Five student teams move on to final round of innovation competition

Five teams of Wichita State University students emerged as finalists in today’s (Friday, Dec. 6) Koch Innovation Challenge.

The business pitch competition, sponsored by Koch Industries, is an annual competition supporting the WSU College of Engineering in fostering a culture of creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship and teamwork among students.

Cross-disciplinary teams of new freshmen and transfer students studying engineering, art and design, business and other disciplines compete for funding and scholarships to invent products and technologies via a freshman introductory course.

The teams moving on to the final round May 8 are:

Dinner Choosers -- A mobile app called Fork that allows users to vote on what’s for family dinner tonight.
Logan Bramble, mechanical engineering
Isaiah Esau, computer science 
Marion Jackson, aerospace engineering

Lock Down -- A bicycle security device to prevent wheel theft.
Wyatt Abell, industrial engineering
Richard Oswalt, mechanical engineering
Ethan Piland, computer science 
Madycen Ranney, biomedical engineering
Chin Teng Tan, engineering technology

Securi-team -- A secure box to elude porch pirates.
Boshra Althafir, engineering technology
Taylor Cazabat, biomedical engineering
Duncan Snook, applied computing
Joshua Storm, engineering technology

The Collectors -- A way to quickly and easily collect Nerf Gun ammunition.
Bailey Beck, media arts
Yakelyn Gonzalez Rodriguez, computer science 
Monterrell Nelson, undecided engineering
Octavio Nunez, computer engineering
Alexander Olson, undecided engineering

Wire Installation -- A magnetic device to make pulling wires through walls easier.
Braden Botkin, engineering technology
Adam Brown, undecided engineering
Christopher Lam, undecided engineering
Nicholas Ridpath, applied computing

The final round in May will determine the overall champion team, which will be awarded a travel grant to attend the National Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Organization Conference and compete in the Global Pitch Competition in 2020.

In addition to the naming of the overall winning team, the People’s Choice Vote team will be crowned. This team is selected by the community through an online voting portal and receive an extra judge’s vote during the Grand Champion Competition.