Abraham Duran, a senior Electrical Engineering and Barrett Honors student, has always combined his passion for entrepreneurship with a drive to enhance the lives of others. Through his innovative venture, SafeStove, Abraham is addressing a critical issue: the prevention and detection of residential cooking fires—the leading cause of home fires.
Abraham’s journey began with personal inspiration. Growing up, he spent many afternoons with his grandmother, a devoted cook who delighted in preparing meals for her family. However, her occasional forgetfulness in turning off the stove caused repeated moments of anxiety. Abraham vividly recalls how she would often interrupt her errands to rush home and check if the stove was left on. This experience planted the seed for his idea, but it wasn’t until later that he realized how widespread the problem was.
According to the National Fire Incident Report (2017–2019), an average of 187,500 residential cooking fires were reported annually, leading to over half a billion dollars in property damage, thousands of injuries, and hundreds of tragic deaths. The primary cause? Unattended equipment at the stove. Recognizing the scale of the issue, Abraham set out to create a solution that is both effective and accessible.
SafeStove is the result of his vision: an affordable, user-friendly stove monitoring device that brings peace of mind to its users. The device magnetically attaches to the range hood and combines two key technologies—an ultrasonic sensor to detect motion and an infrared array sensor to monitor thermal heat. SafeStove takes safety a step further by integrating with a mobile application, allowing users to receive real-time alerts and even contact emergency services via Wi-Fi if necessary.
Reflecting on his entrepreneurial journey, Abraham shares, “SafeStove is more than just a product; it’s a commitment to safeguarding homes and lives. This venture has allowed me to merge my engineering expertise with a mission to solve a real-world problem, creating value for families everywhere.”
Abraham’s story exemplifies how engineering and entrepreneurship intersect to drive meaningful change. By turning a personal challenge into an innovative solution, he is proving that even the smallest ideas, born from lived experiences, can ignite big changes in the world.
Click here to watch Abraham’s pitch for SafeStove.
Click here to access SafeStove’s pitch slides.
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Want to see how SafeStove would look like? Check Below:
