Computer engineers dominate statewide competition
August 14, 2013
STARKVILLE, Miss.— Mississippi State University computer engineering teams captured first and second place at the 2013 Mississippi New Venture Challenge in Jackson.
John Gazzini and Read Sprabery, founders Nimbus Mobile, won first place while Matthew Hoelter, founder of Sensei Mobile, earned second place in the New Venture competition. All three graduated this spring in computer engineering.
Both teams competed in the student category of the competition that focuses on pioneering business plans. The two MSU teams developed mobile applications.
The winning app from Nimbus Mobile is called “FeatherServe.” It is designed to help pool service companies manage and operate their businesses efficiently and effectively.
Sensei Mobile competed with a service called “Chat Katana.” This application provides an anonymous one-on-one messaging service through mobile devices in the user’s area.
Earlier in the year, the teams competed competitions during Entrepreneurship and Innovation Week. Gazzini and Sprabery won the Mark Dumas Engineering Competition and the Tellus Operating Group Final Business Plan Competition. Hoelter won MSU Mobile App Competition.
Sensei Mobile’s founder said having an engineering background is useful to entrepreneurs because it stresses problem-solving and unconventional thinking.
“It’s about learning to think a specific way—to problem solve and think logically—something that is extremely valuable in business,” Hoelter said.
Nimbus Mobile also credits engineering education for the success of the company. Co-founder Sprabery said he and Gazzini met as juniors in an intermediate circuits lab and learned they were both interested in business startups.
Gazzini already developed an application called “Pool Doctor,” which calculated the chemical levels in pools. This app served as a stepping stone for the award winning “FeatherServe,” which was developed with input from users.
Available as a $10 download, the app has been tested by pool service professionals. “FeatherService” guides users to costumers’ homes and does readings and chemical counts. It also logs employees’ work and schedules so managers can check the location, date and time of service calls.
Sensei Mobile’s “Chat Katana” was developed by Hoelter, who not only created the app, but manages the company as its sole proprietor.
“I oversee pretty much everything that goes on within the company to at least some extent, from looking after the day to day operations to overseeing the design and implementation of software, all the way to finding and negotiating contracts,” Hoelter said.
For more information about Nimbus Mobile and “FeatherServe”, visit www.featherserve.com.
By: Mary Kate McGowan