2009 Winners
1st Place ($100,000) - Innovative Composite Solutions (UAB)
Innovative Composite Solutions specializes in the design, development and manufacture of high-end thermoplastic composite components for the military, aerospace, mass transit and other high demand industry sectors. A thermoplastic composite material is a lightweight, recyclable, heat-reversible and fiber-reinforced plastic. The company provides turnkey solutions for the replacement of metal components and structures in applications that demand improved performance. The team is led by Dr. Selvum Pillay, a professor at the UAB School of Engineering.
Please visit the company's website at www.innovativecompositesolutions.com for more information.
2nd Place ($50,000) - Spectrum PhenomX (UAB/UA)
Spectrum PhenomX develops and applies high-throughput phenotyping techniques to streamline the analysis of complex genetic diseases, such as cancer and obesity. These techniques provide a quantitative and genomic assessment of how variant genes can change activities of cellular pathways that can trigger specific disease processes. The company is led by Dr. John Hartmann, a professor of Genetics at UAB.
3rd Place ($25,000) - Direct Injection Flat Head Engine Company (UA)
DIFH Engines offer a patent-pending alternative to current carburetor-based and direct injection small engines. DIFH Engine Company's technology give small engine companies a way to increase the efficiency of their engines and address reduced emissions mandates. The team is led by Dr. Riz Shakir, an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at The University of Alabama.
Other Finalists
BioLinx (UA)
The team is led by Ms. Connie Zhang, a current Master of Business Administration student at UA. Biolinx uses a UAB developed technology to develop multidrug multiligand (MDML) conjugates that will improve the efficacy of delivering drugs to their sites of action. This process will allow more of a particular drug to act before it is metabolized by the body.
Keep The Story (UA)
The team is led by Ms. Dannielle Branam. Also on the team is Mr. Mark Greene, a current student at UA. KeeptheStory.com will be a specialized online journal with features designed to help busy parents preserve family memories as quickly as possible, so they can capture stories that might otherwise be lost. It will bundle existing technologies to break this job into smaller chucks, make it fun, and allow it to fit into a busy lifestyle.
Non-Crystalline Cellulose Inc. (Auburn)
The team is led by Dr. Paul Swamidass, a professor at the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering at Auburn University. The company plans to produce an alternative to micro-crystalline cellulose, a compound currently used as a fat-replacer in food to help with weight loss and as an approved filler in drugs. This non-crystalline cellulose produced by an Auburn University patent-pending process is better in quality and less expensive than compounds currently used by the food and pharmaceutical industries.
TEGTEC (UAH)
The team is led by Mr. Charles Andrus, a current Master of Business Administration student at UAH. TEGTEC has developed manufacturing techniques that integrate new materials into micro devices that scavenge energy from low level heat sources, such as body heat. There are many potential applications for this technology, including medical devices that can be implanted into the body and powered by body heat. TEGTEC holds provisional patent protection for a combination of materials and fabrication techniques that will improve thermoelectric device efficiency by as much as ten times over current offerings.
ThoughtWright (Auburn)
The team is led by Mr. Mario Moore. Also on the team is Mr. Ben Wyrosdick, a recent graduate of the Auburn University Bachelor of Software Engineering Program. ThoughtWright has developed GradesFirst, a student performance monitoring system that helps colleges and universities retain more students by identifying and engaging at-risk students early within their academic careers. This student success leads to happier students, better grades, and a higher student retention rate which, in turn, leads to increases in revenues, graduation rates, and in a growing number of cases, state government funding.
Please visit the company's website at www.gradesfirst.com for more information.
