Student-run company brings technology ideas to life
Two engineering students are using their technical knowledge to help Columbia iPhone and iPad users bring their ideas to life.
Fourth-year computer science student Brendan Lee and his friend Chris Thibault are the creators of 52apps, an application development company that builds iPhone and iPad applications from ideas crowd-sourced from the community.
Thibault, Lee and their team will personally build the applications — about one each week for a year, periodically conducting “Idea Days” where people can share their app ideas. Participants don’t need any knowledge of coding language, and the duo promises they will do their best to turn ideas into high-quality apps. The idea-provider will share the royalties.
Thibault and Lee have built a digital library of generic code which speeds development time. A normal application can take a few months to a year to build, but because of the library, they can finish an app in around a week. They aim to finish each idea in five days. Steve Leicht, the CEO of 52apps, said people who aren’t in the technology business might not understand how big of a deal the innovation is.
Thibault and Lee began coding together and produced their first application while in high school in Arkansas. Thibault and Lee decided they didn’t like carrying all their belongings around in backpacks and aimed to create an app that would combine their notes and homework. That application, smartNote, is now available for free in the iTunes store and has received around 500,000 downloads. Lee is currently a computer science student at USC and Thibault is finishing his degree online through University of Arkansas-Fort Smith while living in Columbia.
Leicht called the Thibault and Lee “prodigies.”
Thibault and Lee started their company with help from the USC/Columbia Technology Incubator, a business mentoring program designed to recruit and nurture technology-driven companies.
“When I think of innovation, I have to think of the boys here,” said Ron Loewon, the executive director of the incubator.
The company hosted its first “Idea Day” on June 15 at the IT-oLogy center. Thibault, Lee and their six employees shared their stories and demonstrated their most recently launched app, “TapNotes.” The app allows users to record lectures, meetings and interviews and then retroactively time-stamp segments. Students can easily refer to specific parts without listening to its entirety.
“PDF Recombinator” is the next app that will be launched.
“We think it’s going to bring some amazing new PDF features to the iPhone and iPad,” Lee said.
Lee and Thibault heard about 30 new ideas at their first “Idea Day” and say they are excited to get to work on them.