Venture Capitalists,
mark your calendars for the next
Capital
Access Network Breakfast, May 9.
If you missed the March 7 Tech Visionary Series:
Understanding Video Data in a Digital World, read
the
event summary below. Also, you won't want to miss the
Human-Computer
Interaction Lab's 24th Annual Symposium
scheduled for May 31.
Entrepreneurs,
don't miss
the
Dingman Day Dinner Idea Workshop featuring the
Dingman Center's Managing Director, Asher Epstein.
Cupid's Cup Business Competition is scheduled for
May 4! Click here to
find out
more! Also, be sure to read up about
successful portfolio companies
Shop DC and
Geocentric!
Students,
get your pitches ready for our weekly Pitch Dingman
Review sessions! Our next
$500 monthly
competition is April 13. Read all about
March 2007's winners! If you have the
entrepreneurial spirit but are lacking an idea, you
will not want to miss the
Dingman Day Dinner Idea Workshop, April 10.
Students, save the date!
The
2nd Annual Cupid's Cup Business Competition is
scheduled for May
4. Come see famous UMD alum, Kevin Plank award this
year's Cupid's Cup! To
find out more,
read below or contact
Andrea
Galati.
Dingman Center
News:
Other interesting
links:
Upcoming Events
Upcoming April Events
Dingman Day Dinner —
Idea Workshop!
Join the Dingman Center
staff and the Maryland Undergraduate Society of
Entrepreneurs as they learn how to come up with the
next great entrepreneurial idea. Here from Managing
Director Asher Epstein about how to see an opening
in the market and build an entire business around
that catalyst. This interactive workshop will help
entrepreneurs think outside of the box to come up
with a sustainable business idea. Dinner will be
served.
Contact
Andrea
Galati for more details or
REGISTER
TODAY!
Tuesday, April 10,
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., 2517 Van Munching Hall
Pitch Dingman $500 Competition
— 5 minutes is all it takes to win $500!
Come to the monthly competition, present your
business idea in five minutes to a panel of judges from
the Dingman Center, and you could win
$500!
For
information about the weekly Pitch Dingman sessions
on Fridays or the monthly Pitch Dingman
competitions, e-mail
PitchDingman@rhsmith.umd.edu. Pre-registration is required for the
Pitch Dingman Competition. To register, contact
PitchDingman@rhsmith.umd.edu.
Friday, April 13, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.,
3570 Van Munching Hall
Capital Access
Network Review Day
Students and faculty are invited to hear start-up
companies present to our
Entrepreneurs-in-Residence and Dingman staff as they
prepare for Capital Access Network angel investor
presentations. Listen to feedback by our experts,
give some advice of your own, and learn about some
of the new businesses being started today. It's a
great experience for everyone!
To Register, click here!!
—
Presentations begin
at 10:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.
Please arrive promptly for the time slots you wish
to attend.
Friday,
April 27, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m., 3570 Van
Munching Hall
Upcoming May Events
Cupid's Cup
Business Competition — Finals round, Kevin Plank
keynote speaker!
Come watch the 5
finalists present their business pitch to Kevin
Plank, UMD alum and CEO of Under Armour for the
chance to win $22,500 in prize money. Who has the
next billion dollar business? Kevin Plank will be
deciding on May 4! Also hear Kevin give his keynote
address on entrepreneurship and his athlete work
ethic. A winners reception that is open to the audience will
follow. Join us in this exciting annual event!
REGISTER TO ATTEND TODAY!
Friday, May 4, 10:00
a.m. - 12:00 p.m., 1524 Van Munching Hall
CAN Breakfast
(invitation only)
The CAN Breakfasts are by invitation
only to angel investors who are qualified investors
in the CAN network. Investors will have an
opportunity to hear a 10-minute presentation from
approximately four start-up entrepreneurs who are
seeking funding for their business. For more
information on the CAN Program and to participate,
contact
Jordan Lichman. The
next CAN Breakfast will be held May 9.
Pitch Dingman $500 Competition
— 5 minutes is all it takes to win $500! Last
Chance!
Come to the monthly competition, present your
business idea in five minutes to a panel of judges from
the Dingman Center, and you could win
$500!
For
information about the weekly Pitch Dingman sessions
on Fridays or the monthly Pitch Dingman
competitions, e-mail
PitchDingman@rhsmith.umd.edu. Pre-registration is required for the
Pitch Dingman Competition. To register, contact
PitchDingman@rhsmith.umd.edu.
Friday, May 11, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.,
3570 Van Munching Hall
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2nd Annual
Cupid's Cup Business Competition
Save the Date! May 4, 2007
Cupid's arrow may have gotten you, now go for
his Cup!
