Auburn University’s Thomas Walter Center for Technology Management, along with the university’s Business-Engineering-Technology (B-E-T) program and the new Auburn Student Inventor’s Club, recently held the Second Annual Invention2Venture (i2v) Apprentice Challenge workshop, a program that equips students with entrepreneurial skills.

Twenty-one students on five teams heard from a panel of entrepreneurs and completed a 72-hour challenge to select a product or service, sell it on a football weekend and produce a profit using a $100 seed investment. Each team was required to return the investment, as well as provide evidence of their net profits over costs and original investment. Student teams were evaluated on profits, scalability, uniqueness and moral appeal by a panel of judges. including James Corman, entrepreneur-in-residence at the Thomas Walter Center; Robert Crutchfield, venture partner with Harbert Management Corporation, and Gene Fuller, owner of REMTECH Inc., who also spoke to students about starting and running a new business.

The first place team, which included students Titus Thornton, Harkamal Singh, Benjamin Coffin and Ning Yu, was awarded $1,000 for generating income by selling water, cookies, pretzels and milk during late hours at Auburn’s Ralph Brown Draughon Library and to football fans on game day. The second place team, which included students Andrea Avila Tinoco, Qian Yang, Joshua Carter and Matt Ingram, earned $500 selling Auburn colored bracelet shakers to football fans, a picture taken with a team member painted as “Blue Man” and cake pops.

“The winning teams each earned $300-$400 more than their investment,” said Paul Swamidass, director of the Thomas Walter Center. “In the process, they learned to find a need, pick a target market, get the product, develop a marketing plan, and sell and deliver within a short time.”

This year’s workshop was sponsored by Wal-Mart Distribution Center, Auburn Research and Technology Park, Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, College of Business and the Thomas Walter Center for Technology Management.

“With the help of genuine contributions from expert panelists and sponsors, we were able to wake up the entrepreneurial spirit and tune-up the entrepreneurial skills in young future entrepreneurs at Auburn,” said Swamidass. “We saw several promising future entrepreneurs at the challenge. Our nation needs them; they were thrilled to participate.”

Visit this page for more information, photos and videos from the event.