Kyle Williams earns award at York College Elevator Pitch Competition

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From left: Kyle Williams, Jeff Vermeulen, Anthony Gulino

YORK, PA (11/30/2012)(readMedia)-- York College students with an idea for a new business had three minutes or less to pitch their concepts to judges during the J.D. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship's second Elevator Pitch Competition. The winners – assessed by a panel of successful business men and women on innovativeness, potential commercial impact and effectiveness of presentation – were awarded with cash and an opportunity for workspace in the Center to help bring their businesses to fruition.

Kyle Williams, a sophomore computer information systems major from Broomall, Pa., and collaborator Anthony Gulino, a junior entrepreneurship major from Ridge, N.Y., presented their idea – using cloud-based computing to give real-time data on heavy equipment and fleet vehicle diagnostics – and received third place. Data like lifetime fuel consumption, vehicle idle times and vehicle error codes would be extracted from the vehicle, transmitted to remote servers, and stored until needed. The system would be able to send notifications to smartphones via apps or even standard cell phones via text message, according to the pair.

"Our Elevator Pitch Competition is a key component of our vision to create a campuswide culture of entrepreneurship here at York College," said Jeff Vermeulen, executive director of the J.D. Brown Center. "We'll be working with the winners to bring their ideas to fruition, or with Matthew Caldwell and DCV Webstores to help take his existing business to the next level."

Located in southcentral Pennsylvania, York College offers more than 50 baccalaureate majors in professional programs, the sciences and humanities to its 4,600 undergraduate students. The College also offers master's programs in business, education and nursing, and a doctorate in nursing practice. A center of affordable academic excellence, York is dedicated to the intellectual, professional and social growth of its students. The College helps them develop a concrete plan to attain academic growth and career success; encourages them to try in the "real world" what they learn in the classroom; and prepares them to be professionals in whatever career they pursue.

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