STUDENT ENTREPRENEURS GET CHANCE TO CREATE BILLION
DOLLAR INNOVATONS
Egg Factory Holds 4th Annual Innovation Challenge Internship
Program
ROANOKE, Va. (June, 2003) – Interns at a Virginia
based innovation company, The Egg Factory, will have
the opportunity to create potentially billion dollar
inventions this summer. These promising entrepreneurs
are part of the Innovation Challenge, a unique internship
program which allows students to concoct their own
innovations in hopes of discovering a “golden” egg
for The Egg Factory.
The Egg Factory has been successful at creating and
developing large global innovations. The Innovation
Challenge, in its fourth year, is a way for the company
to get unbridled ideas from ambitious young students.
Previous interns conceived of and filed patent applications
on various innovations such as, “WET,” which
allows for consumer controlled nutrition consumption
which is vital to the health and well-being of the
human body, “Scent-A-Peel,” an air freshener
with the longest lasting scent in the industry, and “Vit-O-Mine,” a
customizable vitamin regiment. All three innovations
are now being considered for further investment, and
a Fortune 500 company has already expressed interest
in one.
“The Innovation Challenge is another source
for intellectual horsepower and creativity at The Egg
Factory,” stated Ron Blum, Founder, President,
and CEO of The Egg Factory. “The students help
us to identify and originate billion dollar innovations
for our future development, but more importantly, this
program provides students with the necessary knowledge
for starting and developing their own innovations.
Hopefully, the program will help fuel the next generation
of entrepreneurs and inventors.”
Only 16 students were selected from a pool of over
1,400 candidates for the eight week, all-expenses paid
program. Students were selected in part by their academic
achievements, extracurricular activities, and entrepreneurial
drive. The young inventors come from Princeton University,
Duke University, University of Virginia, Virginia Tech,
North Carolina State University, and Roanoke College.
Some of this year’s interns hail from as far
away as Bulgaria, Israel, and South Africa.
While developing these conceptual products, students
will have the opportunity to learn first hand about
product origination, market research and market analysis.
Technology development, intellectual property, entrepreneurship
and a host of other subjects will also be addressed
to help the students develop their innovation. The
payoff for the students is also tangible, as each student
receives a profit sharing interest in the innovations
they create. In addition, patent applications written
by each innovation group is filed with The United States
Patent and Trademark Office.
“For some students, experiential learning is
the most effective type,” said Dr. David Gring,
Roanoke College President. “For students at Roanoke
College, their ambition to become entrepreneurs combined
with their educational background makes them a desirable
part to any team. Roanoke College is eager to continue
its support of the Innovation Challenge.”
Because the innovation process involves many different
disciplines, teams are created. Each team includes
an engineering student, a liberal arts student, an
industrial design student, and a business student.
Their mission in a nutshell: create potential “golden
eggs” that meet the following criteria:
1. The potential of achieving $1 billion in annual
revenue within five years of commercial launch
2. Strong competitive advantage over existing technologies
3. The potential for commercial development within
three years
4. The ability to obtain controlling intellectual property
5. Benefit to society
The teams will conduct focus group discussions, analyze
markets, write patents and create a comprehensive technology
development plan. Counseled by Roanoke College professors,
world business leaders, leading scientific/innovation
experts, and The Egg Factory management team, they
will investigate patents and licenses and learn about
financing a company. At the same time, the students
will attend seminars given by a variety of world-renowned
experts such as the former head of research and development
for the Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars), the
Deputy Administrator at NASA, venture capitalists,
business professors and business leaders.
All of the components and corresponding lectures
will help the students develop a comprehensive business
plan, which will be presented to a panel of leading
business executives and academics at the program’s
end. The team with the best innovation wins a cash
award. The students’ “eggs” are
considered for investment, and therefore remain confidential.
“These students are the knowledge capital of
the future,” said Adam Hofheimer, Director of
the Innovation Challenge Program. “We hope to
develop their talents and spark their passion for innovation.
The program offers a variety of unique benefits, such
as cross-functional teams and constant interactions
with experts from the academic and business worlds.
This provides students with the necessary skills to
maximize their innovations, while understanding all
aspects of product ideation and business and technology
development. I wish I had the opportunity to participate
in such a program as undergraduate student.”
