The Love’s Entrepreneur’s Cup is a statewide collegiate innovative plan competition that challenges participants to think of the real-life procedures that go on behind the scenes of the business world, such as researching the market, writing a business plan and making a presentation to potential investors.
Two teams from The University of Tulsa’s Collins College of Business emerged victorious this year:
- Solar Mineralis won the first place award and $20,000 in the High Growth Undergraduate Division. In addition, Solar Mineralis was named winner of the Energy and Environmental Interview award and received a $1,000 award.
- Library C took home third place in the Graduate Division, which included a $5,000 prize, as well as the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber Healthcare Interview award and $1,000.
Solar Mineralis
Solar Mineralis pitched technology that creates high-quality and more efficient solar cells that have the potential to accelerate the adoption of solar energy solutions. The team was led by senior business management major Suraj Vandala. His teammates were sophomore physics major Bryce Goswick, senior biology pre-med major Andrew Varvara and TU College of Law juris doctor student Madison Perigo. Professors Mike Troilo and Parameswar Harikumar served as their advisors. In addition to her team’s victory, Perigo won the $5,000 Paulsen Award scholarship from the Oklahoma Business Roundtable.
“Pitching in the Love’s Cup allows students to practice taking wonderful ideas and making sure that these ideas have a solid implementation plan in the real world,” said Vodnala. “In the real world, valuable opportunities will never be solo ones. Working well with a team is an invaluable skill to have. The better you are able to communicate and work with your team the higher your chances of success. I was lucky to have an amazing team that strove for success and nothing less”
In order to win, Solaris Mineralis constructed a plan that was well researched on both the business and environmental sides. “Dr. Troilo was the professor that offered us the most help in the general structure of the project along with how the finances worked,” said Goswick. “Professor Tom Seng guided us on current trends in the solar market and gave us information about the market. Dr. Harikumar helped in explaining what the product was, how it is formulated and applied, and how much something like this would cost. These three professors made a huge contribution to the data and plan we submitted.”
Library C
Library C used a patent-pending sulfonamide synthesis technology to manufacture novel and affordable screening compounds, facilitating a way for researchers to find safer targeted cancer treatments.
Eric Aplis led the team. He was accompanied by Elijah Lucas, Christopher Shrock and Levi Zander. Professor Troilo was their advisor.
If rolling up your sleeves and gaining the skills necessary for career success appeals to you, there’s no better academic home than TU’s Department of Management, Marketing and International Business.