South Dakota Mines Secures Record Funding After Sweeping Giant Vision Business Plan Competition

South Dakota Mines faculty and students scored a groundbreaking win at the recent Governor’s Giant Vision Business Plan Competition, sweeping first and second place in the open division and fourth place in the student category — earning a record-breaking $32,000 in funding for the university’s entrepreneurs and startups.

The annual competition is highly competitive and the biggest of its type in the state. The purpose is to ignite the entrepreneurial spirit in South Dakotans and offer an opportunity to compete for start-up funds with the goal of creating new jobs and growing the state’s economy.  

For more than a decade, Mines students, alumni and faculty have received top honors at the competition.

Dr. Tugba Ozdemir, Mines assistant professor of nanoscience and biomedical engineering, received first place and $20,000 for InovaSkin, an innovative skin serum product featuring a patent-pending hyaluronic acid binding peptide that attracts and binds the body’s natural hyaluronic acid within the skin. Ozdemir’s strategic “focus to finish” approach has generated significant buzz, with medical spas expressing keen interest and investors providing commitments for future investments, demonstrating their confidence in InovaSkin’s success.

Mines students Zack Holloway and Carson Daly of Airborne Dynamic Systems earned second place and $10,000 for their Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology, featuring cutting-edge software, setup and camera systems. The company, already serving the power industry and engaging with the Department of Defense, demonstrated its market readiness by making a sale at the competition.

“Winning this is a huge step for us,” Holloway said. “It allows us to further develop our drone technology, refine our manufacturing process and continue expanding our market presence.”

Holloway and Daly are now focused on scaling up production, getting test aircraft to customers, strengthening industry partnerships and continuing research and development to enhance UAV capabilities.

“Mines has played a crucial role in our entrepreneurial journey,” Holloway said. “The hands-on engineering education, support from faculty and opportunities like CAMP and Innovation Cycle have helped us develop technical and business skills needed to turn an idea into a company. We’re excited about what’s ahead and appreciate the continued support from the Mines community.”

Mines student Arik Ahmed won fourth place and $2,000 in the student division with OptiSig, an optical filter for cameras and mobile devices that authenticates images through light-matter interactions, creating a hidden signature to prove authenticity and deter tampering through cryptographic verification for biometric photo logins via an app.

“The success of Mines students and faculty is a testament to the effectiveness of the university’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) program,” said Beth Lambeth, Mines associate vice president (AVP) for research, innovation and entrepreneurship.

The teams benefited from invaluable mentorship from Merle Symes, Jim Quinn, Shon Anderson and Jason Lambert. Joseph Wright, former associate vice president of economic development at Mines, also contributed significantly through pitch practice sessions.

“The record $32,000 in prize funding and top placements at Giant Vision this year highlights both the exceptional entrepreneurial talent of South Dakota Mines' business owners and the effective mentorship resources provided to its startup companies,” Lambeth said. “I am immensely proud of these South Dakota Mines startup companies. My deepest gratitude goes to Joseph Wright and our Entrepreneur-in-Residences (EIRs) for their invaluable strategic business planning insights, which will undoubtedly fuel their long-term success.”

Ozdemir echoed Lambeth’s sentiments, attributing her success to the EIRs, Symes, InovaSkin’s chief business advisor, her university colleagues Drs. Roman Shchepin and Tsvetanka Filipova, alongside with Ann Brentlinger and Lambeth — all of whom encouraged her to invest time in developing and marketing her idea, while providing the resources and mentorship to bring it to life. During this process, Ozdemir enrolled in the Wharton School of Business Chief Technology Officer Executive Education program, thanks to a grant funded by the South Dakota Drug, Disease and Delivery (3D) Center.

“As a faculty member at South Dakota Mines, I am blessed with an innovation ecosystem here. The biomedical engineering department leadership gives high value to entrepreneurial activities as part of tenure criteria, which made me devote my time to commercializing my research findings into potential products,” she said. “With such an innovation ecosystem here at Mines, InovaSkin’s success is not a surprise. I look forward to working with our interns this summer to release our first 1,000 serum products to local medical spa salons as part of InovaSkin’s beta launch.”

South Dakota Mines extends its sincere gratitude to the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry for its dedication to fostering South Dakota small businesses and for the exceptional organization of the Governor’s Giant Vision competition.