UMC’s COO Jaci Dukowitz Helps Cast the Net to Discover Top Minnesota Innovators at 2019 Shark Tank Open

Representing the business sector as a panelist during this year’s annual Minnesota State Shark Tank Open, Ultra Machining Company Chief Operating Officer, Jaci Dukowitz, is prepared to determine which top innovators will take home 2019 honors. Students, faculty and staff who are also inventors, entrepreneurs and trailblazers will convene for the Shark Tank “show down” with a cross-sectional panel of academic, non-profit and business leaders on Thursday, April 4 at the Sheraton Bloomington Hotel, Bloomington, MN.

Each year, representatives from 37 colleges and universities statewide create a wave of excitement as they reimagine education. Faculty, staff and students go before expert panels (the sharks) and pitch-in their creative and innovative ideas competing to win up to $25,000 in funding to help financially further their endeavor. Funded projects will aim to address obstacles to student success by using existing technologies, resources or practices in innovative ways.

“Fueling and furthering great minds to move Minnesota forward is a passion and purpose I’ve built my career on,” Dukowitz noted. “Personally, I’m honored to actively participate as a Shark Tank panelist. Fostering innovation, ingenuity and fresh thinking is part of UMC’s culture, so collaborating in the 2019 Shark Tank Open is a natural fit for our organization.”

UMC, a family-owned business based in Monticello, MN, began as a small-garage start up more than 50 years ago. Today, the company is a national precision-manufacturing leader producing complex parts for medical, aerospace and commercial industries.

For more information, please consider:

Event tickets and registration;
2019 Shark Tank Open video;
Minnesota State Educational Innovation event page;
Details on 2019 Shark Tank Innovation funding;
Jaci Dukowitz, UMC COO.