N. Charleston man’s Storm Stud system the winner of New Ideas SC contest

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The Storm Stud, a patent-pending system created by Henry Muhler Hay, allows a homeowner to easily secure protection for doors and windows during a hurricane. Hay’s idea netted him $5,000, entrepreneurial training and access to a team of mentors for one year.

Staff Report
Published Nov. 5, 2009

Four Lowcountry innovators took home awards in the New Ideas SC contest, including the grand prize.

The Storm Stud system, created by Henry Muhler Hay of North Charleston, allows a homeowner to easily secure protection for doors and windows during a hurricane. Hay’s idea took the top prize in the contest.

Hay’s idea was selected from a pool of more than 300 submissions statewide. Winners were announced during the Small Business Innovation Summit & Expo held Wednesday at Trident Technical College in North Charleston.

Hay will receive $5,000 in seed money for his business idea, a scholarship to a FastTrac entrepreneurial training program and a team of mentors to help him cultivate his idea for one year.

Five first-place prizes were awarded in the categories of engineering, information technology, bioscience, environmental sustainability and wildcard. Each winner will receive $2,500 and a scholarship to a FastTrac program. There were also five $1,000 honorable mention prizes in each category.

Winners in each category were:

Bio-science

• Winner: Richard Wenger of Greenville, for a device that would monitor your “verticality.” It would detect abrupt changes in velocity and notify a caregiver by text message. A panic button can also be added to the device.
• Honorable mention: Ron Norris of Irmo, for Sock-ON, a device used to assist patients experiencing swelling of the arms or legs who have difficulty putting on compression garments.

Software/information technology

• Winner: Joe Dozier of Conway, for a search engine called What is THIS? Users can upload a photo and then this Web site searches for the same or similar images. It can be used to help quickly identify plants, animals and objects.
• Honorable mention: Barbara Iaquinto of Columbia, for a Web site for advanced social networking with a focus on the real-world pursuit of hobbies, lifestyle, entertainment, arts and culture.

Engineering

• Winner: Henry Muhler Hay of North Charleston, for Storm Stud, a patent-pending integral attachment system for windows and exterior doors. It begins with the addition of the studs to the frame during construction of a window or door.  Once it is in place, the homeowner has a secure place to support whatever type of protection is desired.
• Honorable mention: Andrew Streit of Lexington, for UnderMate, a device to help contractors move themselves and their materials without having to crawl or drag items.

Environmental sustainability

• Winner: Pearce Gilbert of Charleston, for a household grinder that convert glass containers into sand for use in yards or easy transportation to recycling centers.
• Honorable mention: Rusty Ashby of North Charleston, for a machine that compacts yard waste and other biomass products into fire logs.

Wildcard

• Winner: Brian Bowers of Charleston, for KEB-Lock, which stands for Keyless Entry Bike Lock. The KEB-Lock is an automatic point-and-press lock/unlock mechanism for bikes.
• Honorable mention: Peter Hoffman of Greenville, for rice-based liquor flavored with palmetto berries. The product is packaged in pineapple-shaped bottles made of indigo-colored glass and protected by a basket of woven palmetto leaves.

This was the fifth annual New Ideas SC contest. The contest is sponsored by such organizations as SC Launch, New Carolina: South Carolina’s Council on Competitiveness, FastTracSC, OrangeCoat, the S.C. Research Authority and ThinkTEC.