Toronto: Bolis Ibrahim and Oleh Zhyhinas will receive $25,000 and a suite of business services to assist in advancing their winning business concept.
The third annual David McFadden Energy Entrepreneur Challenge, an initiative of Ontario Centres of Excellence, invited university and college students from across Ontario to find entrepreneurial solutions to challenges facing the energy sector. Students pitched their business ideas in three-minute videos posted on YouTube. Ten finalists were chosen to pitch in front of an expert panel at Discovery, Canada’s leading innovation-to-commercialization conference, on May 10.
Winners Bolis Ibrahim and Oleh Zhyhinas of the 2016 David McFadden Energy Entrepreneur Challenge were announced at Discovery, May 10. Their All2One Solar Power Combiner (A2O), a “smart solar controller” developed by Argentum Electronics, incorporates existing small-scale solar-power technologies with a unique circuit design, allowing homeowners to more efficiently generate electricity and lower dependence on the grid.
The challenge at this year’s Energy Entrepreneur Challenge, “Conservation as a tool for meeting the world’s energy challenges,” was to develop an easily used and cost-effective CDM system or technology that can be used by a broad spectrum of consumers in Canada or around the world.
The David McFadden Energy Entrepreneur Challenge was introduced to honour past OCE Chair David McFadden. The challenge aims to support student innovation and entrepreneurship while encouraging David’s philosophy of innovation: that new business ideas be economically viable while also leading to the betterment of society.
For more on the David McFadden Energy Entrepreneur Challenge, please visit http://www.ocediscovery.com/program/competitions/david-mcfadden