Arctic Innovation Competition winners

October 31, 2011

Marmian Grimes

Billy Koitzsch and Bob Ostrom share the $10,000 first prize for this year's Arctic Innovation Competition. Their award-winning idea is called a hydro-heater.

The Arctic Innovation Competition is an idea contest created by School of Management faculty member Ping Lan, director of the MBA program, and managed by a committee consisting of graduate students in an accounting and information systems class (AIS F673—Technology Management), faculty and staff.

The competition is open to the public and there is no entry fee. Individuals or groups with an idea for solving real-life problems are encouraged to enter. After over 200 ideas were sifted through by students, engineers and the AIC committee, 20 were presented to a panel of judges Friday, Oct. 21. Tension was high in the packed Wood Center ballroom when the winners were announced.

$10,000– First Place: Billy Koitzsch & Bob Ostrom, HydroHeater

$5,000– Second Place: Jeremiah Costly, Reciprocating File

$2,000 – Third Place: Fr. Joshua Resnick & Seraphim McGann, Power-Dense Motor for Marine Applications

$1,000 – Fourth Place: Edward Ashby, Individual Assisting Device for Bathtubs

The rest of the top 20 competitors each won $100.

For more information contact Ping Lan at 474-7688 or plan@alaska.edu.