![](\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2021\/12\/Zac-Young-Photo-4_edited.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Zac Young wakes each morning prepared to slay dragons. The recent graduate in mechanical engineering isn\u2019t armed with a sword, shield or helmet. Instead, he\u2019s gifted with determination to tackle problems, never-ending curiosity and a tiny gadget that might just be the next big thing in the utilities industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cSlaying dragons\u201d started as a joke from a colleague and has quickly become a common phrase around Vulcan Line Tools<\/a> that always brings a laugh.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you have a tremendous task in front of you, there\u2019s nothing you can\u2019t resolve if you\u2019re working hard,\u201d said Young, who founded Vulcan Line Tools, maker of the portable Wave Timer. \u201cIf there\u2019s a problem, we simply say to ourselves, \u2018We\u2019re going to slay that dragon.\u2019 Though my startup has been successful quickly, I don\u2019t have a huge pie in the sky goal of making billions of dollars. I prefer to analyze whatever problem is before us in the moment \u2014 even the tiny ones \u2014 attacking them and moving on to the next problem.\u201d<\/p>\n Before Vulcan Line Tools became an entrepreneurship success, Young spent countless hours with electronic components spread atop his dining room table \u2014 where the Wave Timer was born \u2014 in the Creekside Trailer Park.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was working in the trailer, I was never thinking, \u2018Yeah, I can\u2019t wait until this is a multi-million dollar idea,\u2019\u201d said Young, who grew up in Chelsea with a desire to join the U.S. Marine Corps. \u201cIt was more like, \u2018Hey, how in the world am I going to get this button to connect to a circuit board?\u2019 I was literally beating my head against the wall the whole summer. But I\u2019d focus on one little problem at a time, solve it, then move on to the next problem to solve.\u201d<\/p>\n Thus, the Wave Timer was created, one slayed dragon at a time.<\/p>\n The Wave Timer is a 5-inch, 3D-printed and half-pound plastic and Nylon 11 apparatus that improves power line efficiency and safety for line workers.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce placed along a power line, the Wave Timer measures sag, tension and temperature,\u201d Young said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis allows utilities the ability to ensure the lines are installed correctly and are operating safely. For now, some of the other tools used to do this are either too slow or expensive, so they\u2019re a burden on the workflow. You simply strap the Wave Timer on the power line and it\u2019s able to measure information and produce data that\u2019s meaningful,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n When he realized he was on to something, Young founded Vulcan Line Tools in 2019 and utilized Auburn University\u2019s New Venture Accelerator \u2014 8,000 square feet of office and team collaboration space with resident experts within the Auburn Research Park. There, Young transitioned from an innovative engineer to a full-fledged entrepreneur.<\/p>\n \u201cI was working at that old kitchen table when I received a call from Lou Bifano [director of entrepreneurship at Auburn University], and he said, \u2018Let\u2019s get you out of that trailer and into a real office.\u2019 Time at the Accelerator with Lou and Scott McGlon [entrepreneur-in-residence] really helped me understand business principles I needed and prepared me to pitch my product,\u201d Young said.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce you begin pitch competitions, you\u2019re repeating yourself and you get a feel for standing in front of judges,\u201d he added. \u201cIt becomes easier and you become more confident in yourself and the product you\u2019re pitching.\u201d<\/p>\n Practice immediately paid off. Within weeks of moving into the Accelerator, Young wowed judges at the 2020 SEC Student Pitch Competition, winning first place and $5,000.<\/p>\n But that was only the beginning.<\/p>\n Young\u2019s Wave Timer continued to roll through Auburn\u2019s annual Tiger Cage Business Pitch Competition last spring, winning $27,500, then another $25,000 at Alabama Launchpad.<\/p>\n Armed with credibility from industry professional judges, startup capital, an Auburn Engineering degree and with a powerful nucleus of potential customers, Vulcan Line Tools is primed to become a household name in the utility industry. Where it once took months to create one Wave Timer, Young and business partner Hayden Patteson, a 2021 Auburn mechanical engineering graduate from Lakeland, Florida, can make one in 45 minutes and have dozens in stock, ready for delivery.<\/p>\n While he was still in college, word of Young\u2019s success quickly spread and a lucrative offer to sell from a billion dollar company was made, creating arguably the most difficult business decision Young faced. Selling to an investor, or a large corporation, is often the dream of young entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s just say for a college kid it was a lot of money,\u201d Young noted. \u201cBut I\u2019m not really driven by money. If I sold out to them, then went to work for them, I wouldn\u2019t have the freedom to build this company how I want. I\u2019m young. My company\u2019s young. If I\u2019d sold out to them, I would no longer have control of this really cool device and company that I\u2019ve created. I know for a fact that I made the right decision.\u201d<\/p>\n Young, who said he could \u201cwrite a novel about all the stuff he\u2019s learned already\u201d refuses to take anything for granted and offered advice to student innovators.<\/p>\n Failure doesn\u2019t always mean failure.<\/p>\n \u201cNo matter what \u2013 go for it! The knowledge and experience you will gain from running a startup, even if it doesn\u2019t succeed, will vastly outweigh anything,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve had other ideas that didn\u2019t work out before the Wave Timer, even a mobile wakeboard-pulling machine built from the frame of a go-kart. I can\u2019t call them failures. I learned. Lessons learned from ideas that don\u2019t work out can be applied to that one great idea that blossoms. Then you can really sink your teeth into something.\u201d<\/p>\n Tough choices will be made.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of these decisions are going to alter the course of your company, and also personally, for the rest of your life,\u201d he said. \u201cBe careful. Pray about this stuff and go with your gut. Once you\u2019ve made a decision, move forward and don\u2019t look back.\u201d<\/p>\n You are the face of the company.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve learned a lot about leadership in the past year,\u201d Young said. \u201cThe way you come to work each day impacts the morale of the company. Come in to work fired up and don\u2019t show frustration when something goes wrong, and it will. When that happens, just put on a brave face and figure out how to fix the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n You\u2019ll have ups and downs.<\/p>\n \u201cCreating a startup is like a roller-coaster ride,\u201d Young said. \u201cYou\u2019ll have great weeks, and then you\u2019ll have tough weeks that make you sometimes question yourself or your product. When you get down, that\u2019s when you need to either change, adapt or just keep plugging away.\u201d<\/p>\n While the Wave Timer is gaining traction in the utilities sector, Young and Patteson aren\u2019t settling on designing just one device. After all, they\u2019re Auburn engineers. Another gadget is secretly brewing at Vulcan Line Tools. What is it?<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re keeping this under wraps just a bit,\u201d Young said.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s just say it measures stuff for power lines. We\u2019re trying to expand the product line a little bit. I can\u2019t believe how far we\u2019ve come in a year\u2019s time, so it\u2019s difficult to imagine where we\u2019ll be a year from now,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n He added that overcoming challenges has prepared him for what\u2019s ahead.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a year, I\u2019ve written an iPhone app from scratch, built a device with a circuit board with Bluetooth technology on a kitchen table in a trailer park with no prior experience, pitched to companies with no prior experience, hired and managed employees, managed books for a company with no experience, and most of all, woke up every morning and busted my ass to make this dream come true,\u201d Young said.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2021\/12\/Zac-Young-Photo-8.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2021\/12\/Zac-Young-Photo-5.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ecm.eng.auburn.edu\/wp\/emag\/files\/2021\/12\/Zac-Young-Photo-6.jpg\")
<\/a>