Lumi lights up homes with 3D decor Student trio takes first place for their business idea at Great Ideas Competition BY MENORAH LOCK
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umi, a light décor 3D model printing business, took first place over hundreds of candidates in the BYU–Hawaii Great Ideas competition under the revenue category. “I put my life on it,” said Ezra Dwayne, the founder of Lumi, who is a senior information technology major from the Philippines. Besides passion for his business, he said having good mentors and team members made them stand out among other high-quality contestants. Dwayne said he has been building the business for several months and has put a lot of effort into it. “I didn't sleep because I was busy creating the design and software,” he said. He added this made him too tired for school,
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resulting in him receiving a failing grade for one of his classes in the previous semester. Dwayne explained the idea of selling 3D models for a business developed due to the pandemic. Dwayne said he was certified in AutoCAD (computer-aided design) several years ago. During COVID-19, Dwayne said he designed sacrament trays using 3D printing and gave them to Church members who couldn't take the sacrament at Church but did so at home. Members started to ask if he could build temples, so he said he began designing temples. Lights were added eventually, and a business idea, Lumi, slowly evolved, shared Dwayne.
Eager to win at the Great Ideas, this was the third time Dwayne joined the competition. He said his business professors and mentors didn't want him to lose because of how many times he tried to win at the competition, so they introduced Alison Orton, a sophomore from Utah majoring in computer science, a finance expert, and Taffie Kwok, a senior from Hong Kong majoring in communication, who was good at marketing, to assist Dwayne's business. “Our team works really well. We helped each other out and had good team responsibility. Someone's weakness is someone's strength,” Kwok said. “Oh, good mentors,” she added. “They really help us a lot.”
