Texas A&M biochemistry major leads student ‘pitch’ team at SEC competition.

Media contact: Blair Fannin, 979-845-2259, b-fannin@tamu.edu

Writer: Mayzie Purviance

COLLEGE STATION — A team led by a Texas A&M University biochemistry graduate student recently competed in a Southeastern Conference contest hosted by Texas A&M, where they pitched their wastewater treatment and carbon capture platform.

Daniel Browne, a biochemistry graduate student set to graduate from A&M in December, led the team. His graduate research has focused on Botryonyx, a program used to build an innovative, algae-based wastewater treatment and carbon capture platform that also produces valuable algae byproducts.

“The (pitch contest) event was fantastic,”  Browne said. “It was well-organized and fun to be a part of. It was great to meet the top-notch entrepreneurs from across the SEC. So many smart people were there and with great ideas. There are a lot of strong, talented entrepreneurs at all of the SEC universities and it made for a great, tough competition.”

Browne said the SEC Pitch contest is organized by the various centers for entrepreneurship at each of the universities in the SEC. The A&M team members were selected about a month prior to the competition and worked vigorously, he said.

“We did get some outstanding feedback from the judges,” Browne said. “This feedback has given us a lot of food for thought and is already helping us further develop our message for future competitions and fundraising efforts.

“In addition, participating in the competition gave us an opportunity to make great connections. These relationships are really important for us and will help us move forward with the business.”