Rachel Farner, Muhammed Thabet, Drew Brunson, Wayman Wittman, Artur Maryamov, Daniel Vargas, Michael Philichi, (all Business), Brian Garrido (Management, Entrepreneurship, and Technology), and Albert Antero (Computer Science) were honored at the recent 2017 Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup Collegiate Business Plan Competition.

MBA students Farner, Thabet, and Brunson were named first-place winners in the graduate division. Their winning plan was based on their organization, RAD, which is a new technology to manage knee pain and replacements. Fellow MBA students Wittman, Maryamov, Vargas, and Philichi placed second for their idea called Window Magic, a new use for OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology that will alter the view from hotel guest room windows.

In the undergraduate division, Brian Garrido (Management, Entrepreneurship, and Technology) and Albert Antero (Computer Science), both of whom are pursuing minors in UNLV Global Entrepreneurship Experience (GEE), garnered second place. They envision their company, GameTrainer, as an esports website where users learn how to improve at video games, and get trained and coached by top-ranking players.

Starting with a field of more than three dozen teams, UNLV had eight teams make the semi-finals before taking three of the seven awards at the finals — for a grand total of $55,000 in cash and prizes to be used to bring the ideas to market. The graduate teams were advised by Leith Martin, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, and the undergraduate team was advised by GEE coordinator Janet Runge.

All three teams move on to the Donald W. Reynolds Tri-State Competition to compete against teams from Nevada, Arkansas, and Oklahoma on May 31.