Cupid's Cup Business
Competition - Final Round May 4th
Free General Admission -
Register
Today to Attend!
1524 Van Munching
Hall - Frank Auditorium
Guest Speaker: Kevin Plank, CEO of Under Armour and
UMD alum
 Cupid's Cup
is
an annual
business
competition
showcasing young
entrepreneurs
from the
University of
Maryland. This
competition is
made possible by
one of UMD's most
successful
entrepreneurs,
Kevin Plank, CEO
of Under Armour,
whose generous
donation of
$22,500 is
awarded each
year to the
first and second
place companies.
Come watch the 5 finalists present their
business pitch to Kevin Plank, UMD alum and CEO of Under Armour for
the chance to win $22,500 in prize money. Who has the next billion
dollar business? Kevin Plank will be deciding May 4th! Also hear
Kevin give his keynote address on entrepreneurship and his athlete
work ethic. A winners reception open to the audience will follow.
Join us in this exciting annual event!
The 2nd annual competition will
be held Friday, May 4, in Frank Auditorium
Van Munching Hall. Visit our
Cupid's Cup Website to learn more about
the competition, or
contact
Andrea Galati
for
additional information.
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Smith
CEO Conference: Turning Passion into Profit
Keynote Speaker: Skip Yowell,
co-founder of JanSport
The Smith CEO (Collegiate
Entrepreneur’s Organization) in conjunction with
the Robert H. Smith School of Business of the
University of Maryland at College Park, The
Universities at Shady Grove, The Dingman Center
for Entrepreneurship, and the Hotel and
Restaurant Management Department of the University
of Maryland Eastern Shore are proud to present:
Turning your Passion into Profit:
A Conference on the Entrepreneurial Spirit.
This event will be held on April 14, 2007, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Universities at Shady
Grove at 9630 Gudelsky Drive, Rockville, Md., 20850.
Topics covered by Turning your Passion into Profit
will help the budding and the experienced
entrepreneur with professional advice and networking
opportunities. For a full list of speakers and
additional information please visit the
Conference
website!
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HCIL/Dingman
Center Seminar Series
The HCIL/Dingman Center for
Entrepreneurship Seminar Series offers a common
ground that can promote interdisciplinary discussion
on a wide range of topics relating to Human-Computer
Interaction.
These lectures are free
and open to the public. We ask all attendees to RSVP
by sending an email to:
hcil-info@cs.umd.edu
to ensure enough space is available.
For more information about the
speaker series and to read bios on
all guest speakers visit the
Seminar Series website!
Abstract: Interface
design researchers are in a position of constant
tension between the specific and the general. On the
specific side, the principles of user-centred design
suggest that involvement of users throughout the
design process is essential to achieve a
satisfactory outcome. Users not only suggest
specifications but also assist in iterative testing
and refinement. Participatory design pushes this
involvement even further, and seeks to actively
involve users as co-designers. On the general side,
researchers often hope to develop and test concepts
that extend beyond a specific user community or
subject domain. For example, a search algorithm that
would work only in a particular document collection
would not be highly prized as a successful
algorithm. However, it is impossible to properly
study an algorithm without applying it to specific
collections and their users.
Somewhere in the middle of
this terrain of the specific and the general, we
propose locating a “designerly” approach to research
that emphasizes transferability, where research
occurs through the user-centred or participatory
development of specific design solutions, but these
prototypes are then transferred or transformed to
other specific design solutions for different kinds
of users in different subject domains (Chow and
Ruecker Forthcoming). This presentation examines
three examples of such interface design clusters,
where an original project has been conducted, then
transformed and transferred to a new subject area
with new tasks for a different group of users. These
clusters are formed around the mandala browser (Cheypesh
et al. 2006), the digital playbook (Sinclair et al.
2006), and the delegate browser (Ruecker et al.
2006). Based on these projects, we can begin a
preliminary discussion of the characteristics of
design transferability, as well as the kinds of
research questions it facilitates. First, it seems
clear that some projects are already more generally
applicable than others. For example, the mandala
browser was conceived of as a general mechanism for
browsing any collection or individual document
encoded in XML. It is therefore not a design that is
particularly transferable, since it was never very
specific to begin with. On the other hand, the
digital playbook, which also relies on XML, was
specifically intended for actors, directors, and
students of plays. Variants of the digital playbook
that are currently being prototyped include one for
studying football plays (Ruecker et al.
