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Some organizers of the UC San Diego Entrepreneur Challenge.
Raj Krishnan, a UCSD Ph.D. student in bioengineering, was determined to turn his thesis research on cancer diagnostics into a thriving business.
This dream led him to a unique resource on campus, the UC San Diego Entrepreneur Challenge.
Through their events, he was able to put together a team of students from diverse disciplines and learn from successful entrepreneurs what was needed to commercialize his research. His team, Biological Dynamics, won first place and $25,000 in cash and $15,000 in legal services in last year’s business plan presentation competition. Since then, they have incorporated and are pursuing other funding sources.
Started in 2003 by a group of UCSD students, the UC San Diego Entrepreneur Challenge is a fully student led organization whose mission is to foster community involvement and technological innovation by bringing multi-disciplinary teams of engineers, scientists, and business-minded students together with local area entrepreneurs and professionals.
“We offer a ‘mini-MBA’ in the form of free, public seminars throughout the year on all aspects of the commercialization process,” said Tom Cohen, CEO of the organization and a UC San Diego Ph.D. student in biomedical sciences.
In addition, the group has held three business competitions for which it has awarded over $200,000 in cash and prizes over the past three years. Previous winners have included graduate students from both the Salk Institute and the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. Some have gone on to win prestigious national business plan competitions, raise over $3 million in additional funding.
“We’re proud that the Entrepreneur Challenge has become a premiere nexus of diverse innovative interests in the San Diego community and has provided an extensive platform for students and professionals alike to expand their network with other successful entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, angel investors, legal providers and many more,” said Cohen.
The fourth Entrepreneur Challenge kicks off on October 6 with a free event featuring San Diego business leader Ernest Rady (for whom the Rady School at UCSD is named due to his $30 million contribution). In a Q&A with SDNN associate publisher Barbara Bry, Rady will speak about his personal journey, lessons learned and mistakes made.
The free event will be held from 6-8 p.m. at the Neurosciences Institute.
Pre-registration is required.
Jason Steiner, COO of the Entrepreneur Challenge, is a Ph.D. student in UC San Diego’s material sciences department. He is investigating novel nanotechnology approaches towards cancer therapeutics at the UCSD Moores Cancer Center.
Tags: Jacobs School of Engineering, SDNN, UC San Diego Entrepreneur Challenge, UCSD
