After months of preparation, the finalists of the MTA LEAD (Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Advisement, Development) program presented their projects to the program’s executive council—which consists of senior faculty and administrators of the Sy Syms School of Business (SSSB) and other business leaders—this past Monday night. Over the course of the year, students who joined the program had the opportunity to attend various business workshops delivered by SSSB professors and other interesting entrepreneurs. In addition, students were able to participate in the Kukin Lecture Series at the business school, and students were paired with undergraduate business students who helped mentor them with their project.

All of this culminated with the “Shark Tank” style presentations that took place on Monday evening. Each group had 15 total minutes to showcase their business: 10 minutes to present and five minutes for questions. Yair Caplan (‘17) first pitched his pillow alarm clock and even presented a prototype of the product that he had built in MTA’s Scientific Engineering program. Afterwards, Simcha Hoffman (‘16) presented his idea for software that will make it much simpler to print with a three-dimensional printer. Finally, Yaakov Kurlantzick, who developed his business plan with Shaanan Miller, presented their impressive business that would license unique technology for self-cleaning cars.

The panel was extremely impressed with all of the presentations, and it was very apparent that all of the students had put in an incredible amount of work in developing not just the product, but the business plan around it—analyzing the market and understanding the need. Ultimately, Yair Caplan won “Best Presentation,” and will be awarded an Amazon giftcard. The MTA LEAD program, now it its third year, continues to provide incredible, real-life business experience to MTA’s aspiring entrepreneurs and business leaders.