ELECTRCIAL ENGINEERING GRADUATE STUDENTS WIN BEST PRODUCT AWARD AT 2018 CONNECTICUT NEW VENTURE COMPETITION

Three electrical engineering graduate students secured the “Best Consumer Product Award” at this year’s Connecticut New Venture Competition held on April 20 in New Haven, Conn.  The Connecticut Entrepreneurship Foundation sponsored the annual collegiate event, with 2018 marking its twenty-first year of supporting new student ventures in the state. Their proposal takes any Internal Combustion (IC) engine in an automobile and cost-effectively transforms it into a pure electric vehicle suitable for a maintenance fleet.

Kevin, CanizaresVillegas ’19, Dylan Hammerman ’19, and Hamid Dirami ’19, presented a business plan for Evolt Inc., a company whose technology can take any IC engine vehicle and transform it into an electric vehicle at a quarter of what it would cost to buy a new electric vehicle. The proposal was supervised by Dr. Hemchandra Shertukde, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering in CETA.  The team received $500 in funding. This award will go towards the formation of Evolt Inc. in the State of CT.

“There are more cars than there are people, and electric vehicles allow for a cheaper transportation alternative,” says Dylan.  “Our technology is innovative because it also includes wireless charging, making actively charging your vehicle a thing of the past.” The team envisions a redesigned street and highway system that could include a traffic lane for recharging your vehicle while you drive.

 

Participating in the event allowed the students to dive into the business venture process as they “pitched” their idea and received candid feedback from a business financing expert. “We gained a better appreciation for the business aspect of the industry, “ says Hamid.

The team submitted their proposal under the direction of Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Dr. Hemchandra Shertukde. The three graduate students are presently taking his course on Digital Controls - ECE 543 this semester.  Click here to learn more about the competition.