Interdisciplinary team wins Innovation & Leadership Showcase

PÜRE, “the first smart coffee roaster, grinder and brewer for the specialty coffee segment,” as described by the project’s team members MBA students Pierre Marcella and Grahm Ransom, and Sunny Su, senior in industrial design, won first place in the graduate division of The Poole College’s 8th Annual Leadership and Innovation Showcase held April 21 at Nelson Hall.  multidisciplinary team completed the project for the MBA program’s Product Innovation Lab course.

“In-home coffee roasters have been around for years, but the knowledge to operate them has been reserved for true coffee aficionados,” they stated in their summary. “Our product was created for the everyday coffee drinker that wants to up the flavor of their brew while drastically lowering their costs. It’s easy enough for anyone to use. Just take one of our green bean packages, scan it against the PÜRE logo, and select your roast preference. Once you hit the “PÜRE” button, the machine takes care of the rest, giving you the freshest cup or carafe of coffee you’ve ever tasted.

Second place in the graduate division went to a projected completed by MBA students Dana Magliola and Lindsay Schilleman for their supply chain practicum project sponsored by the Materials Handling Industry, a Poole College Supply Chain Resources Cooperative partner organization. For this project, the team “researched, analyzed, and published a compre­hensive report capturing the economic impact of the supply chain in North Carolina,” the team states in its project summary. “The final 115-page report provides insight into each economic sector, including analysis, facts, figures, easy-to-understand graphics, charts, context and important trends for every sector, locally, na­tionally and globally. This report not only provides data, but tells the story behind the numbers with clarity and relevance.” It has also received significant coverage in the industry press.

The projects were evaluated by a team of 52 judges from business, industry and leadership roles at NC State. First Citizens sponsors the Leadership & Innovation Showcase, including scholarship awards for the winning teams.