Mr. Startup
Prince Ghosh represents a new kind of student and a new generation--the startup generation.
Midway through his 4th year at the Case School of Engineering, Prince Ghosh has already packed more into college than some people do in a career. He invented promising wind technology, launched a company, applied for patents and represented his university at prestigious startup competitions. All on the road to a degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering.
Prince is a great example of what some call the “startup generation”—students who come to college expecting to create something really cool, like, soon. They’re drawn to Case for resources like Sears think[box], the IP Venture Clinic and LaunchNet, the campus startup incubator.
“I tell incoming high school seniors that if you come to college and all you do is school, you’re wasting your money,” Ghosh said. “There’s so much more that a collegiate experience has to offer, particularly at a research university like Case.”
His bright idea was to apply plasma technology to wind turbines to make then spin faster. That idea, which he and classmates tested in an obscure campus wind tunnel, led to Boundary Labs and the finals of the 2018 CleanTech University Prize competition.
The New Jersey native has since pivoted toward improving wind turbine gear boxes with big data and sensor technology. He hopes to display his new ideas at CES 2019--January 8-11 in Las Vegas. Ghosh is one of several CWRU students will showcase their work in the University Innovations section of the world’ largest consumer electronics show.
We talked with Prince about what a young innovator can do with university resources, hutzpah, and an Amazon Prime account.
“People often think entrepreneurship is kind of straight line and there’s one right way to do it,” he said. “But that’s probably the furthest thing from the truth. You have to be nimble…willing to adapt…and pivot to what the market really needs.”