Forthcoming), and another for examining traffic
patterns. In terms of the kinds of research made
possible by transferable designs, there are insights
to be developed both about the general principles
that inform each cluster, and about the specifics of
the deployment of the design within each domain and
its user community. As Jonas (2000) suggests, the
result can be the iterative construction of a
knowledge base full of ‘quasi-objects,’ consisting
of both the results of investigating general
principles and the details derived from studying the
particulars of each design instance.
Biography: Dr. Stan
Ruecker is an Assistant Professor of Humanities
Computing in the Department of English and Film
Studies at the University of Alberta. He is a
graduate of the University of Regina (BA Hons
English 1985, BSc Computer Science 1988), the
University of Toronto (MA English 1989), and the
University of Alberta (MDes 1999, PhD 2003). His PhD
research was on the affordances of prospect for
computer interfaces to large, interpretively-tagged
text collections. His postdoctoral research dealt
with browsing interfaces for electronic documents.
His current research interests are in the areas of
computer-human interfaces, humanities visualization,
and information design.
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Event Summaries
Dingman Day Lunch featuring Allen Andersson of
PaperBoy Ventures
—
March 2
By
Lisa Rassenti
Watch the full presentation!
At the Dingman Day Lunch
March 2, the lively and inspirational Allen
Andersson, 62, founder of PaperBoy Ventures, spoke
about how he caught the entrepreneurial bug,
strategies for success and his passion for giving
back.
According to
Andersson, he got a true understanding of
entrepreneurship from his father who was a
carpenter. Although he grew up relatively poor,
Andersson learned early on what it meant to be
self-employed and, at just 5 years old, he began
knitting potholders and selling them for 25 cents
each. His next job was as a paperboy¬- something he
took great pride in that would later become the name
of is company. When it came time for Andersson to go
to college, he chose to enroll in MIT because it
didn’t require a high school diploma. While in
college, Andersson went to Mexico to avoid the draft
and then later joined the Peace Corps and worked in
Honduras. He later returned to MIT where he
graduated with a BA in Math.
After working for a
short time as a computer programmer, Andersson felt
the need to work more independently and became a
project manager, but still felt that he wasn’t
allowed enough creative freedom. “I became an
entrepreneur out of self defense. It was the only
thing I couldn’t get fired from,” Andersson said.
His first
entrepreneurial experience came with the development
of a software program. The quick success drove
Andersson to get involved with about a dozen
different ventures over the next 12 years, none of
which proved to be as profitable as the first. His
big break came when he found a company that made a
type of diabetes medicine that his daughter needed.
The company was going under and Andersson decided to
buy it- turning it in to a huge success. The
experience led him to his current role at PaperBoy
Ventures.
“PaperBoy Ventures
works with companies that are far away from
profitability. They are high risk companies with
valuable science products, much like the diabetes
medicine. One fabulous project we are working on is
The Rieken Foundation which builds libraries in
dozens of remote communities in Honduras and
Guatemala. We help companies like this figure out
how to make a profit and then exit the company when
we prove to the world that the company has value,”
Andersson said.
The company is made
up of 12 people working on finding great ideas and
businesses, six people spending money in South
America to bring about prosperity and democracy and
another 40 dealing with research. In fact, it looks
much like a Venture Capital firm.
Andersson is proud of
the way his company gives back and advised that
“everyone has the possibility to change the lives of
millions. Think about what could be done and the
opportunity will come when you least expect it.”
Technology Visionary Series - Understanding Video
Data in a Digital World
—
March 7
By Lisa Rassenti
On March 7, The Dingman Center
hosted The Technology Visionary Series:
Understanding Video Data in a Digital World. The
event was centered on a panel discussion that
brought together researchers and thought leaders
from the University of Maryland to provide insight
to the venture capital community. Together, they
discussed how to understand technological
developments surrounding video data and digital
technology and what market opportunities will be
ripe for investment over the coming years. Panelists
included Min Wu, Ph. D., Associate Professor of
Electrical and Computer Engineering and Institute
for Advanced Computer Studies, Yang Tao, Ph.D.,
P.E., Professor and Graduate Director of the
Bio-imaging and Machine Vision Laboratory and Paul
Brewer, a 1999 MBA alum and Co-Founder and Vice
President of New Technology. Here is some of their
input in to emerging technologies:
Min Wu - Topic: Component
Forensics and Intrinsic Fingerprints within Digital
Images
- Digital imaging devices
have brought about a number of forensic and
provenance questions, including how an image was
generated; from where an image was from; what
has been done on the image since its creation,
by whom, when and how.
