News
Entrepeneurial Engineering Inventions
Princeton, NJ: Teams of students from Princeton’s Entrepreneurial Engineering course competed for their invention concepts to be brought to market by TeleBrands, via its “As Seen On TV” Direct Response Marketing process. Inventions had names such as Exer-Slide, The Faster Filter, LeanSleeves, VitaSmile and AccuSoothe. Professor Dan Nosenchuck teaches the one semester course MAE 445/EGR 445. He was joined by AJ Khubani, CEO of TeleBrands who chaired a panel of expert advisors, testing all concepts. Additional feedback was provided by well-known national pitchmen, Billy Mays and Anthony Sullivan, hosts of the new Discovery Channel show, “Pitchmen,” as well as Tom McLinden, founder of EVO Design, attorney Peter Murray, and advertising executive Steve Rivkin. Based in the results of its consumer research, TeleBrands will create and bring the most promising product or two to market. Product 1, the AccuSmoothe form fitting glove applies the needed pressure between thumb and pointer on acupressure point LI4, to relieve stress headaches; A marketable product for sure. The panel recommended gathering more scientific evidence behind its effectiveness as well as improving its visual impact by researching sports glove designs and fabrics. Wearing Product 2 all day will burn off as many calories as running two miles. LeanSleeves are adjustable sleeves with weights sewn in to fit comfortably on arms and calves. Discretely worn under everyday clothes they provide exercise without the effort. We all can buy into that! A similar product called BodyTogs is on the market, and as LeanSleeves are form-fitting, they would be a perfect product to market to them. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H8pRkcgsZs) Product 3 is Vita-Smile, both a new packaging and product idea. The vitamin-enriched toothpaste kills two birds with one stone: It is five times more efficient to absorb your vitamins through your gums so as you brush, you are getting your daily vitamin intake.. The toothpaste tube has two storage areas and caps at either end so you can use AM brand Vita-Smile in the, well, AM, and the PM, yes then. AM has a citrus flavor and includes vitamins B-2 B-6 and B-12 to get you going in the morning. PM is a chamomile flavor, and melatonin and increased sodium fluoride calm you before bed. This clever team also proposed Memory, Immunity, and Multivitamin toothpastes for Adults and kids. (buyvitasmile.com/) Product 4 is The Faster Filter, a French press water filter in a Nalgene size bottle. I immediately thought of its use in 3rd world countries, or for us here in the EQuad for fountain water. The press filter allows the convenience of filtering in only 3 seconds. Recommendations included also offering a camping filter that eliminates parasites, bacteria and water-born diseases, designing a sexier bottle and showing lots of clean water in the ads. Product 5 is the ExerSlide, a sheet of heavy plastic that rolls out of its handy carrying case to lengths up to ten feet. One can skate left and right on it or exercise in a variety of ways demonstrated in the accompanying pamphlet . Microridges on the sliding surface prevent slippage while cushions left and right prevent over-sliding. Check out the product at www.exerslide.com.
January 19, 2009