Music copying device charms echallenge judges

University of Adelaide Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic) Professor Fred McDougall with first prizewinners Pyglet Enterprises: (l to r) Ashby Martin, Andrew Schwartz, Richard Arnold and Mark Hosking.
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Monday, 5 November 2007

A device enabling music to be copied to a MP3 player without a computer is the bright idea which won Pyglet Enterprises the top award at this year's University of Adelaide's $50,000 echallenge.

Pyglet Enterprises is a team of four University of Adelaide students Richard Arnold (Law and Commerce), Ashby Martin (Mechanical Engineering and Mathematical and Computer Sciences), Mark Hosking (Law and Commerce) and Andrew Schwartz (Master of Commerce). Together they took out the $10,000 first prize plus the People's Award, voted for on the night.

The 'Pyglet' is a device which can copy music from a compact disc to a MP3 player without needing a computer. A user simply connects their MP3 to the Pyglet, inserts a CD, and presses a single button to copy the CD onto the player for immediate playback.

The echallenge is organised by the University's Entrepreneurship Commercialisation and Innovation Centre (ECIC) and each team must have at least one student member from any tertiary institution in South Australia.

Teams develop a business plan for a new, previously unfunded business concept. Semi-finalists are paired with an experienced mentor from the business community.

Team member Mark Hosking said: "As stressful as it can be having your ideas taken apart by legal and business experts, it's just not possible to get the kind of valuable feedback provided by the echallenge anywhere else."

"Each year the echallenge captures the energy of young, bright entrepreneurial enthusiasm and channels it into investment-ready early stage companies," said ECIC Director Professor Noel Lindsay. "It offers competitors unprecedented access to top South Australian business acumen. Past finalists have gone on to develop successful and thriving businesses."

Second prize went to Giftlists Online which aims to use existing retailers to allow customers to compile a gift registry online. They also won The Advertiser's Market Ready Award of $10,000 in advertising space and $2000 in cash. Third prize went to Upiggyback with their system for reducing shipping and handling costs for online consumers. Upiggyback also won the Office of Industry Liaison Award.

Pyglet Enterprises also won the Piper Alderman Prize of $5000 worth of legal consultation and the Vroom and Associates Prize for Most Promising Technology of $5000 worth of commercialisation consulting.

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