Just released are video and photos from the trip!
Please revisit the
press release which
now includes a compilation
video and a link of
highlight
photos. The
video can also be found on the Dingman Center's
YouTube page.
Hudson Institute and the
Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship Luncheon Seminar
- "The Future of Entrepreneurship in China" will be
held on December 11th and will feature Asher Epstein
as a speaker. For more information on the
event, please click
here or scroll
below.
Judges awarded $1500 to Aaron
Pennell, Dennis Glorioso, and Patrick Foley,
three MBA students from the University of
Maryland’s part-time MBA program, for their
business concept, “Frog Q.” Frog Q is a
downloadable widget and a stand-alone website
that will allow social networks to connect and
interact more than current social networking
products. It will also provide features that
will enable businesses and professionals to
better socialize business issues to make better
and more informed decisions. This is Frog Q’s
second attempt at Pitch Dingman, after being
coming very close to winning the competition the
month before. Frog Q also won the $250 audience
choice award, edging out two competitors,
“PeepsPlay” and “Tersus,” by just one vote.
PeepsPlay ($1,000 Award):
Judges awarded Jonathan
Katzur and Jonathan Speiser $1000 for capturing
second place with their business concept, “PeepsPlay.”
PeepsPlay is a mobile application development
company that will produce social, entertainment,
and gaming applications for mobile devices,
particularly the iPhone. The company hopes to
capture a stake in the burgeoning social gaming
and entertainment market for mobile devices by
exploiting open-source technology and the
popularity of Facebook.
The next Pitch Dingman Competition will be the first
of the spring semester, held on
Friday, February 27, 2008 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00
p.m. (room TBD).
Congratulations to
Exponential Storage
for getting second place and
Goozex for placing
fifth in the National Council of
Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer's 2008 National
University Startups Competition!
The final round of the National
University Startups Competition was held in
Washington DC on October 2-3, 2008 at the annual
University Startups Conference. The winners emerged
from over 400 university startups listed on the
University Startups List 08 and after several months
of presentations via an online showcase platform to
over 300 VC, angel investor and university judges.
This inaugural competition was primarily designed to
provide a forum for exposure, education and feedback
to entrepreneurs and universities on the subject of
how to create top-level investment-worthy university
spin-outs.
For more information regarding the competition and
its winners, please visit the
website. For
the Smith School's press release, please click
here.
Columbia, MD
(December 8, 2008)
--
Netrino, The
Embedded Systems Expertssm
and a leader in embedded
systems training and
engineering services,
today announced that the
Baltimore Business
Journal has named
Netrino as its second
fastest growing private
company in the Baltimore
area for 2008. The
Journal’s Fast Track
Companies Report,
published in November,
compares revenue growth
for area companies over
multiple years. The
report noted an increase
of over 800 percent in
Netrino’s annual revenue
as the major criteria
for its selection.
“Netrino is greatly
appreciative of the
Baltimore Business
Journal’s recognition of
our company and its
financial growth,” noted
Michael Barr, Netrino’s
president. “This
financial growth is
directly attributable to
our increased emphasis
on providing extremely
high-quality training
and engineering services
for our customers in the
embedded systems
marketplace.”
The recent
introduction of
Netrino’s Zero
Bugs…Period design
methodology and related
process training course
offerings resulted in a
significant increase in
revenue over the past
year. Netrino’s expanded
schedule of public
training sessions for
the popular Embedded
Software Boot Camp
is now creating a highly
positive effect on
revenue that Netrino
expects to continue into
2009.
The Social Venture Consulting
program wrapped up a semester’s worth of consulting
projects on December 3, 2008 as eight teams
presented their consulting work to an audience of
students and faculty. Projects ranged from product
development work, to outreach and social networking
strategy. Each team presented a background on their
client, their project findings, as well as the
lessons they learned going forward.
One such client was Aumazo, a
nonprofit organization that is planning to build a
girl’s school in
Bankondji, Cameroon. The client wanted to increase
outreach, and the student team built a web strategy,
including social networking and multimedia. Another
team worked with a small nonprofit organization
called The Woman’s Heart, a women’s center that is
based out of Casper, Wyoming. The team worked on
strategic
marketing, enhancing
resource utilization and sustaining revenues.
Other clients were closer to home. A student team
worked with the University of Maryland’s Office of
Sustainability’s Climate Action Plan, building a
plan to decrease energy usage.
Each
team was tasked with communicating lessons learned.
