LEAD THE WAY: Greenfield-Central grads win chance to pitch new tech to investors in D.C.

Greenfield Daily Reporter - GREENFIELD — A pair of recent Greenfield-Central High School graduates returned Thursday from an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., where they met with investors and technology experts to pitch their Bluetooth-powered charging technology — OsciCharge.

The team consisting of Ian Jack and Josiah Findley was among the 10 finalists in this year’s Innovate WithIN competition, which encourages budding entrepreneurs and investors to come up with their best designs with the hopes of turning their dreams into reality.

The purpose of the Innovate withIN competition is to not only inspire young entrepreneurs but to connect them with “world-class innovators” who can “turn their business from a dream into a reality.”

Although Jack and Findley didn’t win this year’s $25,000 cash prize, they did gain invaluable experience creating and promoting their wireless invention.

After meeting with local investors June 15 at Butler University, the top 10 teams were awarded a three-day trip to the nation’s capital June 20-22 to pitch their ideas.

“We were meeting with people from a lot of investment firms, advertising agencies and other people who are really connected in D.C. and working on a lot of different projects,” said Jack, 18, who plans to study engineering at Purdue University in the fall.

He and Findley, 19, who plans to study actuarial science at Trine University, hope to use the connections they made and things they learned to one day make their OsciCharge prototype available to consumers.

“There are some (Bluetooth wireless chargers) being made but none on the market yet,” said Jack. “We’re working toward a patent right now, and we’ve gotten some really good ideas from the people we met this week.”

On June 15 the top teams gathered at Butler University to mingle with representatives from the STARTedUP Foundation, an Indianapolis-based organization which seeks to “empower a generation of leaders with an ‘opportunities are everywhere’ mindset, fueling innovation and hope for our communities, country and world.”

Jack and Findley pitched their Bluetooth charging technology, which eliminates the need to plug in electronic devices to charge. They made a video touting the benefits of their design which can be viewed at the STARTedUp website.

The young men came up with their design through their Project Lead The Way (PLTW) class at the high school.

Project Lead the Way impacts learning for students from pre-K through high school by empowering them to develop in-demand, transportable knowledge and skills through pathways in computer science, engineering, and biomedical science.

PLTW students are invited to enter the Innovate WithIN Pitch Competition each year, for the chance to win a cash prize and full scholarship, in addition to the chance of connecting with investors who could opt to buy into their projects.

This year’s top 10 pitches throughout the state included a communication device for nonverbal students, a waterproof cast cover, a device that detects infection in catheter lines and a software program that streamlines the search for an attorney, to name a few.

Jack said he encourages all students to put on their thinking caps and come up with some creative ideas, then take a shot at making it into the top 10 of the annual competition.

“(Josiah) and I felt lucky and honored just to be there with the other competitors,” said Jack. “We kind of felt out of place sometimes because there are so many amazing ideas and really good pitches. I would encourage anyone who has an idea to apply.”