- There is a need for
multimedia forensics
- This includes digital
fingerprints which are imbedded to each
multimedia piece of info. Fingerprints are
specific codes that cannot be detected by the
human eye
- If/when the multimedia
info is leaked, the pixel fingerprint can be
detected to identify which user leaked the
information (this can be very useful in
political situations)
- Intensive competition in
imaging technologies has been accompanied by an
increasing number of patent infringement
lawsuits with high stake
- Imaging companies can
analyze competitors technology to better develop
their own
Yang Tao - Topic: Machine
Vision
- Automated machine vision
and imaging can convert labor intensive work
into cost-effective production through machine
intelligence.
- Information on
high-potential advanced technologies in food and
medical areas will be given.
- A few patent pending
technologies will be illustrated including
automated food processing in-line detections,
low-dose CT cancer screening, and multi-spectral
monochromatic radiological imaging in future
diagnostic business
- Industrial Implications:
LasXer (an x-ray product used to inspect poultry
for the poultry industry)
- Medical Implications:
Multi-energy x-ray filter (monochromatic x-ray
filter that makes x-rays drastically clearer)
- This improves the read
for many diseases and aids in mammograms
- Security Implications:
Multi-energy x-rays can be used in airports
- X-rays can detect various
levels of energies, including liquids, gels,
powders, etc.
Paul Brewer - Topic:
Intelligent Video Surveillance
- Surveillance limitations
increase risk in security situations
- After only 20 minutes
human attention span wanes
- Object Video software can
help by adding security rules, watching
surveillance 24 hours a day, alerting
authorities when a rule is broken
- Object Video creates an
easy user interface for the common user
- Looking into border
patrol applications
-
Also
working on an advanced feature to include zoom
control
for assistance in crime footage.
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Smith Team Heads to International Round of
Venture Capital Investment Competition
 |
|
(left to right) Part-time MBA
students Skye Manders, Tom Whelan, Moshe
Cohen, Shad Imam, and Nat Forgotson receive
their $2,000 second-place check in the
regional VCIC round in Atlanta. |
A team of third-year part-time MBA students won
second place and received a check for $2000 in the
Southeast Regional Venture Capital Investment
Competition (VCIC). Moshe Cohen, Nat Forgotson, Shad
Imam, Skye Manders, and Tom Whelan represented the
Smith School of Business at the competition held at
Georgia Tech in Atlanta the weekend of March 9,
2007. Their second-place win guarantees the team a
spot at the International Finals, which will be held
at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in
April. This marks the first time a team from Smith
has advanced to the finals since 2001. (See
below for a full list of teams competing in the
finals.)
“We are really honored to
represent the Smith School in the competition. Our
team has great rapport and we have complementary but
diverse sets of skills that have helped us get this
far. We are looking forward to the next round,” said
team member Moshe Cohen.
The Smith team beat out teams
from the business schools at Carnegie Mellon (Tepper),
Duke University (Fuqua), Emory University (Goizueta),
Indiana University (Kelley), and the University of
Pennsylvania (Wharton). The team from the University
of Virginia (Darden) took first place and the team
from the University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler)
was awarded Entrepreneurs’ Choice.
As part of the competition,
the Smith team reviewed five companies seeking
venture financing: a Web 2.0 company creating a
community for the 50+ demographic, a video gaming
hardware manufacturer, a medical device firm, an
Internet retailer of kits for electrical hobbyists,
and a designer of health monitors for the elderly
and infirm. After reviewing the companies’ business
plans, hearing pitches from the entrepreneurs, and
participating in a closed-door Q&A session with the
entrepreneurs, the team selected one company for
investment. The team was judged on a variety of
factors ranging from interaction with the
entrepreneurs, to company valuation, and
presentation of the terms of investment.
”We examined all of the
business opportunities carefully and in the end went
with the one that we felt had the strongest
management team and viable idea,” said Skye Manders.
The team was coached by New
Venture Financing Professor Andrew Sherman, Managing
Director of the New Markets Growth Fund, Mark Grovic,
and by last year’s VCIC team, which included
second-year full-time students Susannah Campbell,
Anne Engebretsen, Avraham Lerner, Mark Slusser, and
Karl Olson. In addition, the Dingman Center for
Entrepreneurship and the Entrepreneurship Club
provided financial support to send the students to
the Southeast Regionals.
“The feedback and support we
received has been invaluable. We look forward to
working with our coaches and using our experiences
in Atlanta to prepare us for the next round,” said
team member Shad Imam.
