Narsis Sailale’s idea wins Red Raider Idea Competition.
The Innovation Hub at Research Park is proud to celebrate the success of Narsis Sailale and his idea, Cutting Edge, an automated kitchen appliance that cuts food. Sailale, a mechanical engineering student, recently won the Red Raider Idea Competition with this, which would effectively eliminate any effort from the user.
The Red Raider Idea Competition is a program hosted by the Innovation Hub where entrepreneurs
from the surrounding community and Texas Tech -- including students and faculty --
can submit a 60-second video describing their great idea. The video is then loaded
onto the Idea Competition website and voted on. Sailale's Cutting Edge idea won first
place in fall 2020.
Salaile said he wanted to bring the skills of a professional chef into home kitchens.
“This task is done by millions of people, but many of them get hurt doing something that they love,” Salaile said. “This product will support you so you won't get hurt while food prepping. I believe this is the next-generation tool when it comes to kitchen appliances.”
Salaile is still developing the technology for Cutting Edge.
“There are lots of components involved in the design,” Salaile said. “I want to eliminate all force by the user. All they will have to do is press the linear actuation button to activate the blades. There also will be different settings for them to use.”
Salaile said a bowl will be included as a safety feature so the blades cannot be activated unless the bowl is inserted.
“I'm also adding a motor at the center of the cutting board so the user is able to rotate the food inside the device without sliding the bowl out,” Salaile said.
Salaile hopes he'll have a prototype for Cutting Edge by December, and he intends to join more competitions once he has a working model.
“Engineering has always been a part of me,” Salaile said. “In middle school I did some biomedical engineering, then in high school I switched gears and practiced with robotics and rockets. I was lucky to go to a high school that had engineering. I later completed multiple conferences with companies like SkillsUSA and Technology Student Association, which got me interested in mechanical engineering.”
Currently, Salaile is working on a mechanical engineering degree from the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering, a science, technology, engineering or mathematics master's in business administration from the Jerry S. Rawls College of Business Administration and a minor in math from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. He hopes to graduate in May 2022.