Intel Global Challenge

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Winners of the 2014 Intel Global Challenge

Chilean Entrepreneurs Aiming to Improve Science Education Win Top Prize at Intel Global Challenge

Highlights:

• Lab4U of Chile won the grand prize in the 2014 Intel Global Challenge, receiving a $50,000 award from the Intel Foundation.
• Lab4U developed a promising technology that allows for a mobile phone to be used as a science instrument through built-in sensors, and a crowd-learning web platform to share lab results
• Other top-placing teams were Neuron Guard of Italy, which developed an on-site, integrated solution for the treatment of acute brain damage; Karisma Kidz of the United Kingdom, which created an app to increase emotional intelligence in children through gamification; and Servtech of Taiwan, which invented a technology infrastructure to leverage big data in the manufacturing industry.

SILICON VALLEY, Calif., Nov. 7, 2014 – Lab4U, a team of student entrepreneurs from Chile, has won the 10^th annual Intel Global Challenge, a global business plan competition that encourages student entrepreneurs to tackle some of the world’s most pressing issues through computing technology and gives teams access to top venture capitalists and investors in Silicon Valley. Held at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, the competition drew 26 teams from 20 countries around the world. These finalist teams were selected from more than 60 countries and nine regional competitions. The Intel Foundation awarded $100,000 total in cash prizes, including a $50,000 grand prize and three $15,000 awards for teams taking first place in the following categories: Internet, mobile and software computing; computing for social innovation; and Internet of Things and hardware. Additionally, a $5,000 prize for social media was awarded. Founded in 2005, the Intel Global Challenge is designed to motivate young entrepreneurs to develop innovative technologies that solve real-world challenges, build viable business models, and move that technology out of university labs and into the market.

See previous Intel Global Challenge at UC Berkeley winners: 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009

Lab4U, comprised of team members from the University of Chile and a local cancer research center, developed a technology that uses a mobile phone as a science instrument in order to democratize laboratory equipment. Through built-in mobile sensors and a crowd-learning web platform, users can prepare, analyze and share lab results via a mobile phone. The team, inspired to create this technology by a lack of lab instruments at their own university, aims to change the way science is taught and how experiments are performed.

Innovations from the three first-place winners ranged from education to manufacturing. Neuron Guard of Italy developed an on-site, integrated solution for the treatment of acute brain damage to prevent irreversible loss after a stroke, sudden cardiac death or traumatic brain injury. Karisma Kidz of the United Kingdom created a mobile application called, “Moodville,” a gaming solution for children to increase their emotional intelligence through mood identification and management. Servtech of Taiwan invented a technology infrastructure to leverage information communication technologies in manufacturing. Through Servtech’s technology, factories can use big data to access machine conditions and detect anomalies in equipment. Plaze of Lebanon was awarded for their innovative approach to social media during the Intel Global Challenge.

Winners of the 2014 Intel Global Challenge at UC Berkeley

Grand Prize Winner: Lab4U

 

As young scientists in training, the founders of Lab4U experienced firsthand the impact on learning when their classrooms lacked enough equipment for all students to gain hands-on experience. As a result, this Chilean startup develops technologies to turn cell phones into pocket-sized labs. Their design uses built-in mobile sensors to enable students to conduct experiments and a crowd-learning Web platform to prepare, analyze and share lab results. The goal: to improve science education and democratize science by delivering low-cost educational solutions.

First Place, Internet of Things and Hardware: Neuron Guard

In the event of brain injury, it takes just eight minutes for the brain to be irreversibly damaged. Early on-site treatment is the key to prevention. These facts inspired the founders of Neuron Guard, an Italian startup, to develop a portable refrigerating collar which relies on thermo-electric cooling elements to reduce the temperature of blood flowing through the carotid and vertebral arteries to reduce brain trauma before treatment.

