Minh Le, one of the two creators of a catalytic converter alarm, shows how when the alarm is tampered with, people will get an alert on their mobile phones, in addition to a loud alarm noise at the device site.
Photo by Jessica Keller.
Seattle Pacific University students showed off their entrepreneurial chops at the Social Venture Plan Competition, which wrapped up with the final judging April 19.
According to the website, the Social Venture Plan Competition encourages teams of students from different academic disciplines to develop an entrepreneurial project with a social and financial focus.
Mark Oppenlander, director of the SPU Center for Applied Learning, said students are tasked with creating a viable business plan with sustainable funding while identifying ways the venture would benefit people or the planet.
“This reinforces the notion that all good business plans should have a social impact,” he said, adding the concept that businesses can turn a profit and address a social need is something important to members of Generation Z. “It’s not one or the other.”
One of this year’s projects featured an alarm to prevent catalytic converter theft. Engineering major Minh Le, said he and two other engineering students developed the alarm, which can be installed easily in any car, that will let people know if someone tampers with the catalytic converter on their vehicles through an app on their phone and an actual alarm, itself.
“This is a serious crisis,” Le said. “We wanted to see what we can do about this.”
During the competition, he and his engineering partner created a functional alarm, including a shield that protects it from burning up while the car is on, while the other three members of the team worked on the business plan.
Le said they went through 12 alarms, 10 sensors and three micro-controllers before perfecting their model.
Other members of the team worked on the business plan, identifying the cost per alarm for regular customers, which was $35, as well as the cost for low-income residents or victims of abuse, which was $17. The total cost to make the alarm is between $10 and $11. The business venture also included job opportunities for low-income residents and felons.
“So, we offer them important skills to learn,” said Tien Nguyen, who worked on the business plan.
Le said the competition has been very educational and fun for him, not only because his team developed a catalytic converter alarm, but because they have a viable business plan, something he knew nothing about before the process.
That is part of the goal for the competition, Oppenlander said. Not only do these projects require coming up with a useful product that will help improve the world, the students also learn about building a business plan, marketing the project, developing a sustainable profit model and promoting their products.
“You know, these fundamental skills are something that everybody needs,” Oppenlander said.
During the competition process, businesspeople, entrepreneurs and community partners evaluated the students’ plans and business models and provided feedback. Students then pitched their projects to faculty, staff, students and judges at the trade-show display event last week.
Oppenlander said this is the 17th year SPU has hosted the competition, and this year more than 10 teams, including two from other universities, participated. At the end of the competition, the teams with the highest cumulative scores from the two phases won cash prizes.