Winners Announced for Trinity University 2017 Stumberg Competition

By Taylor Moser

Adhesive clothes pocket and innovative hammock are among the winners of this year’s Stumberg Competition, held on March 27.

Five out of the 15 competing teams, including six international teams and nine Trinity teams, won the prize of $5,000 apiece. They also became the finalists to compete for the grand prize of $25,000 in the fall.

Pok-It was one of the five teams that ecstatically accepted their $5,000 prize. The three-man team consists of sophomore Evan Murphy, senior Diego Trevino, and sophomore Zekai Pan. They all are pursuing majors in Finance and Marketing.

Pok-It is an adhesive accessory company, which they have been developing for several months. Their goal is to make boring clothes more fun by adding a uniquely designed adhesive pocket. Users simply “strip the plastic off the adhesive, position it, press it, and Voila! Pok-It!”, says their company slogan.

“It’s an honor for our company to be recognized in this competition,” said Murphy, who was very proud of his team.

Two of the winners, Sarah Fordin, a sophomore majoring in computer science, and Jamie Procter, a sophomore business major, have spent countless hours perfecting their innovative hammocks called RADD. According to their pitch, their hammocks are better than other competitors because they are easy to set up, transport, and adjust. Not only do they have a pending a patent for the hammock, but also the easily adjustable and user-friendly straps.

Trinity University’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship hosted the Louis H. Stumberg Competition for the third consecutive year. The center, established in 2010, has helped launch approximately a dozen student-run start-ups.

Dr. Luis Martinez, who directs the center, said he could not be prouder of his students.

The annual Stumberg Competition is one of the avenues that Trinity provides help to students to get their companies off the ground and encourage entrepreneurship among students. Before students participate in the competition, they must fill out an application and get accepted into the competition. Then, they get to pitch their ideas to an elite panel of judges, which includes successful entrepreneurs.

Students who did not win were given feedback from the panel of judges, and are encouraged to continue developing their products.