It’s All About Passion…

…and when it comes to entrepreneurs, you know it when you see it.

Passion. For what you believe in. For what you see possible. For the courage to follow that passion. To do what it takes to make your dreams come true. You can’t fake passion, and it can’t be taught. For whatever reason, when it comes to becoming a successful entrepreneur, passion seems to be something that you either have, or you don’t.

That passion – and the courage to pursue it – was clearly in the hearts and minds of all four finalists of Auburn’s annual Tiger Cage Student Business Idea Competition this past March 31st. Parvin Fathi-Hafshejani (Dropllel), Zakariya Veasey (OMNIS), Scott Rowe (Rodopto) and Shay Pilcher (Archangel Defense) spoke passionately about their new business ideas that spanned a wide range of industries, target markets and innovative solutions to pressing needs.

So, why is passion so important?

Chris Ducker, founder of Youpreneur®, is a serial entrepreneur, keynote speaker and author of bestselling books on entrepreneurship. He cites ten reasons why passion is such a critical component of entrepreneurial success: 

• Passion inspires the vision for your business even if it’s in a niche that no one has done before.
• Passion attracts the right consumers to your business.
• Passion helps you build an authentic brand and brand story.
• Passion helps bring you clarity in times when you feel stuck or uncertain.
• Passion helps you set a solid foundation for your business and establish core values.
• Passion gives you the motivation and confidence that you need to deliver your mission and purpose for what you do and why you do it.
• Passion helps you network with the right people who share similar perspectives.
• Passion helps you own your space and become an expert in what you do.
• Passion helps you create authentic content that resonates with the right audience.
• Passion sets you apart from competitors.

I recently sat down with each of the four finalists of the 2023 Tiger Cage Student Business Idea Competition one-on-one to conduct a deep dive into who they are, what they’re trying to do and why they are so passionately dedicated to their dreams of starting a new business based on their own personal and soon-to-be-professional dreams.

The goal is to both highlight how Auburn’s New Venture Accelerator is helping drive new business formation as well as how each of these four extraordinary individuals and their teams are progressing the development of meaningful inventions and new business opportunities.

Dropllel Wins 2023 Tiger Cage Finals

First up – Parvin Fathi-Hafshejani, founder of Dropllel, which is developing an innovative diagnostic device that provides accurate, rapid and cost-effective detection of virus antigens such as COVID-19, the flu and other infectious diseases to expand and facilitate testing and lower the possibility of large-scale spread.

Parvin’s motivation for Dropllel came from the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic itself.

“We lost more than 6.6 million people across the globe to Covid,” says Parvin, “in large part because we were unprepared to confront an emerging, easily transmittable infectious disease. Like everyone else, I was concerned with whether or not I’d been infected and went about getting tested. 

And just like everybody else, Parvin went through the time-consuming process of scheduling an appointment and lining up to get a PCR test at a designated test site and then waiting a couple of days to get her results back. According to Parvin, PCR – which means ‘polymerase chain reaction’ – is a fairly accurate test. But it struck her that this type of methodology for testing millions of people – many of whom might not be able to get to this kind of a test site easily or quickly enough to stop the spread – seemed out of step with the latest developments in the application of nanotechnology to biological issues.

“Why isn’t there a home-based test, I thought, or at least a local pharmacy-based test that was quicker, easier to use? Something that approached the accuracy of PCR tests without all the hassle, cost and inaccuracies of the home-based tests that started to come out. Surely the technology is there – why isn’t it being applied?”

A Passion for Solutions

The answers Parvin got failed to satisfy her passion to make things better, to add the insight and expertise she had garnered in her academic research in electrical and computer engineering to helping solve this critical, worldwide need.

“Having a rapid, accurate diagnostic test platform for Covid, the flu and a host of other infectious diseases seems so very important,” notes Parvin. “I want this capability available in every household.”

