Ben Engel, a local programmer and vice president of the newly formed Southern Utah Makerspace (SUM) working with his son, Ben Engel, a programmer based in northern Utah, won second place at the inaugural Startup Weekend sponsored by Outlier Labs in St. George on Saturday, April 25, 2015. The project, Dollo 3D, will be a resource for people with a product idea and it has the ability to take an idea and bring it to production in a matter of days using local manufacturers.
The Engels, along with 94 other would-be entrepreneurs, spent 59 hours beginning Thursday evening, pitching 32 ideas, forming 12 teams, developing, and presenting a new product or idea culminating with the awarding of three prizes.
- 1st Place – SafePlace
- 2nd Place – Dollo 3D
- 3rd Place – TwistMath
- Honorable Mention – Paige Avenue
The winning groups will receive in-kind support from tech firms, financiers and marketers. Outlier Labs was the organizer and brought the event to Southern Utah.
The Southern Utah Makerspace was established in January 2015 and now has 40 members who meet every Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. at Cottontown Village, 28 N. 300 West in Washington City. Ben talked about his experience at Outlier Labs’ Startup Weekend at the April 29, 2015, meeting.
SUM is a community-based workspace where people with common interests, often in computers, machining, technology, science, digital art or electronic art, can meet, socialize and collaborate. It is looking for a permanent home to expand its activities and machinery. All are welcome and more information is available by email, on Facebook or by contacting SUM President Gary Engelman at 435-619-3033.
Photo: Ben Engel and Ben Engel working on Dollo 3D at the Start Up Weekend.
Photo by Dorothy Engelman