Mtech Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 4, 2003

Two Teams with Hinman CEOs Students, One Fostered in Tech Ventures Course Capture Top Slots in Undergraduate Business Plan Competition

COLLEGE PARK, Md.—Two teams with Hinman students tied for first place in the Robert H. Smith School of Business's Second Annual Undergraduate Business Plan Competition, while students from the Clark School of Engineering's Fundamentals of Technology Start-Up Ventures course captured third place.

Winners were selected from 17 submissions to the contest. First-place teams received $800, while the second-place winner netted $400.

First-place-winner Cyprus Precision, a company comprised of four Hinman CEOs students, is developing a Global Positioning Systems (GPS)-based product for athletes that will take measurements during training sessions and competition, giving them an edge in their specific sport by providing information necessary to optimize their performance. Using GPS, inertial sensing technology, and efficient algorithms to interpret acquired data, this device and its corresponding software will provide a novel method for obtaining speed, distance, and other measurements appropriate to specific sports—such as rowing, cross-country running, and downhill skiing.

Cyprus team members include (all Hinman CEOs students): founder Eric Jones, a junior mechanical engineering student; junior marketing and entrepreneurship major Sarah Vogel; junior finance, general business, and entrepreneurship major Dennis Cinelli; and junior computer engineering major Akil Muralidharan.

Jones secured a $12,500 grant from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) in Spring 2003 to develop his company. Cyprus also plans to enter the University of Maryland's Business Plan Competition in May 2004.

Exhibit A, which tied for first place, is developing a Video Expert Report (VER) service for legal professionals. VER's will contain a narrative documentary clarifying and explaining the complex issues of each case, similar to a news report on "60 Minutes." † † This documentary will combined with demonstrative evidence for a case—such as documents, witness and expert testimony, as well as photos and videos —all neatly compiled in a DVD format.

Exhibit A cites two reports showing that presenters are 43 percent more persuasive when using visual aids, and retention increases by 400 percent.

Exhibit A team members include co-founder Brandon Bloch and Petar Raketic, a Hinman CEOs student and senior finance and accounting major.

Third-place winner E-core Partnership is creating a portable power system to charge electronic devices. E-core was fostered in the engineering course Fundamentals of Technology Start-Up Ventures, offered by Dr. David Barbe, executive director of the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (MTECH), and taught this semester by Dr. Charles Heller, a retired partner of Gabriel Venture Partners.

E-core team members include Kun Lin, a computer engineering and finance major, dual electrical engineering and management science and statistics major Ogbonia Orji, and electrical engineering major Daniel Senai.

Two Cyprus Precision students are enrolled in the Smith School's Entrepreneurship Citation Program, while Exhibit A's team has one student enrolled, and one graduate from the program.

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