The Venture Capital Investment
Competition® began in the middle of the technology
bubble in 1998 as an educational event for MBAs to
learn about venture funding. Now in its tenth year,
through good times and bad in the venture industry,
VCIC® has evolved into a marketplace for
entrepreneurs seeking investors and a training
ground for future venture capitalists. In 2007, VCIC
will include 40 events in North America, Europe and
Asia, and will serve 500 students, 150 venture
capitalists and 100 entrepreneurs.
The Smith team had previously won the local,
intra-school competition held February 9, 2007 on
campus. The team is
accustomed to working together – four of five team
members had previously competed in the
2006 Smith Part-Time Case Competition,
where they took home the People’s Choice Award.
The Smith team won the Entrepreneur's Choice Award
in
last year's regional competition,
and
placed second in the national competition in 2001.
For more on the Venture Capital Investment
Competition, visit
www.vcic.unc.edu.
To get Nat Forgotson’s take on the competition and
other aspects of his school experience, read his
blog at
http://blogs.rhsmith.umd.edu/nat/
▓
Susannah Campbell, MBA Candidate
2007, Smith Media Group
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Terrapin Celebrates Wins the
March 2007 Round of the
Pitch Dingman Competition
Alana Williams and Jade Steele win
$500 for five-minute business pitch
The Dingman Center for
Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland’s
Robert H. Smith School of Business held its second
Pitch Dingman” competition of Spring 2007 on Friday,
March 9, 2007. Pitch Dingman is a monthly contest
open to all members of the University of Maryland
community – including students, faculty and staff –
that is designed to promote entrepreneurship and the
launch of new businesses. The format allows for a
five-minute presentation of a business idea followed
by three minutes of questions and feedback. The
contest judges include a combination of Dingman
staff, MBA student scholars, and
Entrepreneurs-in-Residence.
Alana Williams and Jade Steele, seniors at the
University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of
Business, won the March 2007 Pitch Dingman
Competition with their business idea, Terrapin
Celebrates. In their winning presentation, Williams
and Steele described Terrapin Celebrates as “a cake
delivery service that provides University of
Maryland parents, family, and friends an opportunity
to give their student a birthday cake and party
favors to celebrate their special day.” By offering
a broad array of cakes and party favors, the
business is sure to make any event unique and
memorable. The Terrapin Celebrates team will use the
$500 prize to begin a focused marketing effort and
develop a website,
www.terrapincelebrates.com, that will be online
in early April (ed. note: as of April 4, the site is
active!). Williams and Steele honed their business
idea and practiced their pitch by attending several
Pitch Dingman work sessions leading up to the
competition day. According to Williams, “I’m really
glad we really took advantage of the suggestions,
expertise, and knowledge of the Dingman Center staff
to get our business off the ground.”
The Pitch Dingman Competition is held monthly at the
Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the
University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of
Business. Competition dates from 2007 are: April 13,
2007; and May 11, 2007. Working sessions
(non-competitive sessions) are held at the Dingman
Center each Friday from 11am to 12 pm to assist
entrepreneurs in preparing their pitches and to
offer feedback and advice once competitors’
businesses are up and running. For more information
about the Pitch Dingman Competition, the Pitch
Dingman work sessions, and to register as a
participant, email
PitchDingman@rhsmith.umd.edu.
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Dingman Portfolio
Companies,
Shop DC and Geocentric, make the headlines!
University
of Maryland Alumnus’
Shopping and
Fashion Guide
Acquired by Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive
Founder will use
proceeds to support student businesses after getting
publication's start at the University of Maryland’s
business school
College Park, Md. –
March 9, 2007 –SHOP DC, a Washington, D.C.
shopping and fashion guide founded by Zoey Rawlins,
was recently acquired by Washingtonpost.Newsweek
Interactive (WPNI) and has been relaunched as DC
Scout. A former University of Maryland MBA student,
Rawlins announced she will use some of the proceeds
to benefit student entrepreneurs at the Robert H.
Smith School of Business.
Rawlins created SHOP
DC two years ago while working toward her MBA at the
Smith School and with $7,000 in startup funding from
the school’s Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship.
The Dingman Center assisted SHOP DC as part of
$50,000 in seed stage funding the center annually
makes available to student-run, start-up companies.
“It’s an amazing
opportunity to become part of
Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive and it gives me
great satisfaction to be able to leverage my success
to the advantage of other Smith School
entrepreneurs. Without the Dingman Center, SHOP DC
would never have launched or come this far,” said
Rawlins. “This is a way to say thank you.”
DC Scout caters to
online residential shoppers eager to pinpoint local
retailers, fashion trends, events and the best
neighborhoods for shopping. Rawlins launched DC
Scout on washingtonpost.com February 26, and has
joined WPNI as its brand manager for the online
product.
