By Karen Vera Sanchez, IOE ‘27, Entrepreneurship Minor, Michigan Engineering Honors
FUEL is the CFE’s program designed to help student startups turn ideas into action. Through a rigorous application and pitching process, students present their ventures to a panel of judges, and selected teams receive funding to bring their ideas to life and take the next steps toward commercialization.
September brought something new: for the first time, we took FUEL pitches off campus to Cahoots, a creative and energetic co-working space that was the perfect setting for big ideas. 14 teams applied, 8 teams advanced to the pitch round, and 4 teams were selected as FUEL awardees. With so many strong ideas in the room, our judges had some tough decisions to make!
Meet the September Awardees
H2OS Vision Lab
Water quality testing historically has been manual and time-intensive. H2OS Vision Lab combines disposable test strips, computer vision, and automated water sampling into a single compact device, making the process simpler and more efficient. Fuel funding will help H2OS Vision Lab obtain certification and develop its next-level prototypes for local pilot testing.
DX Controls
Imagine a cost-effective solution to control an entire swarm of drones with just one operator. DX Controls is developing modular, low-cost drone systems that communicate via mesh networks and share information, enabling one person to coordinate multiple drones simultaneously. Fuel funding will support DX Controls’ beta testing and a full-scale pilot
Sentimo
Sometimes, the smallest messages mean the most. Sentimo connects a mobile app to a thermal printer, allowing users to send notes and drawings worldwide and print directly in someone else’s space, turning digital messages into something tangible. Fuel funding was approved to help Sentimonotes.com fulfill its first large pre-order and run production validation testing.
CoPrint Underwriting
Real estate underwriting can be a slow and data-intensive process. CoPrint simplifies it by allowing users to enter an address and generate customized financial reports with a single click. Its automated engine combines MLS and government data to support everything from investment analysis to lead generation. CoPrint was awarded Fuel funding to validate and grow, enabling a signed agreement with a local real estate brokerage.
Congratulations to all four awardee teams, and thank you to every student who participated and to our volunteer judges for their time and thoughtful feedback.
Thinking About Applying to Fuel?
The strongest pitches keep coming back to the same fundamentals:
- Be passionate about the problem. Show that you’re committed to the long haul.
- Know your customer. Talk to the people you’re building for, early and often.
- Understand the problem. Take time to define it before jumping to a solution.
- Test your solution. Run a successful pilot before scaling or marketing.
Thinking about applying for Fuel? Learn more here.