Young Innovators Win
$50,000 In Second Annual University of
Maryland Business Plan Competition
College Park, Md. - March 7, 2002
- The
University of Maryland awarded
$50,000 yesterday to three promising
groups of entrepreneurs during its
Second Annual Business Plan Competition
sponsored by the
Hinman CEOs Program.
The winners, whose companies include
University of Maryland students and
recent alumni, are developing a new,
non-invasive method of vision
correction; robotic therapy for disabled
children; and enterprise resource
planning software for chemical
manufacturers.
"This award really validates our
company," said Dr. Cori Lathan, whose
company
AnthroTronix received the top award
in the small business category. "Being
recognized by such an esteemed panel of
judges is an honor."
Six teams of finalists were judged by
a panel of the region's top venture
capitalists, angel investors and service
providers. The winners believe
recognition by this group will help them
refine their business models—and also
serve as a springboard for future
financial backing.
"Winning the competition has given me
a lot of confidence to go forward," said
Jeffrey Porter, vice president for
research and development of Novoculi,
which received top honors in the
emerging company category. "I'm now
going to concentrate on securing our
first round of funding and developing
partnerships." Porter is an MBA student
at the University's
Robert H. Smith School of Business.
Awards were made in three categories:
emerging company, small business and
concept-stage.
Emerging companystage winner
Novoculi is developing a new vision
correction technique called Non-Invasive
Corneal Sculpting (NICS), which could
replace LASIK as the main type of
surgery for eliminating nearsightedness,
farsightedness and astigmatism by
removing the number one cause of
complications in current methods—the
incision. Novoculi was awarded $25,000.
AnthroTronix, winner of $15,000 in
the small business category, is a
start-up company in the University's
incubator, the
Technology Advancement Program. The
company has developed an integrated
wireless robot and Internet-based
subscription service offering
interactive, gestural therapy for
children and adults with motor and
development disabilities. Besides
Lathan, AnthroTronix's team includes
vice president Jack Maxwell Vice, who
graduated with a bachelor's degree in
computer science from the University of
Maryland in 2001.
Concept stage winner PMConnect is
building an application software product
for chemical manufacturers that
simultaneously optimizes supply chain
and preventative maintenance scheduling.
The package may help manufacturers gain
back more than $15 billion lost each
year on production costs, contract
labor, materials and high inventories.
PMConnect's team includes Russell Lorber
and Jonathan Wilson, both MBA students
in the Smith School. PMConnect was
awarded $10,000.
The Business Plan Competition also
included a semifinal round last fall,
during which 16 semifinalists received
$1,000 awards. The finalists for
yesterday's event were chosen on
February 25.
Sponsors for the Competition include
some of the top names in the local
entrepreneurship community, including
Ernst & Young,
Mohr
Davidow Ventures, the
Mid
Atlantic Venture Association (MAVA),
Cooley
Godward,
Piper
Marbury Rudnick & Wolfe, and the
Telecommunications Development Fund.
The judging panel included Gregg
Corso, partner at
Cooley
Godward LLP; Ginger Lew, chief
executive officer of the
Telecommunications Development Fund;
Edwin M. Martin Jr., partner and
co-chair of the business and technology
practice group at
Piper
Marbury Rudnick & Wolfe LLP;
Jonathan Shames, partner at
Ernst and Young LLP; Mike Sheridan,
general partner at
Mohr,
Davidow Ventures; Errol Unikel,
principal at
Unicorn Partners; Steve Walker,
president of
Steve Walker & Associates; and Nora
Zetz, director of the
Abell Venture Fund.
The competition is managed by the
Hinman CEOs Program, a unique
living-learning entrepreneurship program
that teaches students how to start their
own companies in a high-tech,
incubator-like environment. In just its
second year, the program has already
yielded success. More than 17 businesses
are currently being pursued by the
program's 108 students, with seven of
those companies already recording
profits.
The Hinman program is a joint
initiative of the
Engineering Research Center, in the
A.
James Clark School of Engineering,
along with the Smith School's
Department of Entrepreneurship.
About the Robert H. Smith School
of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of
Business at the University of Maryland
is an internationally recognized leader
in management education and research for
the digital economy. The school offers
cross-functional study options in its
six academic departments, which include
accounting and information assurance;
decision and information technologies;
finance; logistics, business, and public
policy; management and organization; and
marketing. More information about the
Robert H. Smith School of Business can
be found at
http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu.
# # #
For more information:
Jeff Heebner
Robert H. Smith School of
Business
University of Maryland
(
301.405.9469
jheebner@rhsmith.umd.edu |
