Innovation is everywhere at Michigan Tech. For chemical engineering major Emmet Eurich, innovation is more than a concept — it’s a lifestyle. Eurich and his business partner Sankalp Benwa intend to change the world of archery with their revolutionary vacuum-powered bows.
Eurich, who calls himself “an amateur inventor,” is best known at Michigan Tech for winning first place at the Bob Mark Elevator Pitch Competition in 2016. To see Eurich’s pitch, visit http://www.mtu.edu/business/student-engagement/elevatorpitch/. The original name of Eurich’s company was Vacuu-Shot, which has since been changed to Versus.
“Right now, we’re in our third design, so I haven’t strayed far from my roots,” Eurich said. “We’re trying to improve the state of the archery community. There are a lot of chronic shoulder issues and severe medical issues every year because compound bows can literally explode if and when they fail. No one should have to feel fear when they pick up a bow.”
Bows fire as a result of compression on a limb typically made of blown carbon fiber. When that mechanism fails, the bow can shatter, leading to traumatic injury. Eurich, an archer since the age of six, fractured his shoulder blade in a bow accident. These types of accidents were Eurich’s inspiration for his unique bow design.
“I’ve always been mechanically inclined. Figuring out how things work always came easily to me,” Eurich said. “This idea came to me while I was watching TV after I got home from work. It was bugging me because I had gone to the ER that day after a bow had come apart on me and I wondered how I could keep it from happening again, not just to me, but to anybody.”
To address this inherent danger of archery, Eurich chose to creatively alter the foundational mechanism that allows bows to fire. Instead of relying on limb compression to provide the force that carries an arrow, Eurich’s composition employs the use of vacuums.
“Our bows are completely rigid. We combine our rigid frame with vacuum pistons. If our bows were to fail, the vacuum chamber would just fill with air. The risk of injury would be eliminated,” said Eurich.
The Versus bow can be used for both hunting and marksmanship, with a treestand hunting model in progress. In its final iteration, the Versus bow will be accurate, practical and versatile. Versus intends to tentatively release its first product by the end of this year.
Although a significant portion of the funding for Versus was awarded from the Bob Mark Elevator Pitch Competition, Eurich chiefly credits his success to the Consumer Product Manufacturing (CPM) Enterprise at Michigan Tech, which is co-funding his project. CPM offers crucial industry experience to students while they earn college credit. If you are interested in joining or sponsoring CPM, please visit http://www.cpmenterprise.org/ or talk to Dr. Tony Rogers.
