Powermonger FTW! :)

There's one thing though to keep in mind (as I tested these waters for a software project when I was a student) depending on the university (public/private) and what sorts of bylaws they have regarding creation of intellectual property, you may have to design a specific contract to get around these clauses (if possible) which may state that any participation in such a project WHILE they are student automatically transfers rights to the University. We managed to have a post-grad optical physicist sign an NDA and a contract with us though no work he did was actually ever "transferred" or utilized by us, as the question was still not clear as to whether any work he would undertake would actually belong to him or the university.

The university I dealt with in particular had a "commercial arm" which dealt with projects created by faculty etc., and sought to commercialize these efforts. You may want to see if something like that exists -- at the very least you could get a fair review on the merits of your project (and yes they did sign an NDA).

But anyway, what could ensue is a messy legal problem. My advice would be to make sure you carefully read the research rules and provisions and, if you're up for it, have a sit down with the equivalent of the research provost and/or their legal counsel or you may be finding yourself sitting down with them anyway!