Parvin and her team, which includes Dr. Masoud Mahjouri Samani assistant professor in Auburn’s Samuel Ginn College of Engineering and Dr. Sahar Hasim, assistant professor of biology at Mercer University, went about exploring how an electronic bio sensor might be able to detect Covid-19 in a matter of seconds.

What they discovered was that an electronic device based on two-dimensional (2D) materials could be modified with antibodies so that it can immediately detect the Covid-19 virus spike protein when placed on the circuit. Spike proteins are present in the Covid-19 virus as well as many other viruses and enable the viruses to penetrate host cells and cause infection. The protein interacts with the antibody within the testing device to change the electronic properties of the microscopically thin, single layer 2D material.

“The virus spike protein sets off a change in the electrical conductivity properties of the transistor surface as soon as the sample is placed there,” says Parvin, “and that change produces a response that is so clear and measurable that the test result is provided to the tester immediately.”

One of the most promising aspects of this new approach is that these circuits are based on low-cost 2D materials that can be fabricated in high volume using conventional semiconductor technologies.

Research-based Innovation

The team’s work is based on the study, “Two-Dimensional-Material-Based Field-Effect Transistor Biosensor for Detecting COVID-19 Virus” co-authored by Parvin, Masoud, Sahar and Michael C. Hamilton, professor in electrical and computer engineering at Auburn and director of the Alabama Micro/Nano Science and Technology Center; Marcelo A. Kuroda, associate professor in physics at Auburn; Nurul Azam, Auburn graduate student in electrical and computer engineering; and Lu Wang, Auburn graduate student in physics. The paper was published by the American Chemical Society ACS NANO, a recognized leader in publishing nanoscience and nanotechnology research, and explains how two-dimensional field-effect transistors, which use an electric field to control the flow of current in a semiconductor, are the optimal devices for this application due to their high surface-to-volume ratio.

 “If the virus is present, the current in the circuit changes, indicating a positive result,” says Parvin. “If there’s no antibody in the sample, the current doesn’t change enough to register as a significant indication. It really is that straightforward. And our system is antibody-specific, meaning we can use the fundamental structure of our reader to test various viruses based on the antibodies we are looking for.”

What that means is that a single, relatively inexpensive in-home device can be calibrated to test for multiple viruses or other conditions – even pregnancy. What changes is the chips that are inserted into the reader. The system uses three chips set in a row for each test, providing a level of redundancy that provides increased certainty in the results and an extremely low incidence of error. Parvin sees future applications for cancers as well.

“The beauty of this system is that a single reader can detect multiple medical indications – the only thing that changes is the antibodies loaded onto the circuitry depending on whether it is Covid, the flu, pregnancy,” says Parvin. “The list of potential conditions is endless at this point.”

The Dropllel system is based on a patent filed by Auburn University, Parvin, Masoud and other co-contributors and licensed to Dropllel. The university will share in the success of Dropllel via intellectual property royalties generated by sales of the readers and indication-specific test circuits.

“I can’t say enough about all the indispensable insight and extraordinary help we’ve received from the Intellectual Property Exchange (IPX) here at Auburn in filing our patent and moving towards commercializing our IP,” notes Parvin. Auburn’s IPX serves as the link between the commercial marketplace and Auburn University faculty.

The Path to Success

Dropllel is targeting health care providers and pharmacies like CVS, Rite-Aid and Walgreens as well as individual consumers for the preliminary market launch of the company’s initial products. “We’re looking to take a push-pull approach that leverages the reach of established medical services partners in driving consumer visibility of our innovative approach to generate in-home sales,” says Parvin. “Eventually we want organizations like schools and churches to make this capability available on-site while in-home sales roll out.”

In the end, it’s all about Parvin’s passion to make a difference for all involved, from doctors to pharmacies to individual patients.

“This is a win-win dynamic, to be sure,” she notes. “Doctors benefit from timely and accurate pre-visit diagnostics, pharmacies benefit from a new revenue stream and closer relationships with their customers and – of course – individuals benefit from a quick, easy and accurate account of key health issues.”

Now, that’s what we call a true ‘Auburn’ passion for change.