The winners are as follows:

1st Place: 3Twenty Solutions
Team Members: Bryan McCrea, Evan Willoughby, Channing McCorrriston, Matt Harker
3twenty Solutions is reusing old shipping containers to provide mine site accommodations and affordable homes. Through a well-designed manufacturing process, the containers will be converted into living spaces that will then be shipped to their location using existing infrastructure.

2nd Place: Eneray Sustainable Structures
Team Members: John Coode, Delaney Bonish and Andrew Chau
Energy Sustainable Structures is a precast infrastructure manufacturing business that uses innovative technologies for manufacturing, focusing on short-span bridges, architectural and thermally-efficient commercial building wall panels, and residential efficient structures.

3rd Place: uProduce Music Technologies
Team Member: Kurt Dahl
uProduce Music Technologies will allow music fans to choose from alternate versions of various parts of songs, pre-recorded by their favourite artists. The end result: personalized and paid-for music.

The top 3 teams were chosen from a group of 11 teams. First place receives $30,000 plus website development from ZU.com; second place receives $20,000 and third place receives $10,000. The top three teams will also receive accounting and legal services from Deloitte, MLT and McDougall Gauley Law Firms. Those finalists not in the top three will receive a cash prize of $3,125.

The 11 finalists presented their ideas on May 9th, 2009 to a panel of judges: Amit Gupta, president & CEO, Solido Design; David Waslen, vice president business development, Prairie Merchant Bank; Earl Eidem vice president, DynaVenture; Gordon Haddock, president, TREK 2000; John Chomyn, vice president, Stoneset Equities; Randall Morris, president, Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies and Ron Gerbrandt, executive director, Engineering Standards, Infrastructure & Highways.

“The i3 Idea Challenge focused on and encouraged students to go through the process rather than on starting a business. However, a bonus for Saskatoon is that we now have new businesses forming; all winning teams are in the process of development or already have sales,” says Sanj Singh, director of the W. Brett Wilson Centre.

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For more information, contact:

Melissa Strom, Associate
W. Brett Wilson Centre for Entrepreneurial Excellence
Edwards School of Business
University of Saskatchewan
Tel: (306) 966-4855
Email: strom@edwards.usask.ca