More than 30 teams at the University of Nevada, Reno prepared business plans to compete for a spot in the Sontag Entrepreneurship Competition. Four teams rose to the top with their exceptional business plans however. Chosen by numerous mentors and judges from the northern Nevada community, Adaption, Burn Ready, Navatar, and NV Dynamics are the finalists set to compete in the fourth annual Sontag Entrepreneurship Competition in March 2015.

The Sontag Entrepreneurship Competition was established by the College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno to develop the entrepreneurial skills of University students and facilitate the creation of new businesses in Nevada. Out of the four teams of finalists, one group will be awarded $50,000 in the spring semester to further develop their business.  

The fourth annual Sontag Entrepreneurship finalists:  

Adaption
Team members: Keith Szelagowski, Steven Keim
Mentors: Bernard Bach, Physics lab director at the University of Nevada, Reno Mark Spano, research professor at Arizona State University, Rosalind Sadleir, assistant professor at Arizona State University   

Adaption uses Bluetooth Low Energy technology to make it easier to monitor activity in and outside of the home. Combining the technology of smart phones and motion sensors, Adaption allows easier monitoring over a home's security, garden, temperature and more.  

Burn Ready
Team members: Meghan O'Neill, Adam Sousa, Jonathan Sarmenta, Peter Sifers
Mentor: Matt Westfield, associate professor in Entrepreneurship   

Burn Ready is a web-based service that allows users to buy or rent items for Burning Man and other Reno/Tahoe events in the form of convenient, organized and ready-to-use packages. It is an eco-friendly service that allows customers to acquire all of their needs with a "sell-back" feature to promote recycling.   

Navatar
Team members: Ilias Apostopoulos. Antonios Zarafonitis; Jordan Blocher, Rohit Patil
Mentor: Eelke Folmer, associate professor in Engineering   

Navatar plans to make the University of Nevada, Reno the first fully blind accessible campus in the United States. Navatar is a free indoor navigation system app for blind students. It assists them in moving around campus using sensors, maps and smartphones.  

NV Dynamics
Team: MacCallister Higgens, Erik Edgington
Mentor: Beau Keenan  

Nevada Dynamics wants to provide a service that helps small companies overcome the regulatory and technical roadblocks regarding UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) or drone technology for commercial purposes. This service helps optimize and ensure the safety of all unmanned air travel.  

The Sontag Entrepreneurship Award is made possible through a major gift from University alumnus Rick Sontag, '66, in 2011. The endowment created by the gift funds the $50,000 award.   For more information about the Sontag Entrepreneurship Competition, go to www.unr.edu/sontag.