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System for Early Cancer Detection Wins I2P International Competition

Nov 7, 2005

Pictured left to right: Dr. Steven Nichols, Mr. Saur Biswas, Dr. Dale Tibodeau

Saturday November 5, student innovators from leading universities on three continents competed in the Idea to Product® International Competition at The University of Texas at Austin. The teams presented their commercialization plans for early-stage technologies, with a focus on unique product ideas with clear market demand. The program encourages interdisciplinary collaboration, and the participants included engineering, science, business, and law students.

The top prize of $10,000 went to Saurabh Biswas, a biomedical engineering Ph.D. student from Texas A&M University, who presented a non-invasive diagnostic test for colon cancer.  Mr. Biswas also received an invitation to compete in MootCorp®, a world-renowned business plan competition hosted by the McCombs School of Business.  The second place finalists, Peter Brewin and William Crawford from Imperial College London, presented a rapidly-deployable hardened shelter that requires only the addition of water and air for construction.  The University of Texas team of Tom Pate and Nick Bhavsar took the third place finals spot with their idea for a compact human-powered battery re-charger.

Universities that took runners-up prizes in the semifinals included National University of Singapore, Tsinghua University Beijing, Georgia Tech, Stanford, Keio University Japan, and University of Georgia.  In total, $25,000 in prizes was awarded. (Full list of award-winners and entrants.)

Prominent faculty, business professionals, entrepreneurs, attorneys, and venture capitalists judged the competition, looking for entries that are unique and innovative, feasible to implement, address an identified market need, and have an underlying technology component.  The finals judging panel included Ms. Robin Culre (President, CEO, and Chairman of Zebra Imaging, Inc. in Austin), Mr. Steven Meyers (President and Founder of the Rational Energy Network in Austin), Dr. Mark Melliar-Smith (COO of Molecular Imprints in Austin), Dr. Dale Tibodeau (Senior Business Systems Analystfor HP’s Technology Solutions and Support group in Houston), and Dr. Tim Westby (Director/Shareholder Conley Rose, PC in Houston). (Full list of judges.)

The competition was hosted by the Murchison Chair of Free Enterprise of the College of Engineering in cooperation with the McCombs School of Business and the student Technology Entrepreneurship Society.  Program grantors include the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, The Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship, and the Ted Roden Endowment.  Dr. Steven Nichols of the College of Engineering and Prof. John Doggett of the McCombs School of Business co-directed the competition.

 

 

Hosts	Partners and Sponsors
	Selig Fund in Entrepreneurial Studies Roden Center of Entrepreneurship