Notre Dame startups heading to CES
NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- The Consumer Electronics Show, better known as CES, begins Monday in Las Vegas.
It’s an annual showcase for more than 4,400 startups and major manufacturers, including some from South Bend, to display the latest developments in consumer technology.
“Consumer Electronics Show is really the show globally if you want to exhibit world class technology,” said Patrick Baglien, vice president of sales and marketing at Frost Control System.
The University of Notre Dame is sending Frost Control System and three other startups to CES.
Over the next week, the companies will display working prototypes of their products and promote each invention’s impact on a global scale.
“I think it’s just overall a great opportunity to build rapport and understand where you can go from here,” said Matthew Adams, the business development manager at DeLive.
DeLive is a drone that delivers medicine and tools to people in need of emergency services. For example, if someone is in cardiac arrest, DeLive would quickly deliver a defibrillator to hopefully save that person’s life.
Adams says it’s still in the early stages of development but they hope CES allows DeLive to connect with potential investors and further research the need for the technology.
“We want to understand and talk to people that are potential investors,” said Adams. “People that are maybe interested in pushing us to someone that they know, whether it’d be a fire chief who would say, ‘Hey I know this person.,’ maybe even finding a city that would say, ‘Hey, I’ll sign you up right now.’”
Frost Control Systems, founded in 2017, builds shoe box sized Road Weather Information Systems that monitor road conditions for cities when severe weather strikes.
Using infrared lasers, the information is relayed back to the cities who can use the data to determine the optimal time to apply treatment, what mixture to use to treat road conditions, and how much. It also aims to improve operational efficiency.
It’s being used in 30 cities in 12 different states. Baglien says the company hopes to expand through its networking at CES.
“We could meet potential customers and have the chance to talk to them about what they need in their city and how our technology matches up to that,” said Baglien. “Two, we’re interested in collaborating with other technology providers. Last, it’s a great opportunity to meet world class talent. We’re scaling very quickly. We need to attract more talent to the South Bend community.”
Since the first CES in 1967, thousands of life-transforming products have been announced at the show like CDs, plasma TVs, and 3D printers.
Baglien and Adams agree this representation tells the world that South Bend is full of innovative, impactful ideas.
“It’s a great opportunity for South Bend and Notre Dame to go out there and say, ‘Hey this is, this innovation that can save lives, or this innovation that will go seamlessly into someone’s life just making things easier for them,’” said Adams. “That is a great thing to be linked to South Bend.”
“By going to a show like CES and partnering with Notre Dame to do just that, we’ll be able to attract talent to move to this community and create jobs, good jobs in South Bend and we feel really good about that,” said Baglien.
CES ends on Friday, January 10. Lumos Glasses and SafeSlide will also be on display at CES in partnership with the University of Notre Dame.