UC Team Strikes Gold in Manitoba

Interdisciplinary business plan team wins $5,000 in Manitoba. Next stop: Texas.

Date: 4/10/2006 12:00:00 AM
By: Wendy Beckman
Phone: (513) 556-1826

Other Contact: Charles Matthews
Other Contact Phone: (513) 556-7123

UC Team Progressive Cooling Solutions, LLC, continued its winning ways taking 1st runner-up honors and $5,000 in the 2006 "Stuart Clark New Venture Challenge" held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, April 6–8. Progressive Cooling Solutions is led by UC College of Engineering doctoral student and entrepreneur Ahmed Shuja.

Stuart Clark, Ahmed Shuja and Chuck Matthews

"Ahmed Shuja once again did an outstanding job representing his team and UC with his new venture plan, which is poised to redefine the process by which tomorrow's electronics will be cooled," says Charles H. Matthews, executive director of the UC Center for Entrepreneurship Education & Research. "Ahmed leads a multi-disciplinary team of engineering and business students including Srinivas Parimi, Dennis Delvin, Megan Payne and Liz Sayers, and oversees a distinguished Board of Advisors from engineering, business and industry."

The UC team was edged out of the top spot and $15,000 prize by the SanoGene team from the University of Illinois – Chicago. SanoGene took the UC "Spirit of Enterprise" Cincom Systems Champion Award at the end of February and Progressive Cooling Systems earned 2nd runner-up honors. In presenting the award, the judges at the Stuart Clark New Venture Challenge noted that it was a nearly impossible task to choose between the finalists and especially the top two — with only five points separating SanoGene and Progressive Cooling Solutions. SanoGene and Progressive Cooling Solutions held off strong contenders from the University of Kansas, University of Oregon and Thammasat University (Thailand), which rounded out the final five.

In addition to the $5,000 1st runner-up prize, Progressive Cooling Systems also earned a bid to the 2006 MOOT Corp competition since SanoGene has already qualified. The MOOT Corp competition is the "Super Bowl" of business plan competitions with 40 teams from around the world descending on the University – Texas at Austin May 3-6 to compete for over $125,000 in prize money.

Progressive Cooling Solutions' entrepreneurial journey continues next week when Shuja will again lead his team against 19 teams from around the world in the University of Oregon's New Venture Championship competition. Later in April, the team will also compete in the 2006 "Jungle Business Plan" Challenge.