COLLEGE OF POLYMER SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER CENTER, UA RESEARCH FOUNDATION & THE SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER

Every Fall semester, students from the first graduate entrepreneurship course (6500:608 Entrepreneurship) work on the development of business plans. MBA students worked closely with university professors on the development of business plans for new technologies that are being developed at the University (many of which come out of the College of Polymer Sciences and Engineering). The students work collaboratively throughout the semester with the Technology Transfer Center, the University Research Foundation, the University-based Small Business Development Center (SBDC), and entrepreneurs and investors that come to class to critique their presentations throughout the semester.

These plans that are developed are usually entered into the University Business Plan Competitions and sometimes into national and international business plan competitions. For the past five years, the top business plan at the University-wide Business Plan Competition has come out of this class. Some examples of plans that have been developed out of this course include:

The University of Akron’s 2005 Business Plan Competition http://www3.uakron.edu/cba/fitzgerald/competition/2005winners.htm

XGEM MicroGenerators ( 1st Place ) Finalist for the 2005 Spirit of Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (SEED) National Business Plan Competition. The competition is sponsored by Techknowledge Point, the company responsible for the Entrepreneurship School Rankings in Entrepreneur Magazine. The team competed against the following nationally ranked programs: Arizona, University of Texas, Boston University, University of Florida, and Carnegie Mellon University.

The Company will develop, design and produce products that will emit less Nitrogen Oxide emissions into the air that is more than an acceptable reduction for the various government requirements, is expected to get 2 to 3 times the gas mileage for Hybrid Electric Vehicles operating with regular gas or alternative fuels such as fuel cells and gravity motors. The Hybrid Electric Vehicle technologies from XGEM are expected to be very practical for the market because of costs, design, technology, and range of operations and back-up service opportunities.

Valv-Trol( 2nd Place) is an existing company located in Stow, Ohio. The company is a highly reputable manufacturer of High-Pressure Control Valves and other valve components that has served the needs of the rubber industry since 1947. The team wrote a business plan for the acquisition and growth of Valv-Trol. Their research indicated that the acquisition of Valv-Trol would represent an excellent business opportunity. There is a significant and growing demand for Valv-Trol’s products in several key markets that have not yet been sought after by the current ownership. The team proposed that with their new innovative management style, they could utilize Valv-Trol’s existing manufacturing process to create products that will meet the current demand and grow the company, which will increase the overall profitability, market share, financial stability of the company.

The University of Akron’s 2004 Business Plan Competition http://www3.uakron.edu/cba/fitzgerald/competition/2004winners.htm.

Polymeric Drug Delivery Systems (PDDC) LLC( 1st Place) was formed in 2003 to help people who have developed intimal hyperplasia (IH). The company’s current focus is in the development of its product, PolyRing, a time-controlled, local delivery drug device. The goal of PolyRing is to reduce or eliminate the need of further surgeries caused by IH. Tests show that one way to reduce or eliminate the reoccurrence of IH is to attack the exact area that is most susceptible to it with a prescribed medication. Therefore, when a person has their first surgery to get rid of IH, a PolyRing device would be filled with a drug and clamped around an artery, and because PolyRing is a controlled local delivery device, the medicine can be released to the exact spot where IH would form and the medicine would prevent IH from forming again or at least slow down the reoccurrence of IH.

Molecular Constructs( 3rd Place) is a company that has a patent pending on a monomer, which will allow for the formation of a new group of dendrimers, which will allow for the development of many new innovative products.

Medtrite, Inc.( 4th Place) uses a patented technology involving Nitric Oxide. Medtrite has developed a product that can increase blood flow to any area on which it is applied. This technology can prove useful in the medical industry, such as wound care, diabetic ulcer therapy, and the treatment for Female Sexual Arousal Disorder (FSAD). The domestic market potential for FSAD alone is estimated at $3 billion. The technology is patented by The University of Akron and was developed by Dr. Dan Smith, a professor of Biomedical Engineering.

The University of Akron’s 2003 Business Plan Competition
http://www3.uakron.edu/cba/fitzgerald/competition/2003winners.htm

TKM Unlimited, Inc. ( 1 st Place) has developed a technologically, innovative, modular, universal, tamperproof, and affordable remote controlled door entry system (patents pending). The “Ultimate Keyless Solution” remotely locks and unlocks both commercial and residential doors, operates indoor and outdoor lighting, garage doors, security systems, and in emergencies can dial 911.

EnviroChipx ( 2rd Place) was formed in 2002 to exploit the multi-million dollar market for next generation chemical sensors in water, indoor air quality and food safety. The company's focus is on the development of MEMS based sensors that revolutionizes microorganism detection by measuring their unique chemical signatures in air, water and food. There is also a major focus on the development of humidity sensors for the measurement of relative humidity in air. Envirochipx is developing a humidity sensor that is more accurate, cost less, and more versatile than the competition.

San Diego State University’s 2001 International Business Plan Competition

The team, Polyspin, Inc., worked with world renowned professor, Dr. Dan Smith, in the development of new adhesive polymer products for the human and animal wound care global markets.

The team was a wild card finalist. The University of Wisconsin at Madison, which eventually won the tournament, beat them. They placed higher than several of the leading entrepreneurship programs including Case Western Reserve University (ranked #8 in Success Magazine's annual rankings of top entrepreneurship programs that year), University of Arizona (#12), Loyola Marymount University (#15), and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (#16).

Polyspin, Catalyst/University of Louisville’s 2000 Business Plan Competition. Out of 71 entrants, the team received the following honors:

1 st Place Best Written Business Plan.
1 st Place Best Oral Presentation.
1 st Place Best Executive Summary.

The University of Akron’s 2000 Business Plan Competition

Innovative Package Systems ( 1 st Place): A “back-end” supplier of packaging and storage to the rapidly expanding E-commerce market.

Linkads ( 2 nd Place): Online marketing service, placing clients’ ads on host sites.