Students participate in a yearlong veterinary innovation competitionMarch 28, 2019Three teams of veterinary students were awarded a total of $17,500 from VetPrep's third annual live finale of The IDEA, a veterinary student innovation competition. The yearlong competition was hosted by VetPrep in partnership with Merck Animal Health and was also supported by the Veterinary Innovation Council (VIC) from Texas A&M and Hill's Science Diet. The IDEA was created to provide veterinary students the opportunity to bring their ideas to life. "We created The IDEA to support young veterinary entrepreneurs because we started our company when we were veterinary students and our business allows us to interact with veterinary students frequently," says VetPrep cofounder, Ira Gordon, DVM. "Students have so many great ideas, but oftentimes lack the confidence, resources, and mentorship they need to turn their ideas into reality. The IDEA can help with all three. It is an opportunity for us to provide the type of assistance we wish was available to us back when we were students." The competition comprised 43 students from North America, the U.K., and New Zealand. The chosen semifinalists then worked with Aaron Massecar, PhD, from the VIC to fully develop their ideas. After being narrowed down, the three remaining teams competed in the …
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The Idea vet student competition yields up-and-coming product conceptsApril 13, 2018The student chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association (SAVMA) annual symposium, held in March, featured lectures, clinical skills competitions, events … and the second annual live finale of The Idea, an innovation competition exclusively for veterinary students hosted by VetPrep and ViralVet. More than 27 student teams from across North America entered the competition. Semi-finalists worked closely with Aaron Massecar, MA, Ph.D., from the Texas A&M Veterinary Innovation Lab, as well as many other guest mentors to take an entrepreneurial and innovative journey that resulted in the selection of three teams to compete in the finals. Participants pitched their innovative Ideas live to the panel of judges and answered a series of questions before learning the results in front of a live audience. The $10,000 grand prize of the competition was presented to Michael Conguista from the University of Minnesota for his Dental Vet typodont concept. William Aqeel and Emmanouil Emmanouilidis were awarded the $5,000-second place prize for their U-Syringe concept, and Cory Erb and Devyn Bartell from Washington State University were awarded the $2,500 third place prize for their PetStat app. The cash prizes were awarded to assist …
