A local newspaper wrote about the pilot, but the article used a group photograph and placed our names far below the headline. My father never mentioned it. My mother did not share the link I sent her, although she posted three pictures from Ryan's networking dinner that same weekend. When I called Dad to say we had been invited to present our results to a county housing committee, he asked whether I had finally applied for a proper job. "I have a job," I said. "Several, actually." He sighed and told me I was getting defensive. After the call, I sat on the laboratory floor among cardboard boxes and wondered why a stranger could see the worth of our work more clearly than the people who had watched me grow up.
During my final academic year, Priya and I incorporated Lantern Community Systems with help from the university's small-business legal clinic. We signed an agreement that defined our contributions and made sure Professor Malik's research support was properly acknowledged. A regional engineering firm independently tested the system, and we revised the hardware again before submitting any commercial proposal. It would have been easier to take shortcuts; we were tired, short of money, and frightened of losing momentum. But I kept thinking about Mrs. Alvarez's grandson and the difference between a device that looked impressive and a service someone could trust. Our proposal to the county involved not merely equipment but installation support, maintenance, resident training, and independent oversight.
The county procurement process took months. We attended public hearings, answered difficult questions, corrected two pricing errors, and listened while larger companies described systems with far more expensive features. Sometimes I was convinced we would lose. Priya thought the panel favored a nationwide supplier, while our new operations adviser, Anton Brooks, believed there was room for a smaller company if we could prove local accountability. We submitted evidence from our pilot and explained exactly what our product could not do. When we were shortlisted, I celebrated with supermarket cupcakes and then went straight to my evening shift. A contract was still only a possibility, and I had learned not to spend money that did not yet exist.
Three weeks before graduation, our proposal received final approval, pending the customary publication of the award and completion of required insurance documents. The county would fund Lantern's installation and maintenance program across selected older apartment buildings over three years, for a total contract ceiling of $2.4 million. That was not $2.4 million in my bank account. It was a serious public contract with payroll, manufacturing, compliance, maintenance, and performance obligations attached, and I spent the first afternoon staring at our projected expenses rather than dreaming about expensive houses. A separate foundation committed a restricted grant for resident training