“Let’s go to China"

“It started as a crazy idea," said Georgia Tech student Sarah Wise. “Let’s go to China." 

That's how Wise and her two classmates Elizabeth Blumer and Joy Buolamwini decided to enter the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Global Student Challenge.

The competition, which includes a $5,000 grand prize, called for teams to create a new product or service and develop a viable business plan for turning their innovative ideas into marketable commodities.

Wise, Blumer, and Buolamwini are majoring in aerospace engineering, business administration, and computer science, respectively. By working together across disciplines and bringing in their love of music, they created Cross Path Music, a program that allows musicians all over the world to collaborate using existing technologies, such as an Xbox or a laptop. "What differentiates us from the current market, is that we provide less ‘lag time,' giving users the feeling of making music as if they were actually playing together in the same room, " said Wise. "Further, we capitalize on the desire to ‘be seen’ by labels and the need for a streamlined recruitment process by giving A&R scouts listen-in privileges to our secure jam sessions.”

“Our initial target market is amateur musicians of all levels,” added Blumer. “While starting in the United States, we will expand the business overseas, allowing you to create and play music with a drummer from Ghana, a trombonist from Germany, and an electric guitar player from Los Angeles.”

This year's Global Challenge attracted nearly two-hundred teams from secondary schools and universities representing twenty-seven countries and territories. Cross Path Music was selected as one of twelve semifinalists. In June, the three women from Georgia Tech traveled to Hong Kong to compete against top entrepreneurs from around the world.

While Wise, Blumer, and Buolamwini did not bring home the top prize, the weeklong journey was an invaluable experience.

“There’s some expectation to continue forward, but we’re all so busy that we’re just not sure where we’ll take it yet,” Blumer said. Wise is confident there’s value and a place in the market for their idea, and Buolamwini has contemplated the prospect of developing the technology or patenting part of it to sell. In the meantime, they’ve fulfilled what Buolamwini described as her best-case scenario when they decided to enter the competition. “I thought, ‘Worst case, we get to hang out together. Best case, we go to China.’”