UMass Boston Biomimicry Student Deckard Sorensen Wins Venture Competition

Deckard Sorensen, who took an idea hatched in a biomimicry class Assistant Professor of Environmental, Earth and Ocean Sciences Anamarija Frankic taught through UMass Boston last summer and turned it into the company Namib Beetle Design, won the $10,000 top prize at the 2012 Boston College Venture Competition (BCVC) along with his partner, Miguel Galvez. Namib Beetle Design is a startup company dedicated to finding a way to collect water sustainably that gets its name from the Namib Desert beetle.

As their advisor and Center for Governance and Sustainability project director, Frankic believes, "the key for success was the teamwork in doing biomimicry and applying nature’s solutions."

Two UMass Boston seniors, Michael Emery and Kevin Schoenthaler, came in second place in the competition with their company, Green Lightning Surfboards. Designed to provide the “eco-friendliest wave-riding experience,” the company creates custom surfboards made from recycled, organic, and bio-derived materials. Emery and Schoenthaler, who also took Frankic's biomimicry class, earned $3,000 for their efforts.

See more information on the competition. 

Learn more about the biomimicry course at UMass Boston.