Two Berry College students who created software that prints 3D prosthetic hands recently won a pitch contest and are headed to an entrepreneurs conference.
Seniors Josh Cutter and Chris Whitmire are creators of Ambedo, a software platform that prints customized plastic hands for people who have lost a hand or were born without one. The entrepreneurs won first place and $2,000 at the Southeast Entrepreneurship Conference Venture Pitch Competition March 4 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Whitmire and Cutter have been working on the program for quite some time. There is already a Marietta, Ga., boy who is wearing a hand thanks to their work.
As first place winners, they head to a major entrepreneurship conference in Nashville. The conference is the Southeast’s premier technology conference for entrepreneurs, investors and thought leaders from across the country. The event showcases the top early- and growth-stage startups that are driving innovation in traditional industries and positioning the region to lead the country’s next wave of entrepreneurship.
Whitmire, a physics major and creative technologies minor and Cutter, a business major and creative technologies minor, are in Professor Paula Englis’ advanced entrepreneurship class. Atlanta entrepreneur Jeff Jahn, who is a Berry alum and advisor to the Berry entrepreneurship program, recently gave $5,000 to start the "Ninja Fund" which allows Englis to offer more opportunities like the Chattanooga conference trip.
