Hall, a civil engineering major, and Garvin won the first-place prize for using an inexpensive, versatile material to create customizable furniture. R.E.P.S., short for reinforced expanded polystyrene structure, is made of expanded polystyrene coated with a polyurethane/polyurea hardcoat. The two materials combine to make a very strong and flexible shell. Not only is the final product strong enough for furniture, but the hardcoat is flame, insect and termite retardant as well as having water resistant qualities. It is also light weight.
The second place prize of $3,000 went to Peter Thorpe, a Provo City firefighter, and Mike Sanders, a graduate student in mechanical engineering, for their invention of ActiveAlarm. Their invention is the automatic shut-off of a home’s stove after the fire alarm goes off for three minutes. This will help prevent the more than 400 home fires that occur in the U.S. every day from accidentally leaving the stove on. Most unattended stoves will smoke for 45 minutes before actually catching fire.
Third place and $1,000 went to Jesse Moore, a senior majoring in manufacturing engineering technology for his invention of Earbuddies, a new attachment for earbud headphones that helps keep them in place while running, exercising, snowboarding, etc...
This year the number of participants increased from 28 to 46. All 46 teams presented their projects Wednesday in Brigham Square and were judged on their levels of professionalism, product originality, engineering innovation and level of clarity. Thursday, seven finalists went on to the final round in the Varsity Theatre, presenting their projects and answering questions from judges.
Sponsored by the Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology and the Marriott School's Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship, students from all over campus were invited to participate. Venture Factory, a student-run club focused on innovation and entrepreneurship, gave away $2,500 in "good idea" awards to encourage other SIOY participants to keep moving their ideas forward.
All participants are encouraged to enter into the 2012 Business Plan or Social Venture competitions hosted by the Marriott School of Management.