PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Some Bradley University students are turning their big ideas into real businesses.
The college’s Turner School of Entrepreneurship and Innovation shared 25 student business projects. All of them made it to the trade show round of the 2023 ‘Big Idea Competition.’
For junior Brandon Johnson, it’s an important chance to showcase his idea of the ‘first of its kind’ active shooter response system.
“We would compare it much like how a fire alarm works; people have to hit the button as soon as they realize there’s an emergency,” Johnson said. “Our system leaps into action using gun detection AI (technology) to visually detect a gun. Then it would move to deploy a non-lethal, such as OC (pepper) spray, like you see over here on our prototype, to subdue the active assailant.”
Johnson said he and his team’s Shothawk business is an unfortunate necessity in today’s gun-violent world.
Lorien Nergard, a game design major believes entrepreneurship is all about developing your ideas into something you can be proud of.
“We have a game called ‘FowlPlay,’ where you play as a rooster called ‘Cluck Norris’ on his adventure to save his hens,” Nergard says. “You’ll face off against various bosses and ridiculous battles, such as the rat king and house cats and whatnot.”
She is planning to release her game on Steam (an online gaming platform), with mobile to follow in the future.
Nergard calls her female gamer classmates brilliant and loves working with them.
While she knows being female in this industry will be a challenge, the Bradley freshman wants to make an impact.
