Two members of the UK CAER family placed in the top five at this year’s Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship (VACE) start-up pitch challenge. The competition was part of the VACE’s Entrepreneurs Bootcamp kickoff event, which was held at the UK Gatton College of Business and Economics on September 5.
Entrepreneurial Bootcamp is open to all UK students, staff, faculty, and local community leaders that wish to launch their own startup company. During the event, team leaders delivered 60-second pitches in an effort to recruit team members. This year, 47 teams participated in the program. The top five pitches were selected by judges Nicole Jenkins, David Goodnight, Mary Beth Wright, George Ward, and Kentucky Lieutenant Governor Jenean Hampton.
Nik Hochstrasser, an Associate Research Engineer for CAER’s Materials Technologies Group, was recognized for his concept, Odyssey Sports. Odyssey Sports seeks to apply a subscription model to a sporting goods store.
Ning Wei, a Graduate Research Assistant at CAER, was recognized for his project, CreativeLife. CreativeLife seeks to provide an online platform for ordinary people to design, build, or even trade their desired furniture.
