Rensselaer Business Plan Competition a Success
02.13.12
Ten undergraduate and ten graduate teams competed in Rensselaer's Business Plan Competition on February 7 and 8 for both cash prizes and in-kind services and walked away with invaluable competition experience and feedback on their entrepreneurial ideas. There are many competitions that student entrepreneurs can take part in. The goal of the Rensselaer Business Plan Competition is not only to award students, but also to provide student entrepreneurs with the opportunity to improve their business plans through workshops, coaching sessions and feedback from judges in preparation for the myriad of competition opportunities held annually each spring across the nation.
Organized by the Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship, this year's competition featured ideas across a variety of industries integrating technology and innovation to serve a wide range of needs from diet and health to power and energy. The forty-one students involved in the competition brought a palette of academic backgrounds including architecture, chemistry, computer science, engineering, information technology, management, mathematics, and physics. Judging took place in two rounds, with Rensselaer Professors from the Lally School, E*ship at Rensselaer, the EVE Program and the RPI Technology Park, as well as alumni and industry judges from sponsors, Rensselaer's Center for Automation Technologies and Systems; Rensselaer's Center for Future Energy Systems; Heslin, Rothenberg, Farley and Mesiti, PC; and other local businesses.
Undergraduate Winners
First Place - $4000 + $1000 in-kind legal services from Heslin, Rothenberg, Farley and Mesiti, PC
4 Grids: Daniel Henriques '14 Computer Science and Henry Modisett '12 IT/Web Science
An idea integrated platform for group management allowing users to personalize tools to their group's needs. Currently being tested by Rensselaer’s ski club.
Second Place - $2500
IV-SAFE: Colleen Costello '12 Biomedical Engineering
Safe IV delivery technology using a new decontamination and differentiation method.
Third Place - $1000
EZ Coaching Online: Keith Williams '12 Industrial and Management Engineering
Applications which successfully coach and athlete in swimming through the automatic creation of personal workouts, which are scaled to each user's ability.
Graduate Winners
First Place - $4000 + $1000 in-kind legal services from Heslin, Rothenberg, Farley and Mesiti, PC
Center for Automation Technologies and Systems In-kind Services Award - 10 hours of consulting
Center for Future Energy Systems In-kind Services Award - 10 hours of consulting
Cornerstone Communication Award - $500
Adept Advancements: Jonathan Ashdown 'G Electrical Engineering and Anthony DeMaio '13 MBA
An innovative technology, which allows for wireless communication and power delivery through thick metallic walls.
Second Place - $2500
RenAir: Victor Maldonado 'G Aeronautical Engineering; Souma Chodhury 'G Mechanical Engineering; Tanmoy Chakraborty; Post Doc, Harvard; and Riken Patel
A system to record various types of data for wind resource assessment (wind farm site selection) using Unmanned Arial Vehicles.
Third Place - $1000
Tumalow: William Gathright 'G Material Engineering
A software product that predicts the financial benefits of electrical energy storage to office buildings.
Center for Future Energy Systems In-kind Services Award - 20 hours of consulting
Zegond: Nenghui Song '12 MBA, Yasmin Feliz '12 Math, David Herbert '13 Electrical Engineering, Amir Zamiri
Solar-pumped laser systems used for extracting magnesium as a renewable, clean and sustainable source of energy.
Center for Future Energy Systems In-kind Services Award - 10 hours of consulting
SANA - Asiri Jayawardina 'G Architectural Science
Solar-based lighting and mobile phone charging solution for emerging markets with an innovative business model based on mobile money.
 The Paul J. '69 and Kathleen M. Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship (SCTE), established in 1988, helps foster new generations of entrepreneurs through outreach programs, education and research. Centered in Rensselaer’s Lally School of Management & Technology, The Severino Center lies at the core of Lally’s commitment to Entrepreneurship. The mission of the SCTE is to integrate educational and research programs by exposing every Rensselaer student to the practices and principles of entrepreneurship, to infuse the fundamentals of entrepreneurship throughout the Rensselaer curriculum, and to extend Rensselaer’s leadership and national prominence in technological entrepreneurship.
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