RAPID CITY, S.D. (April 22, 2020) –
For the sixth year in a row, a student from South Dakota School of Mines
& Technology took home first place in the student division
of the Governor’s Giant Vision Awards Business Competition.
Anahita Haghizadeh, a doctoral
student at South Dakota Mines, nabbed the top prize for her business NanoHSink,
taking home $5,000. NanoHSink focuses on fabricating nanostructures to increase
surface area for heat sink materials inside LED bulbs.
Haghizadeh also won the CEO Business Plan Competition at SD Mines, held in
December 2019.
A
second Mines doctoral student, Maryam Amouamouha, brought home fourth place at
Giant Vision with her business Aqua Smart Solutions. The business would provide
green, stand alone and advanced systems for residential and commercial
wastewater treatment.
Sponsors
of the student competition are South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Citibank N.A. and
South Dakota EPSCoR.
In the business category, South
Dakota Mines research scientist Haiping Hong and alumnus Greg Christensen were
part of a team from the startup Novum Nano to take home first place for the company Novum Nano, LLC, winning $20,000. Novum Nano
is an advanced materials and process technology and manufacturing
startup company specializing in boron nitride and carbon fiber nanotube
innovative research with applications in a broad range of industrial markets.
Taking second place in the business
category were South Dakota Mines students William Trevillyan and Timothy Ford
for their business HomeMetrics, LLC. Second place comes with a $10,000 prize.
HomeMetrics produces an Internet of Things-driven wireless sensor network that
monitors and controls the health of a home’s plumbing and electrical grids.
Sponsors
of the Giant Vision Business Competition are South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Black
Hills Energy, Christiansen Land & Cattle Ltd., Dacotah Bank, First PREMIER
Bank/PREMIER Bankcard, MidAmerican Energy, Valley Queen Cheese Factory, Wheeler
Manufacturing and Xcel Energy.
The
Governor’s Giant Vision Business Competition and Governor’s Giant Vision
Student Competition were established to help citizens realize that South Dakota
is the very best place to start a successful business. The program was
designed as an opportunity for entrepreneurs to compete for seed money and a
chance to achieve their dream. This annual competition is held in
conjunction with the annual Governor’s Office of Economic Development
Conference. This year’s competition was held virtually due to the COVID-19
pandemic.