UC Graduate Students Take First Runner Up Honors at Spirit of Enterprise Competition

UC graduate entrepreneurship students took first runner up honors—and $3,000—at the 8th annual UC Spirit of Enterprise Graduate Business Plan Competition on February 23 and 24, 2012, at Cincom Systems.

New venture team Ischiban Neural Engineering Systems—comprised of graduate students Pooja Kadambi, BME ’11 MSE ’12; Ron Meyers, MBA ’10, MS-MKTG ’11, MS-ACCT ’12; Joe Lovelace, CEAS ’11; and Aaron Kurosu, DAAP ’11—pitched a business plan on a neural based system for electrical technology applications in medical (stroke detection), military, and commercial entertainment industries.

Team Ischiban’s neural engineering products, Neuro-SensorTM and its accompanying Neuro-ControllerTM, are focused on the nexus of software and hardware needed to significantly shorten the time needed to detect strokes. The team also took 3rd Place in the Best Exhibits portion of the competition.

This year’s Spirit of Enterprise competition featured 16 teams from the top business programs across the nation vying for $20,000 in prizes. The competition is sponsored by Cincom Systems President Tom Nies, BBA ’62, MBA ’68.

“Since the competition began eight years ago, we estimate that about a third of the participating 125 teams have launched and, in the past two years, the combined champions alone have generated over $1.5 million in additional start-up capital,” says Charles H. Matthews, executive director of the UC Center for Entrepreneurship Education & Research and management professor at the Lindner College of Business.

In addition to cash prizes, teams are invited to make a presentation to the Greater Cincinnati Venture Association (GCVA) in the spring season following the competition.

For more on the Spirit of Enterprise competition, visit

business.uc.edu/ecenter/soe

.