The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and the Association of American Universities co-organized an annual University Innovation & Entrepreneurship Showcase to highlight the role of federally-funded university research in fueling entrepreneurship, innovation and economic opportunity nationwide. Washington State University students were featured in this showcase through their work forming Eco Carbon Technology (ECT) Inc startup. Through the Showcase, the ECT team and WSU were recognized nationally for their exemplary work at the intersection of science, technology, and business.
The ECT startup is a unique, multidisciplinary team of students working together to solve the problem of bee death and colony collapse. This startup was created after the development of the Beetoxx technology in 2017. The invention team for Beetoxx consists of two Washington State University researchers, Brandon Hopkins, Entomology Professor and Waled Suliman, Postdoctoral Research Associate for Biological Systems Engineering. They developed a food supplement that helps bee colonies survive the toxic effects of pesticides by using a carbon micro-particle beekeepers can add to meals that removes pesticide residue from the bees’ digestive system. The entire ECT effort is comprised of two teams working in parallel. The research team worked on generating more data about the effectiveness of the Beetoxx technology under different conditions. Within the research team, they have one graduate student who works closely with the inventors; his name is Saffet Sansar, Master of Science Student at Entomology department. The Commercialization team worked on planning and strategizing towards marketing the technology and now consists of Rachelle Muzones (2018 Bioengineering Graduate), Jason Williams (Entrepreneurship, Business Management expected graduation 2019), and Tru Petrilli (2018 Entrepreneurship Graduate); all of whom had a background in business and entrepreneurship enabling both the research and commercialization team to co-found their startup; Eco Carbon Technology Inc.
Jason Williams (right) and Tru Petrilli (left) represented ECT and WSU at the University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Showcase on April 9th, 2019.