 

First Place, Computing for Social Innovation: Karisma Kidz

The ability to identify and regulate emotions is recognized as one of the fundamental stages of child development, affecting behavior and academic performance. To help children learn these important skills, Karisma Kidz – a startup from the U.K. – creates engaging online games and offline products to enhance children’s emotional intelligence.

 

First Place, Internet, Mobile and Software Computing: Servtech

In today’s manufacturing environment, component precision and machine throughput is the key to success. Additionally, utilizing data to understand conditions and address faults or anomalies is essential. Servtech, a Taiwanese startup, has created technology to enable ICT services to improve uptime, production quality, and ultimately, facility-wide overall equipment effectiveness.

 

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2013 Winners of the Intel Global Challenge at UC Berkeley   (Click here to see a list of all participating teams)

•  Mobile Monitoring Station of Chile won the grand prize in the 2013 Intel Global Challenge at UC Berkeley, receiving a $50,000 award from the Intel Foundation.
•  Mobile Monitoring Station invented a breakthrough system that uses portable sensors to collect valuable biomedical data about industrial workers.
•  Other top-placing teams were Gameleon of Bulgaria, which developed a cloud-based platform for creating, playing and monetizing Web games; Karmashop of Mexico, which created a crowd-funding platform that allows users to customize how they receive donations; and Tensive of Italy, which invented implantable biomaterials for the reconstruction of bone and tissue.

SILICON VALLEY, Calif., Oct. 9, 2013 – Mobile Monitoring Station, a team of student entrepreneurs from Chile, won the 9th annual Intel Global Challenge at UC Berkeley, a global business plan competition that encourages student entrepreneurs to tackle some of the world’s most pressing issues through computing technology. The competition provides a unique entrepreneurship experience by giving teams access to top venture capitalists and investors in Silicon Valley.

Mobile Monitoring Station, comprised of team members from engineering research and development company SoluNova, Chilean mining company Codelco and the University of Chile, created a set of portable sensors that collects industrial workers’ biomedical data, such as heart rate, in real time. The sensors, which are applied directly to the workers’ clothes, transmit valuable biomedical information to devices such as smartphones, which then push the data to the cloud. The solution will be offered as a service, supplying industrial sites with the hardware and software for a monthly fee per worker. The winning team, driven by the lack of existing data on industrial workers’ exposure to health risks, expects the sensors to result in a considerable drop in health dangers in this industry.

“At Intel, we know that innovation is critical to growth for individuals, businesses and economies,” said Staci Palmer, Intel’s director of Global Strategic Initiatives and Marketing in the Corporate Affairs Group. “Through the Intel Global Challenge at UC Berkeley, students around the world gain lifelong entrepreneurship and innovation skills they can apply throughout their careers, in fields ranging from healthcare to transportation.”

The Intel Foundation awarded $100,000 total in cash prizes, including a $50,000 grand prize and three $10,000 awards for teams taking first place in the following categories: Internet, mobile and software computing; computing for social innovation; and hardware and computing. In addition, four $5,000 special awards were presented.

Innovations from the three first-prize winners included industries ranging from technology to healthcare. Gameleon of Bulgaria developed a cloud-based platform that allows

anyone to create, publish, play and monetize Web games with only a browser, regardless of programming skills or experience. Karmashop of Mexico created a crowd-funding platform that allows users to customize how they receive donations and, in return, gives donors “Karma Points.” For example, through a Karmashop campaign raising money for community members affected by the recent floods in Mexico, donors have the option to contribute items including drinking water, first aid and shelter. Tensive of Italy developed implantable biomaterials for the reconstruction of large bone and tissue defects, caused by osteoporosis, trauma or tumor removal. The patented technology replicates the patient’s blood vessels and accelerates the natural regeneration of bone and tissue.

The Intel Global Challenge, held at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, drew 28 teams from more than 20 countries and regions. These finalist teams were selected from more than 18,000 entries from more than 60 countries and regions around the world. Founded in 2005, the Intel Global Challenge at UC Berkeley is a joint project of Intel and the UC Berkeley Lester Center for Entrepreneurship. The competition is designed to motivate young entrepreneurs to develop innovative technologies that solve real-world challenges, build viable business models and move that technology out of university labs and into the market.

