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Olney Central College alumnus Jeremy Walker finished his master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering by winning Cornell Tech’s prestigious 2020 Start Up Competition Award.
For their final project, Walker and Cornell classmate Tony Liebel developed Buzr, an easy-to-install device, which allows users to interact remotely, through a phone app, with their apartment building’s front door. With Buzr, renters and building owners alike can simply exchange existing intercom units with the new device. This eliminates the need to replace aging and outdated buzzer systems, which is very costly for building owners.
With home deliveries increasing, Walker says there is a growing need for the technology. He and Liebel are already marketing and selling the device and plan integrations with top shipping providers. The pair will use the $100,000 monetary award they received to promote the company and its product.
Cornell Tech is the technology, business, law and design campus of Cornell University and is located on New York City’s Roosevelt Island. Its electrical and computer engineering program focuses on building products that can lead to entrepreneurial viability with real users.
Walker conducted the engineering work on the project and serves as Buzr’s chief product officer while Liebel, who has a consulting background and a master’s in business administration from Cornell, focuses on the business and marketing aspects.
“This project allowed me to use my two specializations in digital circuit design and mechanical engineering. It put all of my experience together,” Walker said. “Now we just have to find a way to make sales and get the company off the ground.”
Buzr was also the recipient of Cornell’s Ronald Fichtl and Frederick Fichtl Innovation Award, which recognizes the most innovative and best-developed concept from the Cornell School of Engineering’s annual Engineering Innovation Competition.
Walker’s journey to Cornell Tech began by taking online classes through OCC’s Industrial Maintenance Technology Program.
“I had a background in industrial maintenance and my family knew Russ Jausel, who was the lead instructor at the time. My dad even used to teach in the program and it was something I was interested in. Being around and working in a machine shop while growing up, it was the most applicable thing OCC had for me,” Walker said.
“The electrical and PLC courses sparked my interest in electrical engineering,” he added. “This combined with success in other advanced courses such as calculus and physics gave me the confidence to move away to pursue my bachelor’s degree. In the Industrial Maintenance Program, you get hands-on experience, which really helped to cultivate my interest in engineering.”
Walker graduated from OCC in 2015 with both an IMT Associate’s Degree and an Associate’s Degree in General Studies. He chose to continue his education at Fullerton College in California where he focused on math, physics and engineering. He then transferred to the University of California, Irvine where he earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering before heading to Cornell.
In total, Walker has earned an impressive seven degrees in as many years. He credits OCC with helping to make it possible.
“I got a very strong foundation in physics at OCC and it helped as I went forward into my higher-level courses,” he said. “If I had gone straight to a university from high school, I don’t know that I would have been as successful.”
