On March 6, the Eight Annual V. Dale Cozad Plan Competition was held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Coming in at first place for the Social/Green Venture Division was CanSil, who won $7,000. SA Microsystems came in first place in the Commercial Venture Division and took home a $10,000 prize.

Paulius Elvikis, a team member of CanSil, explained CanSil’s product as, “The CancerPinch detection system.” The CancerPinch diagnoses metastatic cancer cells within in-vitro tissue samples. CanSil leverages nano-fabrication techniques to make micro devices that detect cancer. These devices exploit the difference in mechanical properties between cancerous and healthy cells to make diagnoses faster and more reliably than existing techniques.

Other team members of CanSil include Jingyan Dong and Deep Kishore Mukhopadhyay. The team’s presentation of their product at the competition proved it to be a truly innovative solution to an existing or emerging problem.

U of I Mechanical Science and Engineering graduate students Adam Sawyer and Kurt Adair are the brains behind SA Microsystems, which bases its business idea on microfluids.

SA Microsystems goal is to provide universities and research laboratories with easy-to-use workstations for analyzing microfluidic devices. Sawyer and Adair predict that their device will be used primarily by individuals developing new microfluid projects related to blood testing and DNA analysis.

Shortly after winning the competition, Sawyer stated, “Both myself and Kurt are very excited to start up the business. We plan on using the money and resources from the center to get the business up and running, buy some equipment, and put our product out there.”

Sawyer and Adair both enjoyed the competition and expressed their thanks to the Technology Entrepreneur Center. “They helped us out on how we needed to structure our business plan and they gave us the resources to do so,” said Adair. “We are both engineers and did not have the experience with the business side of things so it was nice to have people with more expertise in that area to tell us what we were doing right from wrong.”

According to Social/Green Division Judge Brian Frizzell, a Principal at CRA International, “The field of competition was very steep this year. The different teams came up with some innovative solutions and products resulting in the potential for compelling business ideas.”

As for determining who the winner of the competition would be, Frizzell had his personal thoughts before the presentations, but was surprised at how effectively the contestants addressed perceived weaknesses during their presentation, thereby making his decision a little more challenging.

The V. Dale Cozad Business Plan Competition had a total of eight finalists this year. First runner-up in the Social Green Venture Division was iStart. iStart’s product, which won $5,000, is a vehicle safety device that prevents drivers from falling asleep. Second runner-up and winner of $2,000 went to The Clean Home Company which proposed an enticing hand-washing process primarily for children.

In the Commercial Venture Division, first runner-up CentriOpt received $4,500 for the “Deduster,” a filter-less air cleaning system that removes over 90% of contaminants from the air without clogging or requiring maintenance. In addition, CentriOpt won best “elevator pitch” and received a $500 prize.

When asked what his overall thoughts on the competition were, Doug Barker of CentriOpt, immediately responded, “Really good. I learned a lot about how to write a business plan and pitch an idea. The competition was beneficial for CentriOpt, especially learning how to form a business idea out of our technology and commercialize it.” As for what to do with the money won, Barker plans on forming the company, “We first need to get an attorney and figure out what form of company is best and then we will negotiate with the University to license the Deduster.”

Other contestants who received an honorable mention and a $500 prize include: Zienon, for the idea of providing mobile device users with high-speed text input using conventional typing techniques and keyboard layouts; Commodity Cycles, which offered the software and services to create a virtual, Internet-scale datacenter from idle PCs around the world, and ezBarg, an online forum for buying and selling products via instant messaging.

The V. Dale Cozad Business Plan Competition (CBPC) is a program of the Technology Entrepreneur Center and is designed to encourage students, researchers, and community members to create new sustainable businesses in the Champaign-Urbana area.

Founded by Peter B. and Kim Fox and named for V. Dale Cozad, the business plan competition (CBPC) is designed to encourage students, researchers, and community members to create new sustainable businesses in the Champaign-Urbana area. The competition encourages the development of the entrepreneurial spirit through teamwork and competition. Teams are invited to create a business plan around a topic of their choice. Assistance is available in the form of mentors, workshops, and courses to guide teams through the phases of business plan creation.