Time to write is scarce these days. My days are full with work, kids, homework supervision, music, house stuff, friends, and movies. The kids and I saw Megamind in 3D today. 🙂 So that means less time for me to write on the blog, but not to worry I am still getting my creative outlet through song writing. My new music writing partner and I now have 5 prototype songs done. They are still works in progress but for the few people I have played acoustic/rough cut recordings to, they seemed to like them or they did a good job at acting they liked them! My favorite one so far is based on lyrics inspired by my daughter.
This past week, I had the chance to participate in two really neat entrepreneurial related events in Austin. One was the Entrepreneur’s Foundation of Central Texas (EF) annual fundraising Texas Hold ‘Em poker night event. The Austin Technology Incubator, where I work, partners with the EF to handle our company’s equity donations to The University of Texas at Austin. The organization was co-founded by one of my friends, Randi Shade, who is currently an Austin city council member. This was my third year to go and I always have a blast. Each time, I’ve made it past the initial table to the 2nd table. One year I think I made it past the 2nd table, but this year I was out at the 2nd. It’s a fabulous networking event with the who’s who of Austin entrepreneurs and investors in attendance. Last year, they had celebrity guests, one of whom was Heather Graham. I got a picture with her and yes she is as beautiful in person as she is in the movies! She even gave me a stick of chewing gum. The EF provides a great service to our community by helping facilitate donations when companies have a liquidating event to charities of their choice.
The other event was the Idea to Product Competition (I2P). I have judged and served as a feedback judge at I2P for several years now. I remember being part of the early formation discussions of the competition 10+ years ago. I really enjoy participating in this competition for many reasons. The student teams seem to get better every year. I’m always fascinated with the life science companies and this year is no exception. One company had invented a tiny microscope to help detect diseases in blood samples via enhanced imagery. I don’t want to go into too much detail because our advice to them was to really get a clear understanding of their intellectual property ownership. Another had an at home device for testing for certain sexually transmitted diseases. The topic makes me cringe but apparently there is a large and unfortunately growing market. The entrepreneur in me gets excited to see these students interested in commercializing technology they have either created or intend to license from a university. It also reminds me of when I was a student presenting my first company in front of a panel of judges in one business plan competition after another. I can relate to the nerves/anxiety but the thrill of selling the concept kept me going.
As I think I’ve mentioned before, there are many really neat things happening in Austin in the world of high-tech entrepreneurship, and I only wish I had time to write more about them.
Author: Aruni |
Filed under: austin technology incubator,
competition,
entrepreneur,
entrepreneurship |
Tags: austin technology incubator,
entrepreneur's foundation,
idea to product,
megamind |
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With about 1,000 things to juggle I can’t seem to find the time to write blog posts, let alone read which spurs some of my ideas on what to write about. After I get home get the kids fed, bathed, homework-ed, piano-ed, put to bed and caught up on emails, it’s almost 10:00 pm and I’m sapped or is that zapped…oh whatever. So here’s a copy of what I wrote for the Austin Technology Incubator blog on the Idea to Product Competition I judged last weekend:
I had the privilege of serving as a judge in the final rounds of the Idea to Product (I2P) competition this past Saturday, April 24, 2010. I always enjoy judging this competition and seeing how many interesting technology concepts the students either invent or enhance based on an existing technology. This year marks the 10 year anniversary of I2P and I remember being part of the early discussions when the competition was forming.
The Idea to Product® UT Competition is an early-stage technology commercialization plan competition, hosted by the Murchison Chair of Free Enterprise, which was started at UT in 2001. In the Idea to Product® Competition students create links between emerging technologies and market needs required to support later stages of commercialization. The I2P® Program educates students about creating viable products and services from technology, and has served as a stepping stone for entrepreneurship. Previous teams have produced work that has increased research funding, licensing of technology, and creation of new ventures. The competition has also served as a commercialization forum for faculty and members of the community. Faculty have been able to consider societal needs of technology and members of the community have been given an early preview of cutting-edge technology. The competition is sponsored by the Cockrell School of Engineering, the College of Natural Sciences, several engineering departments, along with several student organizations. Supporters of the event include the National Science Foundation, NCIIA, MOOT CORP, the Austin Technology Incubator, the Office of Technology Commercialization, Fish & Richardson, P.C., and the Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship.
The winners of this year’s University of Texas competition (the global competition happens later in the year) were:
- Digital Proctor
- CoolCore Technologies
- SpectraPhase
It was a really tough decision choosing the top 3 because in all the years I’ve been judging the competition, these were some of the best presentations I had seen. It was obvious the students worked very hard and were probably up many a late night! Check out the http://www.ideatoproduct.org/ut/ site to see videos of the presentations.
Digital Proctor helps online universities assess whether someone might be cheating using unique keystroke identification technology. They even have paying customers! CoolCore Technologies has access to technology that rapidly reduces therapeutic hypothermia after a heart attack, stroke, or traumatic brain injury. Most brain damage is done within 90 minutes of an incident and cooling down the body can significantly reduce death and long term brain damage. SpectraPhase has technology that is a real-time glucose monitoring catheter for inpatient care usage. It gives continuous, ultra-high accuracy readout of changes in patient blood glucose levels.
We at ATI wish them great luck in pursuing commercialization of their technologies (if they choose to do so)! I2P is a great way for students to get feedback on the commercial viability of their technology and product ideas, and I look forward to serving as a judge again.
Author: Aruni |
Filed under: austin technology incubator,
entrepreneurship |
Tags: austin technology incubator,
coolcore technologies,
digital proctor,
idea to product,
spectraphase |
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