2003
The Collaborative for Entrepreneurship & Innovation has completed the judging phase of the third annual CEI @ WPI ALL-OUT Business Plan Challenge. The event took place on April 30, 2003 in the WPI Campus Center Morgan Room. Our distinguished team of judges included third year veterans Susan Loconto Penta of Midior and Patrick Kelly of Worcester Capital Partners, and newcomer Chris Wolf, with CambridgeLight Partners. The three presenting finalists were Spin-Off Consultation Firm, Techwright Student Union Services, and Beadwindow! Intrusion Prevention System. All teams demonstrated the leadership, courage, and drive needed to scrutinize business ideas that would perhaps lead to self-employment opportunity.
Winner Jeffery Stutzman, MBA '03, Beadwindow! center, flanked by judges Chris Wolf, Susan Loconto Penta, WPI'86 EE, and Patrick Kelly.
Spin-Off Consultation Firm team members Adam Siegel, currently seeking a BS ME/AE degree, and Andrey Berezin, currently seeking a BS EE degree, shared a common desire to form a company that would discover technologies in use in particular industries that may possibly have broader applications in other industries. They cited three such examples of technologies that were designed for a particular use by NASA and that have since been transferred to everyday consumer products and processes. Their examples included scratch-resistant coatings being applied to sunglasses, lasers being used in eye surgery, and computer simulation software being incorporated into flight simulation computer games. These technologies were not designed for these uses, but creative individuals found new applications. Adam and Andrey would like to employ the creative elements of their minds to work together in the discovery of new uses for existing technologies and are committed to further developing their concept. Spin-Off Consulting captured third place Concept Award of $500 in the Challenge standings.
Techwright Student Union Services is a company concept developed by Claudio Salazar, a recent transfer student to WPI currently seeking a BS ME degree. Since coming to WPI, Claudio feels his work and study ethics have doubled, and it certainly shows in his determination to start this company. Claudio immediately observed a difference between the students at WPI and the students from two other campuses he has attended. He noticed they have a driven desire to perform well and that they possess intelligence. His idea comes from a desire to capture and utilize this drive and intelligence and release it beyond this campus for the good of the greater community. He is proposing to employ students to work on a short-term, part-time basis to fill a niche in specialized tutoring, technical services, and temp employment for area companies. Techwright captured a second place Challenge Prize of $4500. Claudio could be seen conversing with Adam and Andrey immediately after the competition discussing possible alliances in the near term.
Beadwindow!, Intrusion Prevention System captured the first place Challenge Prize of $45,000. First prize went to Jeffery Stutzman, MBA '03 for his ingenuity in developing a product that will replace the crumbling computer network perimeter defense strategy - firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and fragment routers. The secret is in the number of rule sets placed on the chip that is utilized to react to incoming information. We can't disclose much more than that yet, but Jeff is racing like mad to find capital to start this company and we'll be able to share more when that happens. Stay tuned as we follow him through the trials and tribulations of securing venture capital!
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