Moot Corp > Teams
Medical Device Team from Carnegie Mellon Wins $100,000 Prize
May 6, 2006 - Austin, Texas -- A noninvasive diagnostic device claimed the grand prize at the 23rd annual Global Moot Corp Competition held at the University of Texas at Austin on Saturday, May 6. NeuroLife Noninvasive Solutions from Carnegie Mellon University beat out 33 teams from the London Business School, Duke, Columbia and top MBA programs around the world to claim the Global Champion prize.
NeuroLife Noninvasive Solutions will commercialize the world's first noninvasive
intracranial pressure (ICP) diagnostic device. NeuroLife offers a faster, safer
and easier way to measure ICP noninvasively through the patient’s eye. Team
members include Adil Wali, Ernest Braxton and Franco D. Harris.
Tom Emerson
is the faculty adviser.
The Global Champion will receive a prize package worth $100,000:
1) $25,000 in cash;
2) the Austin Technology Incubator Launch Package worth $25,000 featuring a one
year membership which includes strategic business consulting services and
mentoring from a team of industry experts, office space, and access to
discounted legal, accounting, and businesses services from top tier providers;
3) prosecution of the first American patent by Ropes & Gray worth $25,000; and
4) consulting with the McCombs School of Business entrepreneurship faculty worth
$25,000.
The winning team will also open the NASDAQ Stock Market on August 11.
This year, 33 teams gathered in Austin to compete. The ideas they pitched are as
wide ranging as the geographical distances of their hometowns. Teams from
Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain,
Mexico, Norway, Thailand and all corners of the U.S. participated.
The ventures featured lifestyle enhancers such as 3D projection, a martial arts
TV channel and an environmentally friendly rat control device. Medical devices
such as diagnostic tools for Multiple Sclerosis, viral infections and skin
cancer were pitched. Mobile fitness centers, a cattle inventory system, and a
tax preparation service were some of the services presented.
On Saturday, May 6, ten semifinalists competed in two divisions. The judges then selected the
top two teams in each division to move to the Finals.
NeuroLife was awarded the top prize after a two-day competition that featured 16
international MBA teams and 17 teams from colleges from the leading MBA programs
around the U.S. The Finals judges were William Glasgow, Prime Management Group;
Phil Speros, Halsa Pharmaceuticals; Gary Pankonien, Emergent Technologies, and
John Hime, Hime & Company.
The NeuroLife team was one of the eight division winners in the Opening Round
held on Friday, May 5. The 33 teams were narrowed down to ten semifinals that
competed Saturday morning in two divisions. The top two teams of each division
competed in the Finals Saturday afternoon; less than three hours after learning
they had won their Semifinal round.
Strong Data Corp.from Columbia University was selected the first runner- up, and
will receive $5,000 in cash. Strong Data presented their plan to develop
portable, secure identification technology (next-generation credit cards) for
financial institutions and other markets.Columbia students are Ian Sigalow and Kent McNellie and the faculty adviser is
Mathew Rhodes-Kropf.
AquaSiam from Mahidol University in Thailand was second runner-up.
AquaSiam plans to solve the problem of untreated industrial wastewater,
initially in the pulp and paper industry.
Nudleman from Bond University in Australia was named third runner-up.
NudlemanTM offers high quality, fast-served Asian-styled meals, based on a
central theme of noodles.
Begun at the University of Texas at Austin by MBA students in 1984, the Moot
Corp Competition is the oldest new venture competition in the world, and it
provides MBA student teams with a chance to simulate the real world process of
raising venture capital.
