SOCORRO, N.M. – The 4^th Annual Inventors and Entrepreneurs Workshop culminated Saturday afternoon with the “Wolves Den” competition among college student inventors from around the state.

Jake Taylor of Luna Community College in Las Vegas, N.M., won the top prize of $5,000 for his presentation, “The Atterberg Limits Mechanical Preparation.” His invention simplifies the methodology of testing soils in preparation for road construction. Taylor said the entire event was an excellent learning opportunity for him, his fellow competitors and all the attendees.

(Pictured at right are NMT President Dr. Stephen Wells (from left), Wolves Den winner Jake Taylor, and event organizer Larry Udell.)

The Wolves Den competition is open to all New Mexico college students.

Dr. Peter Anselmo said Taylor stood out from other competitors because he was able to convey his idea the best and the judges understood the concept and the market.

New Mexico Tech students Brock and Jonna Wittwer won second place and $3,500 for their presentation, “The Hound.” The couple has started a company called Azrael Ordnance and are developing a device that can disable vehicles remotely from drones. Their goal is market this device to anti-poaching groups for use in disabling the vehicles of poachers. 

(Pictured at right are (from left) Dr. Wells, Jonna Wittwer, Brock Wittwer, and Udell).

 

Josh Ward, also an NMT student, took third place and $1,500 for his concept of “Course Node.” He aims to program, develop, and market a new module for the Banner software. His concept focuses on an interactive course catalog that would make it much easier for college students to select courses.

The event included a total of six contestants, three from NMT and three from Luna Community College.

The Wolves Den was the final session of the annual Inventors and Entrepreneurs Workshop, a two-day event which includes keynote speakers, panel discussions, and other presentations. The focus of the event is to impart vital information related to the marketing and commercialization of intellectual property. The workshop brings more than 100 people to Socorro who are interested in launching start-up companies or licensing their inventions.

NMT President Dr. Stephen Wells closed the event by sharing comments from those in attendance who praised the event for its importance and thanked NMT for staging such an event.

Anselmo said, “We provide a lot of information about entrepreneurship, technology business start-ups, which is part of the New Mexico Tech mission. This event also supports the president’s vision of NMT as an entrepreneurial campus. We provide these inventors with contacts to help them move along in the process of commercialization.”

– NMT –