“We’re thrilled to
offer our users the ability to find compelling
fashion-oriented content on washingtonpost.com. We
believe that DC Scout will provide an important
service to our stylish readers and savvy local
advertisers,” said Henry Tam Jr., director, Local
Product Development, WPNI.
“Washington DC was
really lacking a local shopping and retail source.
In less than two years, Zoey came up with a concept,
turned out a successful product and is now part of
one of the world’s top media companies,” said Asher
Epstein, managing director of the Dingman Center for
Entrepreneurship. “What an inspiration! Zoey sets a
great example for the Smith School’s student
entrepreneurs and cares enough to generously share
in her success.”
Financials of the
deal were not disclosed.
Sign up for the DC
Scout e-mail newsletter at
www.washingtonpost.com
Dingman Center for
Entrepreneurship Portfolio Company,
Geocentric,
Joins Silver Spring
Incubator
College Park, Md.
– March 9, 2007 – Destination Information
Systems software maker Geocentric — a Dingman Center
for Entrepreneurship portfolio company — recently
accepted a spot in the Silver Spring Innovation
Center, a Montgomery County, Md. incubator for
early-stage and startup information technology
companies. The Dingman Center, part of the
University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of
Business, helps students and entrepreneurs
throughout the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. region
start and grow their businesses, investing in some
as portfolio companies.
“The Dingman Center’s
support and advice have been extremely helpful,”
said Geocentric President and Founder Jim Blakeslee,
who graduated with an MBA from the Robert H. Smith
School of Business in 2006. He launched the company
in 2005.
Geocentric’s software
enables Destination Marketing Organizations, such as
tourism destinations and business improvement
districts, to self-manage and self-publish
high-quality interactive maps and location-driven
content within public websites, mobile web
applications, and kiosks. The company’s
award-winning technology is showcased on interactive
guides to regional dining and shopping for clients
such as the Georgetown (DC) Business Improvement
District, the Downtown Raleigh Alliance (NC), and
the Silver Spring (MD) Arts & Entertainment
District, as well as clients in Philadelphia,
Boulder, Co., Greensboro, N.C.
“We are delighted to
welcome GeoCentric into the Silver Spring Innovation
Center and look forward to supporting the company’s
continued success,” said John Korpela, manager,
Montgomery County Incubator Network.
“Jim’s business
combines a great tool with solid technology that’s
really easy to use,” Epstein said. “Geocentric is
perfect fit for the Silver Spring Innovation Center.
It’s a Dingman Center goal to see companies move up
into incubators in the region. Not only is it great
for Geocentric, but it’s a real boon to our
program.”
The Dingman Center
has offered mentorship, programs and access to
funding for entrepreneurs in Maryland, Virginia and
Washington, D.C. for more than 20 years. Dingman
portfolio companies have a close partnership and
lasting relationship with the center. They are
selected on the basis of their long-term viability
and the management team’s objectives.
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HCIL & the Dingman Center Welcome
Visitors of
Industry
The Human Computer Interface Lab at the University
of Maryland, in partnership with the Dingman Center
welcome visitors from industry to join the HCI lab
for six months, one year or 1.5 years from around the
world. Industrial visitors come to learn about HCI,
American culture, technology, and specific projects.
Recent visitors have come from Toyota, Toshiba and
Hitachi. We work with visitors to create custom
programs that are valuable to all parties. For more
information visit the HCIL website
http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/partnerships/industrial-visitors.shtml
or contact
Asher Epstein.
The program typically can
offers:
- Office, computer,
internet, printing, etc.
- Active participation in a
research project based on mutual interest and
available opportunities.
- Ability to participate as
an HCIL lab member, joining for lunches, lab
activities, social events, etc.
- Ability to take UMD
courses (upon permission of instructor).
- Attend HCIL and UMD
seminars and other events.
- Ability to participate in
UMD activities and use UMD resources such as the
bus and gym.
Our standard fee for this is $25,000 for each
six-month period.
Please contact HCIL Director
Allison Druin
for further information.
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Smith Business
Close Up on Maryland Public Television
Surviving Past
Start-Up: How to Find Capital for Your New Business
Nearly all entrepreneurs face
challenges when it comes to finding capital for
their new ventures. It takes energy and creativity
to locate the necessary start-up financing.
In this edition of Smith
Business Close-Up, Asher Epstein, managing director
of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, gives
tips on ways to identify and leverage resources when
launching a new business.
