Sustainable Solutions
Wolff Center Alumni Win Top Prize at International Competition

Two Bauer College alumni from the Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship are making a name for themselves on a global stage, building a startup for a carbon capture technology that recently won first place at the International Competition for Entrepreneurs in Jamaica.
Founders and CEOs Samantha Maldonado and DJ Buenaventura are leading CarbonX Solutions, a company that began as part of a class project in Bauer College's No. 1 ranked Wolff Center last fall. After an intensive period of learning about the technology and preparing its presentation, the startup received $20,000 as the competition reward.
“Hearing that people in a completely different country, that don’t know us, don’t know anything about IP or the Wolff Center, or have no bias at all, believed in us, I think has also given us a lot of confidence going forward,” Maldonado said.
Business plan competitions, like the one CarbonX Solutions won, have evolved over the past 10 years, Wolff Center Executive Director David Cook said. Recently, more established companies who have revenue are participating in them for additional sources of revenue.
“For an undergraduate team to not only compete — but to win first place — in an international competition against teams from around the world is remarkable,” Cook said. “It speaks well of technology, but even more about the student’s confidence in presenting it. The ability to field questions and defend your idea is shaped by the work of their faculty, their mentors and their team members. The Wolff Center creates unique learning opportunities, and these students represented the best for their team and UH.”
The financial prize will help the team open doors and pursue new opportunities moving forward. The team is also working on grant applications and funding to build their prototype.
The pair were first introduced to the technology during their time in the Wolff Center. In a strategy course, the students were presented with technologies from the University of Houston and NASA and then were tasked with preparing for an internal pitch competition at the end of the fall semester, part of the program’s signature IP project.
In the course, taught by adjunct professor Keith Rassin, students are expected to take the baseline knowledge from their first semester in the program, and through experiential learning, build a business from the patent that they’re working with.
“They have to figure out who is a potential customer that might find this useful, what is the value we can deliver to that customer,” Rassin said. “Unlike a typical class where students use Google searches to find out who might care about reducing their carbon footprint, WCE students have to get out of the classroom and find real potential customers and subject matter experts to provide supporting data that drives their business plan.”
Out of the two, Maldonado was the first to start working on CarbonX Solutions, as Buenaventura was on a different IP team during the semester. Maldonado spent the fall of her senior year dedicated to preparing the IP for market, not deterred by the technology’s difficult and advanced nature.
During the course, students are guided by Bauer College adjunct professor Saiyid Z. Kamal, who is also an adviser and instructor to the Division of Energy and Innovation. In this role, he provides the technology and mentors the Wolff Center students with the more technical side of the project.
“The large number of them are non-stem majors,” Kamal said. “So, the challenge they have is how to bridge that gap between STEM — science, technology, engineering, math with their business background. That's where we also try to help them.”
Maldonado’s preparation included networking with industry experts who reassured her desire to stay committed to the IP. Her team ultimately placed second at the Wolff Center’s pitch competition.
Wolff Center alumna Samantha Maldonado and her team won second place during the program's IP competition.
Wolff Center alumna Samantha Maldonado and her team won second place during the program's IP competition.
“I always knew, whether we were going to place in the competition or not, that this is something I wanted to continue in real life and actually take to market,” Maldonado said. “But I think that place in the competition was also the validation push that I needed during it.”
After the course was over, Maldonado knew she wanted to work on a business that would make a difference, drawing inspiration from her sister who is also an entrepreneur. Similarly, Buenaventura knew he wanted to push himself out of his comfort zone after graduation and to work on a startup like this one. That led them to team up to work on CarbonX Solutions after college.
“At the end of the day, it’s you going out and trying to make an impact and a name, not necessarily for yourself, but for the business that you are building up.”
“I didn’t grow up thinking I’d go into carbon capture, but I’ve always cared about solving real problems and creating things that matter. The more I learned about the energy industry, the more I realized the scale of impact we could make, especially in a city like Houston. I care deeply about the environment, but I also saw a business opportunity to build something that’s not only good for the planet, scalable, and investable. I’ve always believed that business can be a tool for real change, and I feel driven by the opportunity to create something that not only solves a real problem but serves people and the planet.”
Kamal spoke to the graduates’ entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to take a chance on the startup instead of taking the path of least resistance.
“It's a great learning opportunity because you're not just doing a job in a company here,” Kamal said. “You're creating a company. You're trying to solve problems, making connections, working on the commercial part of it and working on the technical aspects of the solution. I think that's a great experience. It's an awesome experience for somebody to be able to do that.”
Despite Maldonado’s head start, Buenaventura quickly rose to the occasion. After working to catch up to her knowledge level, he began preparing the presentation for the international competition. He described the experience in Jamaica as enriching, receiving helpful feedback to grow the business. Actually winning the competition took the experience a step further, validating the startup’s work.
Giving students the experiences to stretch the limits of what they’ve learned is what makes the Wolff Center different and the consistent No. 1 undergraduate entrepreneurship program, Rassin said. It’s about applying learned practices to building a business or getting an investment.
“That's why I do it, because it's so much fun to go through that process with students,” Rassin said. You see their passion, and their eyes open once it clicks along the way. They understand why they're here. It's not just to do a project, but to really build a future.”
Blending the business and technology, CarbonX Solutions addresses sustainability issues. According to Buenaventura, a lot of the current sustainability industry landscape is not practical, whether it’s not enforceable or feasible for the business setting. That’s where CarbonX Solutions bridges the gap.
“This business actually solves that problem,” Buenaventura said. “It’s able to provide genuine value to the people who are using it, and it’s also sustainable and very much supports having a cleaner environment as well.”
While a lot of the team’s work has been focused on cement thus far, their technology is not restrictive to one industry. The group is open to conversations with business leaders outside of the cement realm.
In August, the team will participate in a Houston-based pitch competition specific to the energy industry. They are also looking into international competitions.