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Katie Lucchesi and Chaun Sims are both students at Colorado State University who placed third in the 2006 University of Colorado at Boulder Cleantech Innovators' Challenge for their company, Bright Light Innovations.

Bright Light Innovations produces the Firefly Stove, an inexpensive stove that provides heat and electricity without emitting harmful kerosene or wood smoke. The company says it is designed for use in homes without electricity in developing countries. But the stove isn't just for cooking and warming a room. Because it uses a thermo-electric generator, a device that converts heat from the stove into electricity, the electricity generated can be used for light or stored in a battery for use at a later time.

Since placing third and winning $5,000 in the contest, Bright Light Innovations has received a grant from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, which allowed the team to build and field test prototype stoves in India. The team, now working on a redesigned stove based on the field test results, expects that an updated model will be available in limited quantities later this year. Team members expect to establish a profitable business within a few years.

Katie Lucchesi is a senior at Colorado State University and expects to graduate in 2007.