The eighth annual CEO Business Plan Competition at South Dakota Mines was held on Saturday with first
place and the $4,000 grand prize going to Kim Yip Chiok for his business Solar
Nanotech.
The CEO Business Plan Competition challenges entrepreneurs
to present their business idea an expert panel of judges. The event is the
longest running university sponsored business competition in the state. It’s
open to high school students and higher education institutions across Western
South Dakota who compete for over 12-thousand dollars in prizes each year.
Chiok is a graduate student in the Department of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering. He, his collaborators and advisors, Dr.
Aravind Baride, Dr. Stanley May and Dr. Steve Smith, head of the nanoscience
and engineering department at Mines, came up with a new type of nanotechnology-enabled
film that increases the sunlight absorption of solar panels and boosts the
efficiency of solar cells substantially.
This technology could revolutionize solar energy
production – making it much more efficient and economical. The global social energy market is projected to reach $200 billion by 2026, and the industry is constantly looking for new ways
to increase efficiency.
Chiok has tested the new technology in the lab, and
this first-place award enables him to do further testing and prototype
construction. He plans to enter the Governor’s Giant Vision Competition this spring.
Mines students have taken home top honors and several thousand dollars in prize
money for the last seven years in a row.
Other winners are:
Second place and a $3,000 prize – Philip Litecky for
the business Li-Tech Lures, which produces fishing lures engineered to target panfish.
Litecky is student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Mines.
Third place was a tie with each winning entry taking home a
$2,000 prize: the team of Barrett Keith, a business management and technology
major, and electrical engineering student Mason Wortman with their
business Rapid Power Boxes, LLC., which makes portable batteries for
outdoor applications; and Whytneigh Duffie and her company SPLAD Chemical,
LLC, which makes 3D printer resin that can be used in the injection
molding process for manufacturing in a wide range of industries. Duffie is
a Ph.D. student in the Karen M. Swindler Department of Chemical and
Biological Engineering at Mines.
Best Agricultural Plan and $1,000 prize went to Joey
Chamberland, an electrical engineering major, for his business Septic Scanner.
The company sells a sensor that can let property owners know the levels inside
a septic tank to prevent spills.
“This year’s field of candidates is exceptionally
strong,” says Associate Vice President for Research-Economic Development at
Mines Joseph Wright. “Any one of our competitors this year, even those who did
not place, has the chance to go on and do very well in state and national
competitions. I’m very excited for their future.”
The competition is open to all West River high
schools as well as neighboring higher education institutions Black Hills State
University, Western Dakota Tech, National American University, Chadron State
College, Oglala Lakota College and Sinte Gleska University. Participants in the
South Dakota Mines CEO Program get business plan training throughout the
semester and receive assistance from the Small Business Development Center in
preparing financial statements as well as mentoring from local business leaders
and South Dakota Mines’ Entrepreneurs-in-Residence.
CEO Competition sponsors include Ascent Innovation,
Big D Oil, Black Hills Energy, Darren Haar, Golden West Technology and Internet
Solutions, Sioux Steel Company, South Dakota EPSCoR, South Dakota Governor’s
Office of Economic Development, South Dakota Mines Office of the President and
West River Electric Association.
The university also extends its thanks to year’s
volunteer panel of judges: Brian Rupert, 2020 Spirit of Innovation Award
Winner; Mike Pogany, Black Hills Energy; Bob Case, Black Hills Energy; Robert
Raker, West River Electric; Nina Braun, Ketel Thorstenson; Zach Policky, Big D
Oil Company; and Jim Haar, Golden West Telecommunications.