Engineering Students Dominate Big Bang! Business Competition with Innovative Technologies
A time-saving seed cleaner and a cell incubator are among the top developments that wowed judges at the annual entrepreneurial contest
University of California, Davis, College of Engineering students were big winners at the 23rd annual Big Bang! Business Competition on May 23, taking home $64,000 in prizes with their innovations in food and agriculture, education, energy and sustainability, health and social enterprise.
Davis-based SchedGo, helmed by senior computer science major Henry Yu along with two MBA students, received the $20,000 first prize for best innovation. The award's lead sponsor is business leader Lorin Johnson; DLA Piper is co-sponsor.
The intuitive platform leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to create personalized, easy-to-follow degree plans for college students overwhelmed by the seemingly countless number of complex options to graduate on time. Currently, approximately 2,000 students at four University of California campuses use the web-based app. The team also won the $10,000 People's Choice Award, co-sponsored by Bow Capital and UC Davis Venture Catalyst.
The future of agriculture
CEAID Tech. won in-kind services at the Life Science Innovation Center in Davis valued at $4,000. The all-UC Davis undergraduate startup, led by co-CEO Meghna De, who is completing a double major in mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering, believes controlled environment agriculture — an advanced, intensive form of agriculture where plants grow in a controlled environment to optimize quality and yield — is the future of combatting the effects of climate change on traditional agriculture. The company is taking CEA to the next level through in-house chemical analysis, optimizing plant quality and yield.
$92,000 in prizes
The UC Davis Big Bang!, organized by the Mike and Renee Child Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, has been helping entrepreneurs start or grow business ventures for more than two decades through the competition, workshops, mentoring and networking opportunities. This year the Big Bang! was open to teams with a founder or team lead affiliated with a college or university in California. The prizes are funded by corporate, nonprofit and various other sponsors.
The annual awards ceremony celebrated the contestants and announced the winners of $80,000 in cash awards and in-kind prizes valued at $12,000 for innovations in food and agriculture, education, energy/sustainability, health and social enterprise.
Seventeen finalists — out of 52 qualifying teams in this year's competition — pitched their ventures before six judges in an eight-hour marathon judging session. Judges considered the teams' integrated strategy, steps toward implementation and market opportunity to determine prize winners.