(May 2, 2019) -- The enVault team, the group of UTSA engineering students behind the Vault-O power generator, won big this week at the $100k Student Technology Venture Competition hosted by the Center for Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CITE). The UTSA engineering majors beat out nearly 70 competitors to take the top prize for their Vault-O generator, a next-generation plug-and-play technology that aims to help reduce carbon emissions and operating costs for businesses owners.
The first-place enVault team includes UTSA engineering students Noah Bemisderfer, Robert Chavez, Nestor Falcon, Bobby Reyes and Jack Williams.
The UTSA students were sponsored by local entrepreneur Matthew Herrera, the owner of Go Pawz Go, a leader in the dog grooming space. After learning about his mobile business, they were inspired to reduce his operating expenses.
Noah Bemisderfer and Nestor Falcon stand beside the Vault-O battery-powered mobile generator.
enVault estimates that its Vault-O generator will only cost mobile operators like Herrera about $100 dollars to run. The power generator operates without diesel and gasoline and is powered through the use of advanced battery inverter technology. With the invention, Herrera can take his mobile unit directly to dog owners for longer periods at a lower cost.
The UTSA Center for Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CITE) hosts two competitions each year to give students hands-on experience in entrepreneurship and pitching for first-round funding. CITE is a collaborative center in the UTSA College of Business and UTSA College of Engineering that aims to create a pipeline for San Antonio’s ecosystem in new technology ventures. Finalists of the competition have access to a prize pool of more than $100,000 in funding and in-kind services to launch their new companies.
This year, competitors presented to a panel of industry leaders and start-up incubators including Lockheed Martin, Alamo Angels, Velocity TX, Active Capital, Targeted Technology and Geekdom. To prepare for the competition, CITE pairs the competing teams with industry advisors including CPS, UT Health and Brooke Army Medical Center to ensure successful market launches.
Second place in the CITE competition went to the biomedical engineering group C-CAM for its laryngoscope device to help first responders with intubation. JNST took third place for its cooling portable prosthetic socket which helps amputees protect residual limbs on demand.
Running alongside the CITE competition, other engineering teams competed in the Tech Symposium, a competitive program where teams present their senior capstone projects to win up to $12K in cash prices. This year, the top winner was the Daedalus Group with its automatic weapon detection system. In close second, Zometis Innovations, an all-female team, captured attention with its prototyped microbiome pill, which can be used to diagnosed the health of the stomach and intestinal tract.
Learn more about CITE.
Learn more about TECH Symposium.
Celebrate UTSA’s 50th Anniversary and share social media posts about the 50th using the hashtag #UTSA50.
Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
Archaeology 201 will briefly go over the foundations of archaeology and related skills, followed by a different topic over the course of this week (like skeletal analysis, global cultures, and more).
Center for Archaeological Research, UTSA Main CampusYou will get the opportunity to learn about the importance of psychopharmacology, common medications for pediatric populations, and best practices for collaborating with health care teams and families.
Virtual EventThe UTSA Veteran and Military Office will be holding a social event for our new military-affiliated students to come out and meet our office, staff, and other students.
MB 0.100, Ground Floor Lobby, Main BuildingThe Student Union invites you to join us for Kickback at the Union, a fun event designed to get you acquainted with all of the services available in the Student Union!
Student UnionInterested in learning more about the different fraternities and sororities in the Multicultural Greek Council? Come meet our organizations and enjoy free food and music.
Retama Galleria (SU 2.02,) Main CampusThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education .
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to promoting access for all. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.