The winners of this year's Marquette University Kohler Center for Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition presented a coffee mug that could speed up your time at a coffee shop.

The winning product, known as "Smug: The Intelligent Coffee Mug," can swipe coffee orders like a debit card, detracting the cost from a prepaid balance.

Timothy Kirberg, a senior in the College of Communication and a member of the winning group, said Smug "acts as a gift card" at coffee shops, and uses the same technology as the I-Pass, a digital prepaid toll collection system in Illinois. Kirberg said the coffee mug uses radio frequency identification technology to measure a balance on the mug.

He said the coffee mug will be available for use in coffee shops once the systems have been installed.

As of now, the only partner the group has is the Wisconsin brand Stone Creek Coffee, Kirberg said, but it will be looking for more partners if the software testing is successful. He said testing would begin next month in one of the eight Stone Creek locations in Milwaukee.

"If all goes well, we will take the technology to other locations," Kirberg said.

He said he has been working more on the Web site the technology will use. Christopher Hallberg, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences, created and designed the product. Hallberg, who was an engineering student his freshman year, said the experience helped in developing Smug.

Hallberg said group members had partnered with Stone Creek after their competition adviser had made the connection for them. It also helped that the design of the mugs used at Stone Creek fit perfectly with the technology, he said. The group has already talked to the mug manufacturer to place the technology for testing next month.

Hallberg said they have not completely settled on the pricing for Smug. Consumers will either pay $10 for the mug, then pay to start a balance, or pay $30 and have a balance already set. He said the technology is patent pending, but the group hopes to pitch the technology to others if testing goes well.

"We would like to have a partner with 30 locations," Hallberg said. "The more locations use the technology, the faster it will serve the public."

The group competed against 15 others and won a $1,500 cash prize, Kirberg said.

Timothy Keane, director of the Kohler Center for Entrepreneurship, said the purpose of the competition is to get students to try out their ideas. He said 75 percent of businesses use entrepreneurial methods, and students should be skilled in this area.

"Many students end up owning their own business," Keane said. "Small companies and businesses are essential to our economy."