CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. — Thomas More University welcomed 80 students selected to participate in the three-week Governor's School for Entrepreneurs program. Students from across Kentucky were coached on entrepreneurial skills and then presented a product or prototype for the chance to win prize money.

Rising senior Summer Brown carefully studied her script as she prepared to go on stage with her four peers to give a presentation of a lifetime.

“I feel a little nervous, but I think feeling nervous is a good thing because it means that this is something big," she said. "This is something exciting.”

Brown was one of 160 students selected to participate in this year’s GSE program, designed to help high schoolers develop entrepreneurial skills and present their unique ideas at the end of the three weeks.

Brown and her team members designed a project called "Athena," a female test dummy with a realistic height and weight for test driving.

While on stage, the team members shared dozens of statistics, including how women are likelier to get injured and die in car crashes, as cars are often safer for men than women. 

Member Ananya Polepalli said when they saw those statistics, there was no question on their project's focus. 

"We realized how impactful it would be if we came up with the solution and how real the problem is," Polepalli said. "We really just couldn't choose a different problem other than this one."

Anne Jewell, GSE president, said each year she becomes more impressed by the students' projects. 

"Every single year, these students are coming up with ideas that are making a difference, to make a better world and make a better, stronger, more vibrant Kentucky, from county to county, across the entire commonwealth," Jewell said. 

After all her hard work, Brown said she couldn't be happier. 

"I feel on top of the world right now," she said.