Rice undergraduate students square off in business plan competition

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Competition develops business savvy as well as new technologies

HOUSTON -- (May 4, 2011)-- Rice University undergraduate students will compete for top honors in the Second Annual Rice University Technology Venture Challenge, a business plan competition on Thursday, May 5, 9:30 am – 5:30 pm, in the Shell Auditorium in the Jones Graduate School of Business.  Students will present business plans for new technology ventures.

Teams will introduce diverse ventures ranging from a solar-powered electric vehicle, improved tools for liposuction, low-cost vision testing device for individuals from developing countries, improved dry-eye diagnostic tool, improved defibrillator to ensure proper placement, and others.

The competition was founded by the Rice undergraduate student entrepreneurship club, CoRE, which stands for the Community of Rice Entrepreneurs.   The campus-wide competition is open to all Rice undergraduate students.   The competition is supported by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership (RCEL), and Finger Interests, a local investment firm headed by Jerry Finger, who is also an Adjunct Professor in Management at the Jones School.
In its second year, 11 teams will compete, more than doubling the number of competitors from 2010.  Teams will compete for three cash prizes totaling $8,750, up 75% over the inaugural year.   The grand prize is $5,000 in cash. More than 25 judges from the Houston business and investment community will evaluate the business plan presentations and will select the winners based of viability of their technology and the potential market and feasibility of the business plan.

CoRE president and senior engineering student, Sean Sessel, conceived of the competition last year and with the help of Rice University organizations has doubled the participation and the prize money in one year. “Engineering leadership is more than crunching the numbers,” said Sessel. “Engineers need to take their innovations out into the world. This is one of the most potent facets of innovation. It is what pushes us forward as a society. To help Rice engineering students develop those skills is the main focus of our competition.

The teams have been coached in presenting their business plans by Dr. Tom Kraft, Director of New Technology Ventures Development with the Rice Alliance and Lecturer at the Jones School and by Kim Kimmey, also a Lecturer in Business Communications at the Jones School.
“Engineers are problem solvers,” said Maria Oden, Ph.D., professor in the practice, Department of Bioengineering, and director, Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen, George R. Brown School of Engineering. “When the technical aspects of the problem are solved they tend to move on to the next engineering challenge. We hope with entrepreneurial education and exposure to the possibility of commercialization of their work will help them ensure that their final designs are truly useful in the marketplace.”

Brad Burke, managing director of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship expanded on the competition. “The event was created to expose engineering students to the possibility and process of commercializing the technologies they create,” said Burke. “We hope that a number of these projects will move forward and become commercial successes and result in the formation of new start-up ventures.”

Competing teams in order of presentation:

Zikomo
ClimaTears
Dealicious
Rice Solar Car
mobileVision
Off Lotus
Lanar
Team CrowdAround
Strikeout
SIGMA

About the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership

TheRice Center for Engineering Leadershipstrives to develop in our students the foresight to identify our world's pressing problems, the resolve to tackle these challenges, and a passion for innovative solutions.

We shall urge students to combine the technical excellence that characterizes aRice Engineeringeducation with the ability to lead generously, communicate effectively, and design creatively. We shall nurture students fluent in the international and entrepreneurial aspects of their craft, mindful of their voice in the public square, and inspired by the opportunity to enrich the common good.

About CoRE

CoRE, the Community of Rice Entrepreneurs, is the student organization at Rice University that encourages members of the Rice community to become more proficient in skills and understanding required for entrepreneurship and aid in helping them do so.  CoRE attempts to provide resources to aid students with entrepreneurial ambitions in achieving their career goals.  For more information, please visit:http://core.rice.edu.

About the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship (Rice Alliance)

Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship (Rice Alliance) is Rice University’s nationally-recognized initiative devoted to the support of technology commercialization, entrepreneurship education, and the launch of technology companies. 

Since inception, the Rice Alliance has assisted in the launch of more than 250 start-ups which have raised more than half-a-billion dollars in early-stage capital. More than 1,000 early-stage companies have presented at the 125+ programs hosted by the Rice Alliance.

Recent recognition:

  - 2011 #14 Best U.S. Graduate Entrepreneurship Program – US News & World Report
  - 2011 National Model MBA Entrepreneurship Program – USASBE
  - 2010 #6 Best U.S. Graduate Entrepreneurship Program – Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine
  - 2009 Outstanding Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership - GCEC
  - 2009 Outstanding Technology Entrepreneurship Program – USASBE
  - 2009 Marketer of the Year – American Marketing Association
  - 2008 Houston’s Greatest Economic Development Ally – Greater Houston Partnership

Mary Lynn Fernau
Director of Marketing
Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship
Jones School of Business, Room 134
Rice University
6100 Main St.
Houston, TX  77005
Phone:  713-348-5374
Fax: 713-348-3110
Email: mlfernau@rice.edu

www.alliance.rice.edu

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