Bob Jones Takes 1st Place in First Local beEntreprenurial Competition
October 31, 2018
On October 25th, The University of Alabama in Huntsville hosted the first ever local beEntreprenurial competition. A total of 17 teams comprised of students from local high schools competed. Bob Jones students made up five of those teams. 6 teams made it to the finals (3 of which were from Bob Jones). beE is an entrepreneurship competition for high school students, their mission is to “empower the next generation of high school entrepreneurs to ideate, collaborate and deliver new ideas” (beEntreprenurial). Students can create an invention in a Shark Tank-esque environment, or they can come up with an entirely new company and brainstorm marketing techniques to sell a new product.
Robin Dauma, an English teacher at Bob Jones who sponsored the Bob Jones teams explained, “[Finalists were] presented…in front of all participants, sponsors, and a plethora of UAH students and faculty. The judges (for both rounds), were local entrepreneurs, who quizzed the teams after their formal presentations, asking them tough questions about viability, marketing, and product development.”
After the final round, the first place winners were announced: Tamiyah Brown, Larry Robinson, and Caitlin Turner. The Bob Jones team won $1,500, and received a standing ovation from several UAH professors after they finished the final round. The team named their company Safety Triggers and their product was a thumbprint-activated security chip installed in all newly manufactured guns, or retroactively installed in preexisting guns, this way, the gun could not fire if someone who did not own the weapon attempted to fire it. The driving force behind the invention was the ever-present issue of gun violence and accidental shootings in American society. The team researched the technology needed to create such a device, and brainstormed different ways to market their product.
The second place team and $1,000 prize winners from Bob Jones were: Markus Cutler, Kyla Diei, Sija Headrick, Amani Hendricks, and Clayton Sanders. The name of their company was Biyo, they created a water filtration system designed to benefit third world countries. Sija Headrick stated that their invention also “added nutrients like fluoride and proteins to the water”. The instructions for the filtration device were to be in the native language of the people using it, this way they would not have to rely on expensive foreign contractors to assemble the device. They also chose to have mission-based organizations deliver the product to ensure that the device would make it to the intentioned recipients, as many corrupt governments tend to keep these devices for themselves.
Semi finalist team from BJHS: Mitch Bedard, Pierce Gardner, and Arnav Mathur
Non finalist team members from BJHS: Jordan Aycock, Malachi Battle, Skyler Elliott, Nayeli Gonzalez, Jenna Lundberg, Daniel Navarro, and Bradly Spindle
Congratulations to all who competed!
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