UT students are flying to America to develop business ideas

The unique business development programme NGAL® (Network Globally, Act Locally) takes place for the fifth time already. This year’s programme starts in Tartu on 2 June, continues in Tallinn and ends in Charleston, USA, on 14 June.

NGAL® is an ambitious, high-impact business development programme. The participants are teams from two Estonian universities (the University of Tartu and Tallinn University of Technology) and three USA universities (College of Charleston, The Citadel, Military College of South Carolina and Nebraska Wesleyan University), two student teams from each university. This year, the University of Tartu will be represented by Timewire and io_developers. Both teams have participated in the Starter programme in Tartu.

The team lo_developers winner of the Kaleidoskoop business ideas competition in 2019, are working on application-controlled optical eyeglasses that enable focus adjustment. They have built their first prototype that was presented at the Kaleidoskoop competition. The team consists of its founder Elchin Aghazada, who is studying innovation and technology management, and Murad Mammadov, a software engineering student at the Institute of Computer Science at the University of Tartu. They say they hope to develop their business model and receive good advice from experts in the NGAL® programme.

The team Timewire develops software that helps users track time spent on computer activities. Team leaders Rimante Valancauskaite and Karl Martin Teras are students at the Institute of Computer Science. They look forward to meeting new and interesting people and creating new contacts.

Last year, the University of Tartu's team ResDec won the 2nd prize along with $2,500 in prize money in the NGAL® programme. ResDec, formerly known as rEstFinder, aims to identify antibiotic resistance more quickly and cost-effectively, and provide case-specific solutions for customers.

To keep up to date with the NGAL® programme, visit the Idea Lab website and follow social media.

The project is supported by Harry and Reba Huge Foundation.

Contact: Andres Vaher, UT Idea Lab Marketing and Communications Specialist, +372 5558 7359, andres.vaher@ut.ee