Summer Innovation Academy showcases future entrepreneurs

The Miller School of Entrepreneurship’s annual Summer Innovation Academy brought over 30 middle and high school students across eastern North Carolina to learn the basics of entrepreneurship and how to launch a business. The eighth annual weeklong camp (July 21-25) took place in the Isley Innovation Hub.

“The innovation academy is essentially a how-to-start-your-own-business summer camp,” said Corey Pulido, a teaching instructor in the Miller School of Entrepreneurship and manager of the innovation academy. “We condense what we teach in the classroom and create a fun learning environment.”

Immersive activities covered concepts including the business model canvas, lean launch, financial principles, team building and intellectual property. At the same time, campers engaged in fun activities to keep them involved and to ensure a fun summer break.

Along with kindling the entrepreneurial spirit, the camp allows attendees to experience what life as an ECU Pirate is like.

“It’s our goal to continue to strengthen the entrepreneurship ecosystem, having ECU touch all layers of the academic system, especially in our backyard,” Pulido said. “ECU has averaged approximately three students per camp to return and enroll at ECU.”

A Camp Showcase

On the final day of camp, participants took part in a trade show and pitch competition similar to the Aman Pirate Challenge. Campers presented posters explaining their ideas during the trade show, with the top five participants competing in a pitch competition in front of their peers, parents and judges.

Muralikrishna William Jonnalagadda-Cucksee, a rising sophomore at Arendell Parrott Academy in Kinston, designed the Handy Angler. The device is a portable fishing rod holder that can be attached to a folding chair, walker or wheelchair to help the user carry their rod. It can also be attached to surfaces, including decks, piers and tables.

“I love to fish, and I often go to Hubert to fish,” he said. “A lot of the other fishermen there are Marines, several of whom are disabled. I thought, why not combine my hobby but also help them and give back to the community? This is a product that will allow them to keep fishing.”

The innovation academy gave Jonnalagadda-Cucksee the insights he needed to help grow his idea.

“Camp has been fun and enlightening. I can take the knowledge I’ve gained at camp and apply it to the real world,” he said.

With a prototype already built and brought to camp, Jonnalagadda-Cucksee is ready to take the next step.

“My hope is to try and get a patent, start a business and then go to local fishing spots and start selling my product,” he said.

Ja’Shya Harris, a sophomore at J.H. Rose High School, developed Shya’s Integrated Therapy Services. Harris spent part of the summer volunteering at a Greenville physical therapy clinic and a massage clinic. Her business is a combination of occupational, speech, aquatic and physical therapy as well as a sensory room for children with autism.

“I came to the innovation academy so I could develop more business ideas,” she said. “I’d like to run my own physical therapy clinic and outpatient center.”

Harris came away from the camp with a better understanding of what it takes to start a business.

“It’s taught me a lot of things that I didn’t think about,” she said. “You can have an idea, but it takes a lot. You have to market this idea; you have to get permits. You can’t just have an idea, buy a building and there you go. There are steps to take. I’ve enjoyed it a lot.”

New to this year’s pitch competition were cash prizes for the top five finishers thanks to the Pamlico Business Resource Center. Emily Cox, a rising sixth grader, won $1,000 for her idea, Clavo. Clavo is a plastic covering that goes on top of fingers to prevent nail polish from touching skin and causing irritation.

Other winners include:

• 2nd, Muralikrishna William Jonnalagadda-Cucksee – Handy Angler ($600)
• 3rd, Bailey Tyndall – Rub Some Dirt On It ($400)
• 4th, Reiko Lin – Willow Hue ($100)
• 5th, Isabella Calix – Special Whimsies ($50)

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