RBPC 2018
When it comes to business plan competitions, you often hear a lot about the winners. But what of the teams that struggle?
What do the judges think?
That’s pretty much on the minds of anyone who has been part of a business plan competition. So I asked John Reale, who for the past seven or so years, has been a juror for the Rice Business Plan Competition, (RBPC) scheduled for April 14-16 in Houston, Texas.
Thomas Healy and his teammates from Carnegie Mellon University hope a 65-foot tractor-trailer will rev up the judges at this year's Rice Business Plan Competition.
Hyliion, as the entrepreneurial team from the school in Pittsburgh is known, turns diesel-guzzling tractor-trailers into hybrids by way of a new technology. A battery pack captures energy when braking or coasting downhill, and that energy is reused for acceleration. Parking the big rig at Rice University, Healy said, shows judges that their idea has evolved beyond mere concept.
Peter Rodriguez, currently senior associate dean for degree programs and chief diversity officer at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, has been named dean of Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business.
He will join Rice as dean of the Jones School on July 1. In addition to being dean of the business school, Rodriguez will serve on the Jones School faculty.
Two teams of engineering students took home big checks for victories in the 2016 Owl Open, Rice’s student startup competition, Feb. 20. The Skylark Wireless team, above, earned $2,500 and automatic entry into this year’s Rice Business Plan Competition for winning the graduate student division.
Burke said there were many strong life sciences teams applying for this year's competition; 18 teams were accepted for the life sciences category, up from 12 last year. The other categories are information technology/Web/mobile; energy/clean technology/sustainability; and other.
"This competition can be, in some ways, life changing for the teams and the students who come here," Burke said.
Applications opened Dec. 2 for the 16th annual Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC) at Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business April 14-16. Forty-two teams from the world’s top universities will be selected from the applicants to vie for more than $1.5 million in prizes in the RBPC, which in November was named the No.
