4A
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2008
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Student invention assists elderly Award-winning design garners $7,200 first prize
BY ANDY GREENHAW agreenhaw@kansan.com
Two University of Kansas students are planning to mass produce and sell an invention that won them first place at the first Mark L. Morris Junior New Venture Development Competition.
Ann Fitzgerald, Southlake, Texas, senior, said she didn't want to go into any details about the invention, which they called the Silver-Gerald Shower Chair, because it was in the process of being patented, but said its function would enhance an elderly person's ability to shower.
"Its purpose is to allow easy access and cleaning of the perineal region for the elderly," she said. "I would consider it an expansion to an item already in circulation."
Fitzgerald and her partner, Jana Silverman, 2007 graduate, said they now planned to use the money they won from the competition — $7,200 — to start their own company, which they'll call Silver-Gerald. They said they expected to invest about $50,000 into their new business.
"Initially it was $25,000, but
after talking to venture capitalists we'll probably double that amount," Fitzgerald said.
She said they planned to raise the money by entering their invention into various other entrepreneurial contests across the country.
Silverman said neither of them was worried about the initial investment because after doing extensive market research, they were confident that their target market was guaranteed to increase. Fitzgerald predicts an annual growth of about 11 to 15 percent until 2020.
They expect the first chair to be on the market by January 2009.
Fitzgerald and Silverman began designing the product in August 2007 before they had even heard about the new venture competition.
"By the time we found out about the competition, we had all our prototypes and knew all of our facts," Silverman said.
Fitzgerald said after coming up with the idea they began researching other industries within their Standard Industrial Classification code.
"Each product has a specific code it sells to," she said. "Ours is medical
Once they found their niche and competition, they began researching what materials they'd use, their branding concept, their target audience and the product's probable price range, which they said would probably be $60 to $100 per unit.
bath aids."
After doing extensive research, the two drew up hundreds of sketches for the product's design.
"We had about four inches worth of sketches when we were done," Fitzgerald said.
After they came up with the right design, they built several prototypes using cardboard, clay, wood and plastic.
They even had friends, neighbors and relatives test out their designs.
The entire project, they said, cost them about $1,500 and more than 500 hours of their time.
"We knew going in that it was going to be expensive, but it was something we were both very passionate about that we wanted to pursue," Fitzgerald said.
Once they had their finished product, they named it the May Chair, after May Tveit, professor of industrial design, who they said gave
ana Silverman, Schaumburg, Ill., 2007 graduate, left, and Ann Fitzgerald, Southlake, Texas, senior, invented a chair that will make it easier for elderly people to shower. They plan on investing about $5,000 in their company, Silver-Gerald.
Mindy Ricketts/KANSAN
继续防伪措施
them their inspiration to pursue this venture.
They entered the May Chair in the
Mark L. Morris Junior New Venture Development Competition and won first place out of 80 submissions.
-Edited by Samuel Lamb
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