Meet The Challengers: 16 Student Teams Prepare to Compete in the Fowler Business Concept Challenge
The Knauss School of Business is pleased to announce the semifinalist teams competing in the 6th Annual Fowler Business Concept Challenge (FBCC) on December 6. These 16 teams were selected from among 52 unique submissions, and represent four USD schools — the Knauss School of Business, the Kroc School of Peace Studies, the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering and College of Arts and Sciences.
Undergraduate and graduate student participants have prepared their ideas all semester, receiving mentorship from faculty and staff, and will pitch their business concepts in front of judges and audiences to compete for $45,000 in scholarships. The FBCC Grand Finale will be held at 4 p.m. on Dec. 6 at the KIPJ Theatre and is open to the USD community and the public. Register today.
Semi-Finalist Teams:
Amio
Designed by athletes for athletes, Amio is a cutting-edge performance stabilizer that intuitively adapts to your movement, providing unmatched knee support without compromising agility. Engineered with responsive materials and real-time tracking, Amio actively prevents ACL and MCL injuries, empowering athletes to push their limits with confidence and durability at every step.
Ausar Myers - Knauss School of Business
Wolfgang Reighard - College of Arts and Sciences
Classmate Cruise
Classmate Cruise is a rideshare service exclusively for college students, providing safe, affordable, and community-focused transportation on and around campus. Designed with students in mind, the platform connects student drivers with fellow classmates traveling in the same direction, offering lower fares by eliminating high fees and unfamiliar drivers typical of traditional rideshare services. This solution fosters a sense of community while meeting students’ needs for reliable and budget-friendly transportation.
Halia Fargo - Knauss School of Business
Nikka Ahani - Knauss School of Business
Club Keratin
Club Keratin is transforming the $60 billion hair salon industry as the first nationwide chain of keratin treatment salons, offering women a time-saving solution for smooth, manageable hair. With scalable systems, high profitability, and first-mover advantage, Club Keratin is poised to redefine haircare and offer a standout investment opportunity with significant market impact and long-term growth.
Kaylie Babajan - Kroc School of Peace Studies
Thalia Petronelli - Kroc School of Peace Studies
DecompressX
DecompressX provides innovative and tech-enabled ergonomic solutions to help those who experience back pain. Our technology adapts to each user's unique body to help maintain good posture and achieve spinal decompression while in a comfortable and upright seated position. Our goal is to help alleviate pain from a variety of conditions and empower the often marginalized segment of the population who use mobility devices such as wheelchairs.
Brice Hamilton - Knauss School of Business
Den Designer
Den Designer seeks to democratize home blueprint design, by providing fast and affordable blueprints that can be instantaneously customized to individual needs. Den Designer's approach to blueprint creation eliminates massive barriers of entry for those seeking to build ADUs, Affordable Housing, and custom homes.
Lance Wolfsmith - Knauss School of Business
Max Andrews - Knauss School of Business
Yassine Lazaar - Knauss School of Business
Drones for Humanity
Drones for Humanity offers fast, reliable, cost-effective and scalable drone solutions to transport life-saving blood across Mexico, addressing the challenge of reaching rural hospitals, especially during emergencies where every second counts. Our vision is to improve healthcare access for all, reducing delays and saving lives, one flight at a time. Unlike competitors, our drones are specifically designed to adapt to the unique challenges of Mexico's diverse terrain, regulations, and distances, with the added benefit of our partnership with the Bioengineering Department of Xochicalco University to ensure cutting-edge, customized solutions.
Chance Aaronson - College of Arts and Sciences
Maria Martinez - College of Arts and Sciences
IrisPro
IrisPro provides a novel solution with eye safety goggles designed to protect against large, heavy, and fast-flying objects. IrisPro prevents injuries by utilizing a polycarbonate lens and deploying instant eye protection through advanced machine learning sensors that measure conditions 200 times per second. IrisPro will donate a portion of its profits to support individuals who have lost their vision and fund programs that provide resources, education, and rehabilitation services.
Julia Bright - Kroc School of Peace Studies
LilyBot
LilyBot is a first of its kind, autonomous robot that revolutionizes lake management by efficiently removing invasive seaweed. Equipped with advanced capabilities and eco-friendly technology, it delivers precise, sustainable lake care that enhances water quality and supports a thriving ecosystem. At LilyBot, we are revolutionizing lake care, one bot at a time.
Ethan Addams - College of Arts and Sciences
Kallen Rundle - College of Arts and Sciences
NOWA
NOWA (Nourishing Our World Again) is an on-demand food delivery service that makes fresh, nutritious food accessible to underserved communities by repurposing surplus food from local farms, restaurants, and grocery stores. With real-time tracking, low-cost meal options, and options tailored to dietary needs, NOWA ensures that healthy eating is convenient, affordable, and sustainable for everyone.
Brooke FitzCluster - Knauss School of Business
Ramya Mabry - Kroc School of Peace Studies
Nutriquest
NutriQuest is a non-invasive, affordable gut health management app that provides users with real-time insights into gut health by analyzing lifestyle factors, dietary habits, and biometric data. It uses AI-driven scoring to evaluate the quality of a user’s decisions, offering a clear, visual representation of how daily choices affect their health. Supported by a team of experts, including a co-founder from USC’s CS program and advisors from SDSU’s School of Nutrition, NutriQuest combines science-backed guidelines with AI to provide a personalized, accessible approach to health tracking.
Patricio Girault - Knauss School of Business
Same for You
"Same For You" is an app empowering restaurants to sell their leftover food at a discounted rate. Locals are notified of available meals, claim them online, and simply pick them up. "Same For You" aims to bridge the current distance between large-scale food waste and food-insecure individuals while nurturing the environment.
Andre Suaid - College of Arts and Sciences
Jack Morrison - College of Arts and Sciences
Jaziel Mayoral - College of Arts and Sciences
Thomas Frei - Knauss School of Business
QRinger
QRinger is a mobile app that allows users to see and talk to visitors at their door through a secure video call, without needing additional hardware. Visitors simply scan a QR code outside the front door to connect with the user. This user-friendly app prioritizes privacy and is ideal for dorm students, homeowners, and apartment residents.
Aashika Arasu - Knauss School of Business
Akash Thamizh
RefineAI
RefineAI is an AI-powered platform that helps businesses score, clean, and analyze their data, ensuring quality and fairness before model generation. By focusing on Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) and bias detection, RefineAI empowers companies to build ethical, reliable AI models while mitigating risks associated with biased or low-quality data. Designed for both technical and non-technical users, RefineAI simplifies data preparation and promotes responsible AI practices.
Bilal Najar - Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering
The Femme Forum
The Femme Forum is a Women’s-Exclusive Luxury Country Club. On top of offering luxury amenities and spa services, we are uniting professional business women in the local community to connect, organize, and empower one another. Through strategic networking and mentorship initiatives, we strive to uplift the women in the workforce, and most importantly, to hold the door open for the women behind us.
Jaiden Ha - Knauss School of Business
Safe Ballot
Safe Ballot is the future of voting - a blockchain protected digital voting platform, offering unmatched security, accessibility, and transparency for all structures of elections. It is designed to revolutionize the way people cast votes by building trust and setting new standards for secure, tamper-proof voting, while adapting to real-world needs.
Donatella Falcomer - Knauss School of Business
Elijah Johnson - College of Arts and Sciences
USport
USport is an online digital platform and database that connects prospective collegiate athletes to college coaches nationwide. USport’s primary goal is to help streamline the process of college recruiting, helping both players and coaches find their perfect matches.
River Shaia - Knauss School of Business
Matthew Tanner - Knauss School of Business