Thrive Smart Systems competed in the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge against twenty other teams and took home the first-place title and grand prize award of $40,000. The team presented their model for wireless communication between an irrigation controller and remote-control valves in the field.

Utah Entrepreneur Challenge is a statewide business model competition open to all university students in the state of Utah and is managed by the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute and sponsored by Zions Bank. This year’s competition was hosted at the University of Utah. Students presented their business ideas that solve realworld problems. Multiple prizes were awarded to various teams in such areas as best video, best design, best presentation, and most innovative technology. Thrive Smart Systems was honored to take home the first-place grand prize.

“The competition was fierce with many other teams presenting unique problem-solving products, so we were pleased to be recognized for our efforts,” stated Skyler Rowley, co-founder of Thrive Smart Systems. Mr. Rowley is presently studying manufacturing engineering at BYU and is in his final year of classes.

Other members of the Thrive Smart Systems team include Seth Bangerter (mechanical engineering, BYU), Bryan Brittain (entrepreneurial management), Aislynn Edwards (industrial and product design, BYU), and Grant Rowberry (computer engineering). Click here to read Lassonde Entrepreneur’s coverage of the event.