Engineers should create products worth having

On Friday morning, Scott Case, UConn graduate of the computer science program, spoke to a filled lecture hall about his accomplishments as an entrepreneur. Case is a co-founder of Priceline.com, vice chairman and CEO of the non-profit organization Malaria No More and chairman of Network for Good.

During his senior year at UConn, Case co-founded Precision Training Software, which developed the first PC-based simulated flight instructor and photo-realistic flight simulator.

Case quoted a line from the movie Field of Dreams – "If you build it, they will come"  – and said how this was not true in the case of the flight software he helped develop. Precision Training was the first to design this type of software, yet there were no consumers looking to purchase it.

Case said when Priceline was first developed, airlines did not want to sign on for fear of losing money. But, the reality was that they had a lot of empty seats on most flights. Priceline decided to target the headquarters of the airline companies by posting billboards and broadcasting on the radios in the surrounding areas.

This marketing method got through to the executives and they joined Priceline. Case said this demonstrated the importance of not only creating a product, but also proving to the consumer that it is worth having.

Case challenged the students to redefine engineering to not only produce technology that is useful to people but will also improve people's lives. He said engineers take an active role in creating sustainable solutions worldwide, pushing students to be more than engineers – to be engineers with a conscience and a purpose.

"He put on a great presentation," said Scott Cipoletti, a 4th-semester civil engineering major. "It was pretty empowering to see all he has done, and cool to think of the effect that we as engineers can have in the future."

Case gave the UConn chapter of Engineers Without Borders as an example of how students can begin making a difference in developing countries.

"The first step towards finding a solution is to define the problem," Case said.

Speaking on the prevalence of malaria in Africa, Case redefined the problem to be the mosquitoes biting those who have malaria. With the use of mosquito nets and the treatment of those with the disease, the growth of malaria has been minimized. Acting as the CEO and chairman of Malaria No More, Case hopes to end malaria deaths in Africa by 2015.