Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

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October 06, 2019 | Tom Ballard

Erica Grant competing in SEC “Student Pitch Competition” that started yesterday at Auburn

Erica Grant, Founder of Quantum Lock LLC, is representing the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) in the fourth annual Southeastern Conference “Student Pitch Competition.”

The two-day event began yesterday at Auburn University. The competition provides teams of SEC students at the undergraduate or graduate level a platform to showcase their ideas for ground-breaking products and services to a panel of judges – including SEC alumni – who work primarily in the business sector. The competition offers what many consider to be an invaluable experience to burgeoning entrepreneurs.

We spotlighted Grant, a doctoral student in the Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education at UTK, in this teknovation.biz article in February. Her technology utilizes a quantum property found in light to dramatically increase the security of smart locks. It does so by creating unique keys that cannot be traced.

Most recently, Grant captured first place and the $25,000 top prize in the “Student Edition Live Pitch” held as part of Launch Tennessee’s “36|86 Entrepreneurship Festival”  in late August.



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