A&T Students Compete in U.S Department of Energy’s EnergyTech University Prize

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (May 20, 2024) – Two teams from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University were chosen to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) EnergyTech University Prize 2024 Student Track.

The Aggies were among 225 teams representing 117 schools in this year’s event, which challenges collegiate teams to craft actionable strategies for capitalizing on high-potential energy technologies. Participants gain access to the OTT energy I-Corp curriculum and receive mentorship from industry luminaries to refine their proposals.

The two A&T teams were made up of Jordan Gill-Burnette, Servonna Carroll, Aniyah Catoe, Yentell James, Arielle Primus, Nhojony Torres and Honors College students Jacquoia Hunter and Chandler James of the Willie A. Deese College of Business and Economics, Henry Brown of the College of Engineering and Sloane Miller of the College of Science and Technology, who demonstrated their impressive skills and dedication on a national stage.

The competition unfolds in three stages – explore, refine, and pitch – with more than $400,000 in cash prizes up for grabs. Engagement in this prestigious prize has the potential to shape students’ future career paths, spanning roles in engineering, policymaking, entrepreneurship, market analysis, and project development.

OTT is one of the largest supporters of technology commercialization in the federal government. Founded in 2015, it bolsters the technology industry's market skills and enables clean energy technologies to progress through research, development, demonstration, and to deployment into the private sector to meet the nation’s climate goals.  

A&T’s EnergyTech University Prize 2024 Student Track competitors are also students in the university’s Future Executives Competition Team, a program that trains students of all majors on how to apply the theory they are learning in class. Teams travel to and participate in competitions across the country on interdisciplinary teams.

Under the direction of management lecturer Antwon Foreman, the team has consistently excelled in the Cornell Real Estate Competition, which is similar to the EnergyTech University Prize 2024 Student Track, reaching the finals each year and securing victory twice in the past three years. In the Cornell competition, students must examine the economic development strategy of an area and plot of land to determine what business or industry should be placed there to benefit all stakeholders.

Three years ago, the cash prize was awarded to the Cornell Real Estate Competition winning team of 2024 graduates Hunter and Yentell James, along with Mikayla McDaniel ‘22, who is employed at Bank of America.

Hunter and rising seniors Chandler James and Malloy Shamwell won the Cornell Real Estate Competition again this year, receiving a cash prize of $5,000.