Young alum sells software, scores position with Jobing.com

January 27, 2012

Sean Coleman, alumnus of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, is receiving high praise after selling his site matching technology company, Blogic, to Jobing.com.

Among the list of accolades over his short career, Coleman has been named one of the top “35 enterprenuers under 35” by the Arizona Republic and “Arizona’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year” by the Small Business Administration, awarded an Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative award and presented with a grant from ASU’s Entrepreneur Advantage Project, now titled the Innovation Challenge. Sean Coleman Download Full Image

In 2009, Coleman graduated from Arizona State University with a bachelor’s in computer systems engineering. Two years later in June of 2011 he founded a startup called Blogic, a site matching technology company that takes existing website designs and generates them into blog templates.

One day while checking his email, Coleman received a message that would skyrocket his career. Aaron Matos, Jobing.com founder and CEO, heard about Blogic and wanted to schedule a lunch meeting to discuss the possibilities about Jobing acquiring the software.

Coleman not only sold his company to Jobing, but was offered a full time position on the technology development team. In December, he eagerly joined the firm’s team.

“We only look for the best of the best. This isn’t about who simply has the technical ability to do the job, it’s about the passion and dedication to rise above competition and barriers to create something we are genuinely proud of,” said Matos, also an alumnus of ASU. “Sean has that spirit coupled with what I know to be an exceptional education and training from ASU. With an arsenal like that, I knew I had to make him part of our team.”

For his fellow entrepreneurs, Coleman advises becoming as valuable as possible by seeking all avenues of opportunity. He also suggests finding others that you can rely on for advice.

“It’s really important to have a mentor. Find someone who believes in you and that you can trust,” Coleman said. “Also, don’t be afraid to take risks when you are young and in school.”

Serving as Coleman’s mentor is Adrian Sannier, ASU's former University Technology Officer, and Hamid Shojaee, CEO of Axosoft. Shojaee is also the founder of AZ Disruptors and served as the mentor to Blogic for the program.

Theresa Maher, Jobing.com vice president, says that endless opportunities for success and support will give Sun Devils like Coleman a leg up in the job search.

“ASU offers so many different programs and grants that students can take advantage of,” Maher said. “When these younger entrepreneurs enter the work force and have passion and ambition, it makes them very attractive to companies like Jobing.com."

ASU chosen to compete in international solar home competition

January 27, 2012

Arizona State University has been selected to be part of one of 20 teams from universities and colleges throughout the United States and the world to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2013.

ASU will team with the University of New Mexico (UNM) for the international competition to build energy-efficient, solar-powered houses “that combine affordability, consumer appeal and design excellence,” according to the DOE’s announcement. photovoltaic technology Download Full Image

At a Jan. 26 ceremony on the UNM campus to announce selection of the teams, DOE Secretary Steven Chu met with ASU/UNM team members, including ASU’s Katherine Muto, an engineering education doctoral student; James LeBeau, an electrical engineering doctoral student; and Edward Burgess, who is pursuing a master’s degree in the Solar Energy Engineering and Commercialization program.

Teams will begin a nearly two-year process of designing, constructing and testing their structures. They will reassemble the houses next year in Irvine, Calif., for the Solar Decathlon event at the Orange County Great Park.

Houses will be judged on architectural and engineering features, and how energy for heating and cooling is produced, among other things.

The competition provides ASU an opportunity to combine its educational and research resources in engineering, architecture, design and other disciplines “to tackle the pressing problem of energy sustainability,” says Christiana Honsberg, an engineering professor at ASU.

Honsberg is director of the ASU-based Quantum Energy and Sustainable Solar Technologies (QESST) Engineering Research Center (a national center supported by the DOE and the National Science Foundation) in which the University of New Mexico is a key partner.

Knowledge generated from QESST’s efforts to achieve advances in photovoltaic technology to harness solar power in economically viable and sustainable ways will be incorporated into the ASU/UNM team’s Solar Decathlon home design.

The competition “gives the engineers, architects, designers and energy entrepreneurs of the tomorrow a chance to contribute to advances that could enable all members of our community to benefit from the endless supply of energy from the sun,” Honsberg says.

The team will focus on developing building designs and energy systems best suited to the Southwest’s desert climate, says Matthew Fraser, ASU associate professor.

Fraser and Honsberg are senior sustainability scientists with the university’s Global Institute of Sustainability. Honsberg is also on the faculty of the School of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering, and Fraser is on the faculty of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment. The schools are part of ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.

More information about Solar Decathlon 2013 and the universities and college teams selected to compete, see the Energy.Gov website.