South Dakota Mines Students Inspired to Think Big During Annual Entrepreneurial Program

November 05, 2025
South Dakota Mines Students Inspired to Think Big During Annual Entrepreneurial Program
A total of 50 students participated in this year’s EMGE program. Started in 2006, the annual series aims to inspire Mines students to start their own companies someday. The students are pictured with keynote speaker Eric Broughton (Eh 97) and Pat and Jim Linehan, representatives of the John Scully Foundation.

In the 20 years since the founding of the South Dakota Mines Engineers Make Great Entrepreneurs (EMGE) program, hundreds of students and faculty have been inspired to go beyond the research and create groundbreaking ideas.

This year, 50 students participated in the speaker series and scholarship competition, with five coming away as award winners. The four-week program features presentations from successful entrepreneurs, including alumni and local and national business leaders.

EMGE has had several private and corporate sponsors since the program’s inception in 2006. For the past several years the primary sponsor has been the John Scully Foundation.  

“EMGE provides students the opportunity to hear thorough and detailed descriptions of entrepreneurial journeys from those that have actually lived that life,” said Arik Ahmed, Mines nanoscience and nanoengineering doctoral student and winner of a $500 scholarship.

The program consisted of four evening sessions, each featuring two or three esteemed entrepreneurial alumni speakers, and concluded with a final presentation and a pitch competition. This year’s speaker series included individuals from RPM, RESPEC and Property Meld.

In the final session, students were evaluated by a panel of business leaders on their two-minute pitch, in which they outlined how they plan to incorporate entrepreneurship into their future careers.

Before the announcement of winners, students heard from keynote speaker Eric Broughton (EE 97), CEO of OK2Charge, the first fully automated electric vehicle charging solution designed specifically for vacation rental, multifamily and hospitality properties, and incorporating a hardware-agnostic platform that integrates and manages a wide range of EV chargers.

The winners were:

First place: Alfredo Salcido Santos – freshman computer engineering major ($1,000)

Second Place: Kelly Sutko, chemical and biological doctoral student ($750)

Third Place ties: Arik Ahmed, nanoscience and nanoengineering doctoral student; Emilia Morton, freshman chemical engineering major; and Faria Nishat Kahn, data science and engineering doctoral student ($500).

The EMGE speaker series is designed to inspire students to be entrepreneurial in their future careers and allow them to develop professionally, network and connect with like-minded students. It is the first of many opportunities for students to engage and participate in the Mines innovation cycle offered through the Office of Economic Development and prepares students for the CEO Student Business Plan competition.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation/EPSCoR Award OIA-1849206 and by the South Dakota Board of Regents. In addition to promoting and encouraging programs such as EMGE at the university, EPSCoR supports other South Dakota programs that connect research, innovation, job creation, and economic growth, such as the Governor’s Giant Vision Student Business Plan Competition.