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My name is Kyle Ilenda. I'm studying mechanical engineering here at UWM. I'm also a freelance
videographer, which has led me to merge both engineering and video production into a startup
that creates video camera accessories.
I knew that my strengths were in video and I enjoyed doing and I just thought of it as
a really good hobby.
A few semesters ago I asked my academic advisor if there was any way to integrate entrepreneurship
or small business into an engineering degree.
This was at the same time that the Student Startup Challenge was starting.
I was able to, in the second year, formulate my idea to a point where I felt I could submit
and compete and I was fortunate enough to get chosen as a Student Startup Challenge
winner and receive $10-thousand. And now I've been able to take this idea that was just
sketches or parts that I had made in my free time to something that I can now do you more
formally and move at a quicker pace than just tinkering on the weekends.
What I'm most proud of is not the end prototype that we've come up with, but kind of how we
came to it.
For us it's been about learning and this has really enhanced our education because we've
learned things that are really key to engineering and video.
I think the Student Startup Challenge, it says a lot about the school and what they
think of their students, you know. We're about to grow our ideas here and get shown that
we can be innovative and we can be strong members of the business community.