Student Innovators

The following are among the many student-run businesses that have taken launch with the aid of the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute (YEI):

Applied Resonance Research

Harnessing Behavioral Science To Promote Good Causes

Both of Emily Yudofsky’s parents are psychiatrists, so her interest in behavioral science is no surprise. The Yale College junior started a neuromarketing company, Applied Resonance Research, and plans to specialize in research that involves public service advertising and non-profit organization’s ad campaigns. In high school, Yudofsky participated in research of personality disorders while a study of neuroimaging and branding was under way. Regions of the brain were activated when consumers were exposed to Coke images but dormant for Pepsi images. Now she wants to use that kind of knowledge to help create smoking-cessation or anti-drunk driving campaigns that make a difference. She launched her firm through the YEI Summer Fellowship Program.

Glaumetrix

Monitoring Glaucoma Via an Eye Implant

The standard monitoring of people suffering from glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness, relies on outdated devices that provide only a momentary snapshot of the patient’s condition. Paul Di Capua, a  joint degree student at the Schools of Medicine and Management, along with Dr. Vicente Diaz ’05 M.B.A. and Dr. Amir Cohen are working with the YEI to obtain a patent for a monitor that would be painlessly implanted in the eye to measure intra-ocular pressure, a key metric for devising more effective, individually-tailored therapies. The Yale student-startup expects to have a prototype device by the end of the year.

jetEye Technologies

Reducing Bad Vibrations in Turbines

Yulee Newsome, a Yale School of Management student who previously was a nuclear engineer on a Navy submarine, founded a company that expects to market its technology to the military and commercial aviation. It’s a system to monitor turbine vibration, meant to increase turbine efficiency and reduce maintenance costs.

WakeSmart

Ringing In The New Day With More Energy

Arun Gupta first thought of inventing a way to wake up at just the right time while attending high school, when he was alert some days and groggy on others. He learned that those who wake during REM sleep were more likely to start the day feeling energetic. The Yale College student and a partner from Boston College developed a wristband that monitors hand movements during sleep and relays the information via Bluetooth to a cell phone alarm. The alarm will sound during the optimal REM-sleep time in a 20-minute window. The business plan and prototype were developed during YEI’s Summer Fellowship Program.

Paper G

Taking Cyberspace Advertising to the Next Level

A group of Yale and Harvard students founded a company called PaperG as a sort of virtual bulletin board for local online advertisements. Businesses can place their poster-sized flyers on PaperG’s Flyerboard, which converts them into interactive ads with features including email-sharing, social networking and online maps. The company, led by Victor Cheng’08), Ka Mo Lau ’08 and Victor Wong ’10 moved into the YEI’s Incubator Space last year and raised venture capital.

YouRenew

Turning Electronic Recyclables Into Cash

Rich Littlehale and Bob Casey had a bunch of old electronics and no easy way to recycle them. While the devices were no longer of any use to them, they thought the items could still be worth money. So the two Yale College juniors hit on the idea of a website to enable people to get paid quickly to recycle their electronic stuff. Their aim was to avoid the usual hassles associated with selling used items online, such as opening an account and providing credit card information. On YouRenew.com, consumers search for their kind of device, answer a few questions about its condition and receive an offer price. If they accept, customers complete the transaction through a quick checkout process and get a free shipping label for sending the device. Users can be paid by check or PayPal or donate proceeds to a non-profit organization.YouRenew.com is a service of TwigTek LLC, based in New Haven, with offices in the YEI Incubator.

Campus Kings

Putting Your Foot Where Your School Spirit Is

Tim Kau ’09 and Christopher Chau ’10 were in a Hong Kong market filled with American goods during the summer of 2008 and thought a Yale-branded shoe would surely sell well. The idea has taken hold, and the two students are negotiating a licensing agreement with Yale staff and a Chinese shoe manufacturer to make a canvas walking shoe and a more high-tech style basketball shoe. Besides the Yale logo, the shoes are expected to feature an image of Harkness Hall embossed between the clear insole and outsole. The partners — who include marketing director Henry Finkelstein ‘09 and chief executive officer Stephen Cammock ’09 — are taking the idea to the licensing offices of other Ivy League institutions such as Harvard.When they visit China again in a few years, Kau and Chau hope to see the Campus King Yale brand on the feet of passers-by.