WINNING IDEAS

his December, the College of Business held its annual U.S. Bank T

Pitch Off event where 23 teams of hopeful entrepreneurs presented

their product and service ideas to panels of judges from throughout the

community. These teams had a chance to win a share of $10,000 in cash

prizes sponsored by U.S. Bank. The event served as a practice for students

applying for the Idaho Entrepreneur Challenge (IEC) in Boise where they

will compete to win a portion of $100,000, if selected. This year, there were

two runners-up who won $500 each, one second place winning team who

won $1,000 and two first place winning teams who won $2,000. One team

also won a Best Support Material Award with a prize of $250. The team

winning second place was “BedWedge” consisting of College of Business

students, Michael Magee and Dylan Orr. Their product was a bike rack that

fits into the bed of a truck to allow for more room. One of the first-place

winning teams was a team of Pharmacy/Master of Business Administration

IDAHO’S PART IN WORLD WAR II By: Sophia Perry, Management Student

The students in the Collaborative Creativity class taught by Alex Bolinger, Ph.D. have taken the idea of a ‘group project’ to a whole new level. This class, comprised of just four students, spent their semester gathering historic photos

students. The team consisted of Hugo Rayo, Will Cannon, Kerry Casperson Photo (Left): U.S. Bank Vice President Tracy Hoart, Tony Torres and his son, Joanne Tokle, College of Business acting dean. Photo (right): Tracy Hoart, Hugo Rayo, Will Cannon, Kerry Casperson, Jared Barrott, Joanne Tokle.

and Jared Barrott with product “H2 Therapeutics” which is a continuous

positive airway pressure therapy (CPAP) machine that delivers more

enriched oxygen, making it easier for users to sleep. The other first-place

winners were College of Business Master of Healthcare Administration

student, Tony Torres, and his wife Kelsi Torres, with their idea “Sharp Sense,”

which is a medically-centered, sensor device used to send out an alert

when hazardous waste containers, filled with needles, reach their capacity.

and writing captions to turn into a book published by Arcadia Publishing. “Idaho in World War II” is full of photos and stories about Idahoans and their contributions to the war effort, even so far away from the front lines. Student Kathryn Rose often noted how humbled she became throughout this class, as she learned what these people had to suffer through. As one of the members of the class, I can say that I learned so much about what it means to truly be an American, in every sense of the word. Look for the book in print summer 2020.