Two Volgenau School of Engineering students were awarded top honors at the 8th Dean's Business Plan Competition sponsored by George Mason University's School of Business.
Jason Force, a master's student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering won second place for Iron Goat, formerly E-Mow, an autonomous agricultural machine that bales hay, runs on pelleted hay and reduces costs to farmers by 30 percent.
The Social Impact Award went to Jade Garrett, a senior majoring in Applied Information Technology for Positive Deviancy, which creates technology that allows children with autism to creatively interact with computers. Garrett is developing a line of plush toys with computer controllers to help autistic children, said the prize money will allow her to build 20 prototype devices to deliver to families and organizations for testing and feedback.
[Jason Force and 'Iron Goat' a biofuels 'lawnmower'] Seven finalists were chosen from a field of 40 business plan submissions. Each of the young companies' representatives took the stage at the Arlington, Va., headquarters of the venture capital firm Disruption Corporation to make their pitch to a panel of judges and an audience of about 100. Contestants had seven minutes to pitch and 10 minutes of questions from the judges.
Other competitors included Mason undergraduates, graduate students and recent alumni.