N2Tec Institute

N2TEC Institute, in partnership with the South Dakota National Science Foundation EPSCoRprogram, held its third annual summer program in Technology Entrepreneurship in Sioux Falls. This year's program matched four companies with graduate students from USD and Northern State University to explore the opportunities for the businesses to take new technologies into the global market. The CEOs of the four companies agreed that this was a tremendous opportunity to secure expertise and assistance that they otherwise might not have.

Companies seeking interns submitted an application in response to an RFP and students interested in paid internship opportunities in these companies submitted applications detailing their expertise, experience, and technology interests. Indepth interviews were conducted to find the very best candidates and match them to the business that best suited their talents. In all, 18 companies and 16 students submitted applications. The vetting process produced four companies to participate. The companies and their respective interns were:

AgSense, Huron SD, Terry Schiltz CEO
Intern: Ohhwan Park, Northern State
AgSense has developed a Web-based remote monitoring and control system for pivot irrigation.

Natural Farrowing System, Marcus, IA/SD, Al Hoefling CEO
Intern: Ann Schiefen, USD
Natural Farrowing offers a standardized alternative to confinement hog product with its flagship product The Nesting Box.

Pacer Corp, Brookings, SD, Scott DeVos CEO
Intern: Claudia Leow, USD
Pacer Corp. is developing new processes for making finer grained mica that can be used in new applications where a powdery texture is required.

PhotoBioMed, Sioux Falls, SD, Ron Utecht, Director Physical Sciences
Intern: Unjung Jung, Northern State
PhotoBioMed are developing innovative products based on their platform tissue bonding technology.

The Interns

Unjung Jung, who came to South Dakota from South Korea, says that although she had previously done research in a variety of areas, the way business people approach it is quite different." I think this internship gave me a chance to taste business a little bit before I get involved in my real career and a chance to have a relationship with good business people."

Ann Schiefen, who grew up on a farm in Iowa, was a perfect match for Natural Farrowing. "The best part was learning Natural Farrowing's system of low odor, low environmental impact, and profitable mthods for raising hogs." Although she is currently working on her MBA at USD, it did not prepare her for designing promotion fliers, updating a company website or manning a booth at the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, but she stepped up and did a remarkable job, according to Bob Hoefler--one of the founders--who came to hear her presentation at the South Dakota Technology Business Center in Sioux Falls on July 21. "Through my internship, I had a glimpse into many aspects of doing business in a niche market with definite plans for global expansion into China. ...I could not have experienced [this] in the classroom."

Claudia Leow comes from Malaysia and was a finance major at USD before she graduated in June. Her unique experience at Pacer Corp. took her out of her expertise and placed her in the lab for the first half of the intership. "I had the chance to participate in designing an experiment...I...learned the importance of organizing a work plan when we are running on a tight schedule." A visit to Pacer's mine in Custer was a highlight and helped Claudia to better understand the workings of the company. Scott DeVos, Pacer's CEO, was impressed by how quickly Claudia took up the challenge of laboratory work. Currently she is also now doing some market research to identify the best markets for Pacer to address with its new technology.

Ohhwan Park hails from Seoul, South Korea, and completed his graduate studies at Northern State in Aberdeen. Ohhwan had a lot of research experience, which helped him enormously at AgSense where he was tasked with looking for new markets globally for AgSense's remote monitoring system for irrigation pivots. Ohhwan described his internship experience as a "chance to have my own company as a consultant to AgSense." The work that he did in identifying the next market for the company was much appreciated by CEO Terry Schiltz who, until Ohhwan came along, was unable to carve out time in the day for studying the markets.

In every case, the pairing of company and intern was a win-win for both. N2TEC Institute hopes to expand this program to bring its benefits to more students and companies in South Dakota. Check back for future announcements about the program.