A company that evolved from research at Mines on turning
corn stover into a valuable form of graphite has won the 2022 CEO Business Plan
Competition at South Dakota Mines.
The CEO Business
Plan Competition challenges entrepreneurs to present their business
idea to 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 South Dakota who competed for over $15,000
in prizes this year.
The ninth annual competition at Mines was held on
Saturday, Dec. 3, with first place going to Bharath Maddipudi and Khang Huynh of
Bio-Navitas, a company that captures carbon from renewable agricultural
residues to create a valuable graphitic material. The pair also won a separate
category for the best agricultural plan at this year’s competition.
Maddipudi and Huynh are doctoral candidates in the
Karen M. Swindler Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. They are
working alongside their advisor, Rajesh Shende, Ph.D., to pioneer new
ways to turn waste like corn stover into valuable products, which can
add to a farmer’s profit each year. Corn stover includes stalks, leaves and
cobs leftover after corn is harvested. The research was funded by grants from
the U.S. Department of Energy. Their work led to the creation of a highly
valuable porous carbon material for many applications including being a key
component in next generation batteries and energy storage devices, that can be
made from corn stover. Their process requires less energy and is more
affordable than conventional methods. The pair proved the value of their
product by inserting the graphitic carbon they made into a battery and lighting
an LED with the technology.
Maddipudi and Huynh also thank their mentors and
advisors who are assisting in creation of the business. Maressa Surrett, an
advisor to the team, is the CTO for ISTE and brings 20 years of business
experience. Jim Quinn has 35 years of business experience and serves as a Mines’
Entrepreneur in Residence. Aaron Worlie, a technical business advisor and
Mines alumnus who won the Governor’s Giant Vision Competition as a student. “We
would not be here without the amazing faculty at Mines and without the help of
our advisors and mentors,” says Maddipudi.
Tied for second place are Enzo Tessaro and his cloud
gaming company, Streamware, and Zack Holloway, Gerald Waterhouse and Devin
Filter and their agricultural drone imaging company Vizion UAS.
Tied for third place are Hosein Mirazi for a human
analog pharmaceutical testing device and his company, CellField, and Reza
Morovatdar and Jackson Cates with their company DeepDeals, which uses AI to
connect consumers to deals offered by digital retailers.
“It was a really difficult call for the judges this
year because all the teams in the competition were exceptionally strong,” says
Associate Vice President for Research-Economic Development at Mines Joseph
Wright. “Any one of our entrants could go on to win at statewide competitions,
and we’re excited to see how they do in the coming year.”
Mines has a long history of dominating statewide
business competitions. Mines students or alumni have brought home first place
awards at the South Dakota Governor’s Giant Vision Competition for eight years
in a row.
The CEO Business Plan Competition is open to all
South Dakota high schools as well as higher education institutions.
Participants 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 Elevate Rapid City,
South Dakota Biotech, Big D Oil, Black Hills Energy, 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, entrepreneur; Marc Eyre, Black Hills Energy; Bob Case,
Black Hills Energy; Robert Raker, West River Electric; Nina Braun, Ketel
Thorstenson; Zach Policky, Big D Oil Company; Jim Haar, Golden West
Telecommunications; Elliott Strain, Sioux Steel Company; and Matt Stelmach, entrepreneur.