SCAP Athletics Wins the 2025 Halloween Business Idea Pitch Competition

Led by Adam Cardini, a sophomore majoring in Management at Auburn University’s Harbert College of Business, SCAP ATHLETICS is built around providing athletes with safe and effective rehabilitation solutions for niche injuries. Their flagship product, the ScapStick, is a tool designed to release tension in the subscapularis muscles. ScapStick was born to help a throwing athlete perform at their best.

Athletes at every level face persistent challenges with muscular tightness and injury recovery, yet most available tools such as massage guns, foam rollers, and generic devices fail to effectively target deep or hard-to-reach areas like the sub-scapular region. This gap leaves athletes without practical, affordable solutions for reducing pain and accelerating recovery. In the absence of proper tools, many physical therapists and athletes attempt to create their own DIY solutions, which are often ineffective and can even pose risks to nerve safety and overall health.

SCAP Athletics addresses this need with the ScapStick, a patent-pending, five-foot recovery tool built with a rigid steel frame, ergonomic grip, and precision ball head to target areas that other tools cannot reach, while remaining safe for sensitive nerves and surrounding tissue.

Designed specifically for throwing athletes, strength athletes, and active individuals, the ScapStick has already gained early traction and revenue through direct sales and strong engagement within the athletic community.

“We aren’t just building a business”, said Adam “we’re building a platform for athletes to take ownership of their recovery with tools that truly address overlooked pain points.” 

Second place went to Disposable Lawnmower Bag, led by Jim Brim, a junior majoring in management, and a minor in Entrepreneurship & Family Business at the Harbert College of Business.  This new product replaces the traditional bagger on a push lawnmower. The bag is designed to keep the clippings inside the bag which is then able to be taken off and disposed of.

This innovative mower bag system introduces a more efficient and user-friendly approach to lawn maintenance. The product is designed to attach directly to the mower, allowing users to collect and dispose of grass clippings in a single, streamlined process.

Unlike traditional methods that require transferring clippings from the mower’s bag into a separate disposal bag, often resulting in spills and added effort, this solution eliminates unnecessary steps and mess. 

Third place went to Engineered Innovations, led by Ethan Page, a senior majoring in Mechanical Engineering, at the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering.   Engineered Innovations has a patent pending product that enhances the safety of electrical outlets and those that inhabit the building. The product is called ThermGuard – Heat Alert for Electrical Outlets.

The ThermaGuard is a low-cost, battery-operated safety device designed to detect overheating in electrical outlets as well as the area surrounding them.

The ThermaGuard utilizes shape-memory alloy to trigger an audible alarm in the event of overheating. This enables individuals to remove or shut off electrical outlet loads to prevent ignition or exit safely before an electrical fire begins or becomes fully involved. This approach mirrors the proven value of smoke alarms – simple, independent, and life-saving – while addressing a fire source that smoke detectors cannot catch early enough.

Fourth place went to The Breadboard Co. led by Joseph Rusk, a junior majoring in electrical engineering at the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. The BreadBoard Co. is an electronics brand that makes electronics fun and easier to learn for beginners.

Electronics currently have overcomplicated and confusing instructions that make it hard for beginners to learn. The current brands have bad instructions as well as outdated and hard to watch video tutorials.

The BreadBoard Co. will have better instructions that will be easy to follow, like Lego. They will also have high quality video tutorials that will be educational and entertaining, as well as offering more project kits for people to learn real-life engineering skills. Their goal is to make electronics fun, easier to learn, and not as intimidating for beginners.

And finally, the Thomas Walter Center for Technology Management award went to Moro Motion, led by Sebastian Torrres Urzua a sophomore majoring in Computer Engineering and Johna Moro, also a sophomore majoring in Computer Engineering.

Moro Motion is creating a humanoid robot to replace soldiers near improvised explosive devices in the explosive ordinance disposal industry. 

Moro Motion’s mission is simple: save lives by replacing humans in life-threatening tasks. Beyond bomb disposal, we develop humanoid robots as an adaptable platform to serve in disaster response, hazardous material handling, search-and-rescue operations, and even space exploration.

By merging human intuition with robotic resilience, Moro Motion represents the future of safe, intelligent, and adaptable robotics in the most hazardous environments.

This year’s Halloween Business Idea Pitch Competition received 33 applications with twenty-three teams advancing to the competition. 

Participation in this year’s Halloween Pitch Competition can easily be traced to the increased enrollment in entrepreneurship courses, participation in business startup events hosted by the Lowder Center for Family Business & Entrepreneurship, classroom exposure, and the mentoring support provided by the entrepreneurs-in-residence at the New Venture Accelerator.   

The 2025 Halloween Pitch Competition was represented by students from the Harbert College of Business, the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, the College of Sciences and Mathematics, the College of Human Sciences, the College of Architecture, Design & Construction, and the College of Education.  Participants included sophomores, juniors, seniors, masters, and PhD students. 

The Halloween Pitch Competition, sponsored by Regions Bank, was supported by a team of professional judges including:

Bart Aldridge (Regions), Assistant Vice President | Branch Manager; Eric Smith (Regions), Vice President – Retail Operations Manager; Ralph Runge, Vice President & General Manager, West Coast Salmon; Shay Pilcher, Research Engineer III at Auburn University and CEO of Archangel Industries; Phillip Cowart, (Ret.) Director of Development at College of Agriculture at Auburn University; Dominique Love, Founder, CERES, a 90-acre culinary-centric community; Alex Bruce, Go-to-Market and Revenue Growth Executive Advisor.

“Beyond attaining a degree, business education today recognizes the need to develop entrepreneurial skillsets among our graduates, as the competitive landscape demands outside-the-box, big idea thinking”, said Lou Bifano, Director.

“From our own New Venture Accelerator and our robust mentoring, coaching, counseling offerings and business idea pitch competitions, to the Auburn Research and Technology Foundation, the Intellectual Property Exchange, the Lowder Center for Family Business and Entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurship minor offered at the Harbert College of Business, Auburn University is fast developing a reputation as having one of the best entrepreneurship programs in the country.” 

A special note of appreciation goes to our student interns for their event planning & communications support. (From left to right: Samanth Kuczaj, Anna Kate Hammett, Emily Phillips, Vivian Von Hoene, Jill Heffernan, Molly Upton, April Kirk, Cheyenne Butler, and Hayes Hopper.)

Lastly, we offer our additional thanks to Eric Smith and Bart Aldridge from Regions Bank who gave their time to serve as judges and mentors for our student teams. We are thankful for the support Regions Bank provides to Auburn University Entrepreneurship. 

Next Up: The Tiger Cage Pitch Competition and its $105,000+ Prize Pool.

Register by November 14, 2025

SCAP Athletics Wins the 2025 Halloween Business Idea Pitch Competition

SCAP Athletics Wins the 2025 Halloween Business Idea Pitch Competition