Watch the Video: [
Real Media ] [
Windows Media ]
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Dingman
Center Program Manager Opening
Andrea Galati, Marketing and
Operations Manager has taken a position as Program
Coordinator with the University of Rochester, in
Rochester, NY. Her last day with the Dingman Center
is Friday, April 20th. We are very sad to see Andrea
leave the Center, as she was such an asset to the
program, but wish her all the best in her next
endeavor. If you have any questions about the
Dingman Center please direct your emails to
Asher
Epstein.
As a result of Andrea's move, the Dingman Center is looking to
hire a fulltime program manager to assist in
administrating and coordinating all of the Dingman
Center's programs and services. Applicants must
possess a bachelor's degree in business, or related
field and a minimum of three years of relevant
experience. Excellent written and verbal
communication skills are required as well as
proficiency in Microsoft Office.
Screening of applicants will
begin immediately and will continue until the
position is filled. Please send cover letter,
resume, and three references to: Andrea Galati,
Marketing and Operations Manager 3570 Van Munching
Hall, College Park, MD 20742 or by email at
agalati@rhsmith.umd.edu or by fax 301-314-7973.
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Buy
Your Smith-Branded Merchandise for Departmental
Speakers and Conferences at the Smith Store
 Your
VIP visitors and departmental guest speakers should
leave Smith with an elegant Smith-branded gift as a
thank you for their visit, and The Smith Store is
THE place to go for these items. The Smith Store has
been working hard to develop a selection of
high-quality merchandise that will be appreciated,
displayed and used back in your visitor's home or
office. A few of these items are shown below, and
others are available as well. With two weeks notice,
the "sky is the limit" in terms of item selection.
If you are short on time and only have a few days,
The Smith Store can help you out by providing one of
their items that is in stock.
There are a few great products in
stock this semester, ranging in price. For example, The Smith Store
has newly designed T-shirts,
sweatshirts, hats, coffee mugs, coffee thermoses,
wine openers and many more items to come.
Always available from The Smith Store is the
Smith polo shirt, available for $25.00, or brown
leather money clip wallets for $15.00.
Questions? Contact Chris Wu at
cwu38@rhsmith.umd.edu .The Smith Store is
located in 3570-U, in the Dingman Center for
Entrepreneurship. The hours of the Smith Store vary
and appointments are always available to meet
your needs.
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Greater Washington Board of Trade
Small Business
Network
launches the Small Business Academy
The Small Business
Academy offers a two-prong strategy: classroom
training and team exchange. The Academy Modules are
two afternoons per month from 4:30 - 7:00pm,
featuring a new aspect of business management each
month. The first class of the month is a mix of
lecture & presentation, and the second class is a
roundtable discussion that allows for peer exchange,
dialogue, and question and answer sessions with the
instructor. Academy faculty is comprised of Board of
Trade members with expertise in business operations,
who often offer a one-on-one pro bono session after
the class has been completed. An informal mentoring
component aligns current participants with Academy
alumni to help them navigate class structure,
content, instructors and business networks. Homework
is assigned and might be as in depth as suggesting
formal reading materials or giving a specific
assignment to complete and return, or as general as
asking participants to review any issues/concerns
they are having in their small business. The 2007
Small Business Academy Module Schedule includes:
April 26
New Academy Orientation and Academy Alumni
Networking Reception
May 3 & May 17
Marketing and Relationship Management to Promote
Your Growing Business
June 7 & June 21
Developing and Living By a Winning Business Plan
July 12 & July 26
How to Find Business Financing
Aug 8 & Aug 9
Accounting & Financial Management for Emerging
Companies (this classes will be held from 4:00 –
8:00)
Sept 6 & Sept 20
Legal and Tax Issues for Small Companies
Oct 4 & Oct 18
Two Heads Are Better Than One:
Partnering with Other Companies to Expand Your
Capacity
November 1
Feedback/Review Session
Criteria for
Academy Applicants:
- Open to business
owner only (if partnership one person should be
designated as participant)
- Minimum of one
year in business
- Annual sales of
$500,000 or less for the past year
- Not open to
franchise companies or not for profit
organizations
- Business must be
located in Greater Washington
- Business owner
must commit to full program by signing
attendance contract that allows for two absences
Tuition:
Non-member tuition is $400 and a discounted rate of
$150 is offered to Board of Trade members. Tuition
is non-refundable to all participants upon
acceptance to the program. Participants must pay
tuition by the orientation session or surrender
their place in the class to a wait-listed candidate.
