By Ines Aviles-Spadoni, M.S., M.A., Research/Communications Coordinator, UFTI
Bryce Grame and Gustavo Zschaber, both University of Florida civil engineering graduate students specializing in transportation engineering, won first place during the 3-Minute Student Pitch Competition held as part of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) International Meeting in Orlando, Florida, Aug. 10 – 13.
This year, the ITE conference incorporated a Shark-Tank-like competition into its program, challenging students to develop persuasive pitches for innovative solutions to transportation challenges. Students had three minutes to present their ideas in front of a panel of judges, who questioned them on scalability, user adoption, and integration into the overall transportation system.
Grame and Zschaber’s ClearRoute idea, a next-generation safe bicycle route planning tool to keep bicyclists safe while on the road, took first place among the many other impressive concepts pitched to the judges, such as an approach to greener commuting, a multilingual, voice-assisted transportation hub for major events, and a dashcam monitoring and behavior detection system to improve teen driver safety.
This is not the first time Grame and Zschaber have competed in a shark-tank-like event. While working on their master’s degree, both graduate students competed multiple times in the Florida-Puerto Rico ITE District version of the event, something that they are proud of since it originated in their district. Grame reflects on his experience.
“I was very encouraged to see something that was born in our district have an opportunity to gain momentum at the International level,” Grame said. “Seeing something that so directly targets students’ development of the soft skillset that many employers prioritize alongside technical competency is especially encouraging.”
The competition was intense, with a lot of students presenting some very creative and innovative ideas. Grame said the experience he, Zschaber, and fellow graduate student Gustavo Favero gained through the many FLPRITE District’s Shark Tank competitions certainly contributed to the competitive edge during the 3-Minute Pitch Competition.
Summarizing an idea in three minutes that could potentially be implemented while preserving the technical details is challenging, and for Zschaber, that is something that pushed him out of the research mindset.
“The toughest part was definitely putting everything together in such a short time,” he said. “Coming up with an idea that has real technical impact, could actually be implemented, and then boiling it down into a 3-minute pitch was a challenge. You have to explain what it is, why it matters, who your potential users are, and even how it could be monetized, all in a way that anyone can follow. That balance between being clear, concise, and still showing the depth of the idea was the hardest part.”
Participating in the 3-Minute Student Pitch Competition reminded Zschaber of one of his favorite shows – Shark Tank. It also got him thinking about creating his own start-up company focusing on transportation technologies.
“I’ve always been a huge fan of the Shark Tank show where people pitch their ideas, and this felt like my own version of that,” he said. “It gave me the confidence that one day I could take a project in the transportation field, invest in it, and actually succeed—not just as a researcher, but also as an entrepreneur and someone helping to shape the future of transportation.”