Getting down to business
A plan for a company that will offer a device to monitor and enhance athletic performance, particularly in rowing, earned Nate Altfeather, a biological systems engineering student, a share of fouth place in the 2004 G. Steven Burrill Technology Business Plan Competition.
A prize of $1,000 was awarded to Altfeather, a student in biological systems engineering, and Ricky Lam, a second-year MBA student, for their company, Mercury, which will offer the analytical device.
The business plan competition encourages cross-functional teams to develop and present technology-based business plans.
The College helps sponsor the contest, and its students have had good success in the past. Last year, CALS students were part of both the first-place team (for a company that offered a biotech process to create electricity using biomass products) and the third-place team, which developed a yogurt-fruit product.
Originally called the UW TEC Prize, the G. Steven Burrill Competition began in 1998. The competition promotes entrepreneurial activities and serves as a valuable learning experience for students and faculty alike. The Burrill prize offers students a chance to compete for cash prizes of $10,000, $7,000, $4,000 and $1,000.
Nearly 200 students have participated in the competition. Working in inter-disciplinary teams of two or more people, students develop and present a technology-based business plan to a panel of judges. Winning ideas have included plans to market and sell products such as personal finance software, bindings for wake boards, and bio-genetic information. Several teams have leveraged the knowledge, experience, and exposure gained from the competition to form successful new business ventures.
In addition to the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the competition is supported by the University of Wisconsin Technology Enterprise Cooperative, and the School of Business.