Student startup advances in business plan competition

aquapel2

A team with two University of Washington Bothell students has advanced to the Sweet Sixteen round of the University of Washington Business Plan Competition.

Adam Zhu, right, and Bruno Ouattara and four students from the Seattle campus are the brains behind Aquapel. It’s a self-cleaning system for solar panels. The technology manipulates water droplets on a panel’s surface to carry off dirt, minimizing water usage and labor costs. The prototype was built at UW Bothell.

This is the 19th annual Business Plan Competition at the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship at the Foster School of Business. Ninety-three teams applied and 36 made it to the investment round.

The Sweet Sixteen teams will make their pitch to judges on May 16 when winners will be chosen. A total of $85,000 will be awarded in various categories including retail innovation, best health care idea and Internet of Things.

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