global Venture Challenge, March 25-26. Hosted by the
Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Huntsville
EMBA team was selected to compete in the Energy Tract, for their
commercialized plan for a "Piezoelectric Smart Water Meter.”
The team, Kent Darzi, Katy Dunn, Clay Knight and
Gabe Collins, are students in the UA Executive MBA Program in
Huntsville. UA started its Huntsville EMBA program, in
cooperation with UAHuntsville in 2008.
According to Darzi, engineering manager at ADTRAN,
"Our product is an eco-friendly, remotely monitorable, smart water meter
that allows utility companies to collect time-of-day usage for both
home and commercial water consumers. Additionally, the piezoelectric
water meter converts water pressure into electricity to recharge the
circuitry of the system.”
The teams were judged by panels of energy
executives, venture capitalists, technologists, entrepreneurs and legal
experts. Although the team did not win the grand prize, "there were
"lots of interests and some good comments, " said Dunn, general
engineer, U.S. Army.
During the competition the H-EMBA team was
approached by venture capitalist on how to commercialize and advertise
their product. "Since our return, we have met with venture
capitalist from Huntsville and Knoxville,” said Darzi.
Susan West, assistant dean at UA's Manderson
Graduate School said we are extremely proud of our executive students,
as traditionally these competitions are for full time MBA students.
"When you consider that they are balancing family, full time careers,
and the EMBA program, it is a truly remarkable achievement," she said. (Photo: H-EMBA team at Global Venture
Challenge, l-r: Kent Darzi, Katy Dunn and
Clay Knight)
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