MBA Tech Transfer Challenge

This Friday (2/15/08), the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University will be holding its annual MBA Tech Transfer Challenge at the Texas A&M Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship:

“This event, a required part of the Mays MBA program, challenges teams of students to analyze and determine the commercial viability of an invention developed at Texas A&M. The Challenge culminates with presentations by the MBA teams to judges from the business and academic communities.

“The Challenge is an integral part of the MBA program and provides our students with a unique opportunity to develop their analysis, teamwork and presentation skills. Prior to the judging session, the teams work for one week to learn the technology, identify market applications, assess marketplace acceptance, identify competitive technologies and form an opinion of the invention’s commercial viability. The students summarize their results in a written report and an oral presentation to a judging panel. Each team presents in the first round to a subset of the judges. The top teams from the first round advance to the final round where they present in front of the entire judging group as well as their peers. This year, we have also added a wildcard round for all second place teams from the morning flights, in which one team will also move forward to the finals. The Challenge concludes with a networking and awards reception. This year, $6,000 in prize money will be awarded to the top three teams. It is a busy and rewarding week for the students.”

This year, Startup Houston’s Josh Tabin will be one of the event’s judges. Texas A&M graduates have been an integral part of the Houston startup scene for many years and continue to add to its vibrancy. Here are some local startups by former Aggies:

• LatinSpace.com
• GameWager
• CourseVote
• Building Process

I am sure to be missing some…please let me know if you are an Aggie and have a startup in the greater Houston area (let’s just assume it includes Bryan/College Station).