Motwani, who is about to complete his MBA, admits that simultaneously studying and launching a business has been tough, but in other ways helpful in that he has been immediately able to translate business theory into hard practice.

CNN: The MBA entrepreneurs

"It's a tough question, " said Kiesling, a civil engineering professor at Texas Tech University who has spent his life studying tornadoes and developing above-ground storm shelters to protect against them.

CNN: A tornado's heading your way: Now what?