To learn more and
download an application visit
www.bot.org
or contact Nicole Tarnogursky at 202-857-5940 or
NicoleTarnogursky@bot.org
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Upcoming Partnered Events
Human-Computer Interaction Lab's
24th Annual Symposium
May
31 – June 1, 2007 at the
University of Maryland
Mark
your calendars!
The Human-Computer Interaction Lab's
24th Annual Symposium will take
place May 31 – June 1, 2007 at the
University of Maryland.The Symposium
will be held on May 31
followed by a day of tutorials and
workshops on June 1.
Registration begins in March.
2007 Diversity and Business Growth
Summit
International Square • Washington
D.C. • May 3, 2007
Attendee Registration Fee: $395
“A
one-day intensive conference on the
role and importanceof diversity for
America’s growing companies.”
Learn
from top experts in the field the
importance of workplace, leadership
and supplier and channel partner
diversity in achieving competitive
advantage and strategic business
goals. Fortune 500 companies are
already implementing a wide range of
diversity initiatives to boost
profits in the rapidly shifting
global economy by hiring workforce
talent that reflects the
demographics of their customers.
This strategic approach to
diversity, beyond the hiring process
and into core business functions,
will fuel the success of government
agencies and the growth companies of
tomorrow. Join us in Washington,
D.C. for the second annual Business
Growth Summit, a one day, in-depth
conference on the role and
importance of diversity for
America’s growing companies.
For more
information and to register visit:
http://www.growfastgrowright.com/diversity.htm
Advanced Technology Program
Competition Announcement
The
Commerce Departments Advanced
Technology Program (ATP) opened a
new competition for cost-sharing
awards to support high-risk
industrial research and development
projects. The program offers funding
for specific research projects by
individual companies or industry-led
joint ventures in order to
accelerate the development of
challenging, high-risk technologies.
The ATP expects to have
approximately $60 million for awards
from this competition. Projects are
selected in a competitive,
peer-reviewed process. Project
proposals must be submitted to the
ATP by 3 p.m. Eastern time, on
Monday, May 21, 2007.
ATP
projects typically are multiyear. A
single company can receive up to a
total of $2 million for R&D
activities for up to three years.
For single-company recipients ATP
funds may only be used to pay direct
costs. A joint venture can receive
funds for R&D activities for up to
five years with no funding
limitation other than available
funds.
Full
information on the 2007 Advanced
Technology Program competition and
the Proposers Conferences is
available at
www.atp.nist.gov/atp/helpful.htm.
A Proposers conference will be held
April 13 in Gaithersburg, MD. To
register, go to
http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/confpage/atp2007.htm.
The Advanced Technology Program
(ATP) is Hiring Business Reviewers
ATP
business reviewers are individuals
with a wide range of business
training and experience, including
venture capitalists, entrepreneurs,
industrialists, corporate managers,
business educators and economists.
Selected reviewers are invited to
participate in the review process
held at ATP's facilities in
Gaithersburg, Maryland; located
within the National Institute of
Standards and Technology. We will
need Business Reviewers from early
June through mid-July.
ATP pays
a professional fee of $415 per day
for services. This All-Inclusive
daily compensation covers ALL of the
Business Reviewer’s expenses. ATP
will pay $200 for a ½ day of
services, when applicable. A
reviewer must be a U.S. citizen. For
more information about being a
Business Reviewer, contact Stephanie
Shipp,
sshipp@nist.gov at
301-975-8978 or Ann Marie King,
ann.king@nist.gov at
301-975-3104.
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THE DINGMAN CENTER FOR
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Founded by Rudy Lamone in 1986, the Dingman Center was one of
the first of its kind in the country and has emerged as a
top-ranked entrepreneurship center. Thanks to initial funding
with a generous grant from Michael D. Dingman, founder of the
Signal Corporation (now part of Honeywell International), the
Dingman Center continues to grow as a regional and national
catalyst in the field of entrepreneurship. The Center is now
aggressively evolving, and in some areas, is expanding its
services to further its role as a leader in the student,
regional, and academic entrepreneurial communities.
The Dingman Center is currently led by:
Asher Epstein, Managing Director
Melissa Carrier,
Associate Director
Mr. John LaPides, Chairman of the
Board and
Entrepreneur In Residence
Dr. Scott Koerwer, Associate Dean,
Professional Programs and Services
Please visit our website at
http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/dingman.
Past
Newsletters:
-
March, 2007
-
February, 2007
-
January,
2007
-
December, 2006
-
November, 2006
-
October, 2006
-
September,
2006
-
August, 2006
-
July, 2006
-
June, 2006
-
May, 2006
-
April, 2006
-
March, 2006
-
February, 2006
-
January, 2006
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