Many teams noted a lack of knowledge in a specific
background, for example, a marketing background for
a marketing case. This prompted a steeper learning
curve. To move quickly along the curve, team-members
drew knowledge from first-year core courses, for
example, the “4 P’s of marketing” in the first year
marketing course, as well as other data analysis
techniques learned in core courses. Coaching
provided by second years who had previously
completed the consulting program also helped
navigate student teams through their projects.
With
a solid foundation of core courses and coaching,
client projects were successful. Many teams were
able to point to new skills and perspectives
developed, a greater sense of teamwork, and perhaps
most importantly, a deeper appreciation for the role
that business skills can play in solving the
problems and challenges facing non-profit and
community organizations.
The Dingman Center's Capital Access
Network (CAN) connects regional start-up companies
seeking early-stage funding with the angel investor
community. The CAN Program, sponsored by Morrison &
Foerster and Silicon Valley Bank, brought the
following exciting start-up companies to the
November Investor Breakfast:
The quarterly Tech Board Review meeting
was held on November 18, 2008. Technologies reviewed
included a Music Genre Detection System presented by
Dr. Carol Espy-Wilson, a Biomass Digester technology
presented by Dr. Rick Kohn, an RF-Chargeable
Flexible Film Battery presented by Dr. Martin
Peckerar, and a Piezoelectric Energy Harvester
presented by Drs. Byeng Youn and Soobum Lee.
Location: Center for Digital
Imaging Arts (CDIA) in Georgetown (Foundry Building,
1055 Thomas Jefferson St NW)
A Dynamic Presentation with Dan
Pink: DC-based NY Times best-selling author (www.danpink.com)
of The Adventures of Johnny Bunko, A Whole New
Mind and Free-Agent Nation. In this
provocative and entertaining presentation, Dan will
discuss the medium and the message of his latest
book, including how to convey ideas in a crowded,
chaotic media landscape. And he'll discuss the
book's six lessons - six crucial, creative and
counterintuitive secrets to fashioning a successful
and fulfilling career.
Social Media Innovation Panel:
The presentation will be followed by a Creativity
and Innovation Panel on Social Media with Dan and
leading social media industry experts who are part
of a movement that is creatively changing business
landscape and our career choices: Nick O'Neill,
founder of
www.socialtimes.com, Jesse Thomas,
CEO and founder of www.jess3.com,
and Frank Gruber, founder and publisher of
www.somewhatfrank.com and founder of
www.techcocktail.com. Panel
Moderator: DC's Marketing Navigator, Jeremy Epstein
(www.ignitingtherevolution.com).
Event host: CCN founder, Michelle James (www.capitolcreativitynetwork.com).
Registration: Online - $25 ~ At
the door - $35. We expect to sell out. Register now
to reserve your space
here.
Date: December 11, 2008 Time: 11:45 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Location: Betsy and Walter
Stern Conference Center, Hudson Institute (1015 15th
St NW, Washington, D.C. 20005)
China has seen dramatic increases in
growth over the past decade. Yet despite the
enormous surges in entrepreneurial activities,
entrepreneurs still face obstacles. Dr. Tony Ni,
a visiting Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong
University, and an entrepreneur both in China and in
United States, will discuss the future of
entrepreneurship in China and how the country could
improve its entrepreneurial environment.
Asher Epstein, managing director
of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, will
comment. Diana Furchtgott-Roth, senior fellow
at the Hudson Institute and director of the Center
for Employment Policy will moderate the discussion.
This event is free and open to the
public. Lunch will be served.
To RSVP (acceptances only) or to
request information, please contact Hudson Institute
at 202.974.6451 or e-mail
Astha Shrestha.
Date: December 12, 2008 Time: 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Location: 111 Jeong H. Kim Engineering
Building, University of
Maryland, College Park
Financial analysis is a fundamental
component of launching a successful venture. Setting
strategic direction, evaluating marketing and
product development investments, understanding your
competition, financial analysis touches just about
every other aspect of your would-be business.
Essentials of Financial Analysis provides the
knowledge you need in convenient and stimulating
one-day seminar under the auspices of the
Certificate in Innovation Management Program,
produced jointly by the University of Maryland’s
Robert H. Smith School of Business and the A. James
Clark School of Engineering. After completing this
seminar, you will be able to confidently make
informed decisions based on a variety of essential
tools including analyses of financial statements,
net present value, internal rate of return, return
on investment, discounted cash flow, and break even.
For more information and to register, visit the
website.
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, Director of Venture
Investments and Social Entrepreneurship Mr. John LaPides, Chairman of the Board and Entrepreneur-in-Residence
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