Q&A with Jacob Mills, 2024 TechPoint Mira Award nominee
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Jacob Mills, a junior at the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville, is one of five Student Entrepreneur of the Year nominees who will attend the 25th Mira Awards in downtown Indianapolis this month. TechPoint, an Indianapolis-based digital innovation economy organization, will announce the winner during the gala at Old National Centre on April 26.
This is the second year for the Student Entrepreneur award. Newburgh-based Intertwined CEO and co-founder Kerry Ao won the inaugural honor last year as a senior at Evansville-based Signature High School. The award recognizes “exceptional student startup founders and/or operators who looked outside the box, started something new and generated momentum for their concept.”
Mills is a native of Westfield, just north of Indianapolis. He spoke with Inside INdiana Business about the award nomination and his entrepreneurial ambitions.
Explain how you founded Antidote Electronics while you were at Westfield High School.
Westfield has a good program for students wanting to do inventing and entrepreneurship. So my high school had its own version of Shark Tank for the students, and that’s what got me started. But then that led to Innovate WithIN where I came up with my product idea. I’ve always liked inventing things. That’s always been in my nature.
Tell me about Orbiter and the local Shark Tank pitch competition in 2021.
Orbiter is a controller for mainly [computer-aided design] programs, but it’s a device that aids in controlling 3D environments. Because a computer mouse and keyboard don’t cut it for navigating these 3D environments. It can be tricky for people just learning the programs to get around and even people who are experienced with it. It’s just not as efficient as it can be.
When I came to that realization, I started developing [Orbiter]. I’m a mechanical engineer. That’s what I’m learning to become. But I started making the shell for it, designing electronics and that’s what I had and was able to bring to the high school Shark Tank competition. That’s where I put together a team of high school friends and went to Innovate WithIN with that group.
We didn’t make it to regionals. It was a bit of a hard-to-understand concept because it’s a pretty specialized device. But now that I have a functional demo and a lot of good backing, it’s a lot easier.
You showcased Orbiter at CES in Las Vegas this year. What was the response?
It was a very good experience. It was the first time that I’d had a demo of it ever, and the first time it’s been seen in public through the [Indiana Small Business Development Center]. They were gracious enough to provide us with a booth in their Indiana delegation space.
So for all four days of the event, we were able to demo, talk to people in the industry, get a lot of feedback from people who’ve used our competitor’s product. Ideas on how to improve it and what people might want as features. It was just extremely valuable.
[Our competitor] is a company called 3Dconnexion. They have a device called the SpaceMouse, but the main problem with that is it’s a joystick, so you’re not getting direct control over the workspace, and it’s not as intuitive as it might seem.
You’re from the Indianapolis area. Why did you choose to attend USI in Evansville?
It was good as far as class size. It’s comparable to high school, even smaller than some of my Westfield classes. I got to know a lot of the engineering department down here beforehand, and it seemed like a good fit.
Tell me about USI’s Solar Splash team and last year’s competition in Ohio.
I joined as a freshman, and it was perfect timing because they were deciding to completely revamp the program, and a lot of the seniors were leaving. I got to take on a bit more of the responsibility. I designed the hull for the boat. We got a team of electrical engineers to redesign the motor and battery system and everything.
In the history of our [Solar Splash] program, we actually hadn’t even finished a race before we went this last year. It was the first time I’d been to the competition and were able to get third place. And there are teams from all over the world. It’s a good competition. USI funds the program well, and we get a lot of free reign with what we’re able to do.
What challenges do you face as a student entrepreneur?
Time commitment is a huge thing. It’s putting time between school and entrepreneurship, as well as monetarily. You have to find programs and grants and that kind of thing to get it done. But it’s mainly a time thing. I’d say there are a lot of resources as far as people wanting to help students and younger people with entrepreneurial ventures.
What’s next for Antidote Electronics?
Working with Glassboard right now. We submitted an [Indiana Technical Assistance Program] application so that we can get the electronics inside the controller better suited for manufacturing. Past that, it’s just finding more funding to further develop [Orbiter] for manufacturing.
The Orbiter is our main product. The 3Dconnexion company I mentioned earlier has its main controller, but then they have a mouse and other devices that go along with it. It’s like an ecosystem. That’s what we plan on doing with the Orbiter controller.
What are your plans after graduating from USI?
It depends on what the job market looks like. Some kind of product development business is what I’d look to join. Obviously, if Antidote Electronics takes off, then that could be a route, too. It’s just hard to know what’s going to be on the horizon in the future.
How does it feel to be a Student Entrepreneur of the Year Mira Award nominee?
It’s incredibly rewarding. I don’t search out things like this, but [STARTedUP Foundation founder and CEO] Don Wettrick was gracious enough to nominate me and tell me that I should go for it. It definitely feels nice to be seen and recognized for your work.