EEP Teams Win Undergraduate Research Grants

November 30, 2011

Three teams from the Engineering Entrepreneurs Program (EEP) were awarded Undergraduate Research Grants for Spring and/or Summer 2012.

Teams PowerUp, Volina and Confluence, all made up of NC State College of Engineering students, are developing innovative solutions to current problems –ranging from a greener planet to the pain and discomfort of high heels. 

Driven by a common interest to work with clean energy, team PowerUp is working on a protective smartphone case that will reduce dependency on multiple chargers and AC power.  Gayatri Pongur Snigdha said that she and her teammates, Zain Akhter, Tayseer Almattar and Marwan Ahmed, are thrilled to receive this grant.  “We still have many challenges ahead of us,” she explained, “but we’re looking forward to it all.”

Sarah Edwards, Becky Geist, Kate Leonik, and Janie Olsen of Team Volina are tackling the effects of high heels on your health by designing the Volina high heel, which converts to a flat in a matter of seconds. “With the money we are receiving from our research grant, we will begin the research process which will then help us to further develop a prototype,” said Leonik.

Team Confluence hopes to make watching television and the Internet easier.  According to David Adrian, devices that include both cable TV and Internet are virtually unavailable to consumers.  Adrian and his teammates, David Jackson and Colin Smith, are developing a device that will connect all media streams, making them flow together into a single user-friendly interface that can connect to a TV.

The Office of Undergraduate Research through the Division of Undergraduate Academic Programs (DUAP) provided up to $1,000 in grants to a selected number of undergraduate students.  Selection was based on, among other criteria, details of the experimental design and evidence of how it will be used. 

The EEP is a partner of the NC State Entrepreneurship Initiative.