 

Keynote Lectures from the Intel Global Challenge 2013:

Lessons Learned from Steve Jobs, Guy Kawasaki

Getting Your Story Straight, David Riemer

Fireside Chat, Steve Blank

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2012 Winners of the Intel Global Challenge at UC Berkeley   (Click here to see a list of all participating teams)

 

The winning team of entrepreneurs created efficient, biomass-based cooking solutions. In India and elsewhere around the globe, indoor open fires and traditional mud stoves are still used for cooking by nearly 3 billion people, leading to negative impacts on the environment and economy. The team’s flagship product, the Greenway Smart Stove, incorporates a unique air-flow generator that saves fuel consumption by up to 65 percent and reduces smoke output by 70 percent. Since it commercially launched in December 2011, Greenway Grameen Infra has sold more than 12,000 units. The company plans to add two new stove designs and a waste heat-to-electricity converter to its product line.

“This year, we saw impressive innovations in fields including healthcare, mobile app development and energy conservation,” said Shelly Esque, president of the Intel Foundation and global director of Intel’s Corporate Affairs Group. “These student entrepreneurs from around the world have developed first-class business plans ranging from improved reliability for cancer diagnoses to the production of inexpensive, more efficient solar cells.”

The Intel Foundation awarded $100,000 total in cash prizes. The grand prize-winning team received $50,000, and the three best-of-category winning teams each received $15,000. In addition, two prizes of $2,500 were awarded to the winning teams of a social media challenge and an audience favorite contest. Besides cash prizes, winning teams received invaluable mentoring and feedback from Silicon Valley’s leading venture capitalists.

Innovations from the three best-of-category winners included industries ranging from healthcare to agriculture. Nanoly Bioscience of the United States developed a protective shield that stabilizes vaccines and eliminates the need for refrigeration, allowing vaccines to be shipped virtually anywhere. Sustainable Agriculture Solutions of Colombia created sustainable farming solutions, including a fertilizer that increases efficiency by 40 percent over traditional alternatives. Avetics of Singapore invented an autonomous mini-plane with a computerized control board that takes high-resolution photographs for aerial maps.

The competition, held at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, drew 25 teams from 16 countries. These finalist teams were selected from more than 150,000 students from more than 50 countries who competed in 14 affiliate competitions. Founded in 2005, the Intel Global Challenge at UC Berkeley is a joint project of Intel and the UC Berkeley Lester Center for Entrepreneurship. The project is designed to motivate young entrepreneurs to develop innovative technologies that solve real-world challenges, build viable business models and move that technology out of university labs and into the market.

 

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2011 Winners of the Intel Global Challenge at UC Berkeley   (Click here to see a list of all participating teams)

 

• Team Forward from China won the 2011 Intel Global Challenge at UC Berkeley, receiving a $50,000 award from the Intel Foundation.
• Forward invented a photo-editing platform that simplifies every aspect of image processing and design for Chinese consumers.
• Other top-placing teams were Maxygen-mobile DNA of Russia, which developed an inexpensive and portable DNA test solution, and NanoDiagX of Egypt, which developed a cheaper and more effective test for detecting viruses, such as Hepatitis C.

BERKELEY, Calif., Nov. 11, 2011 – Forward, a team of student entrepreneurs from China, has won the 7^th annual Intel Global Challenge at UC Berkeley (formerly the Intel+UC Berkeley Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge), for creating Gaitu, a one-stop image processing platform that matches Chinese consumers with designers who add special effects, provide image-sharing services and turn edited photos into art or merchandise.

The Intel Global Challenge at UC Berkeley is a global business plan competition that encourages student entrepreneurs and rewards innovative ideas that have the potential to have a positive impact on society. The Intel Foundation will award a total of $100,000 in cash prizes, $50,000 of which went to Forward.

Second place and $20,000 was awarded to Maxygen-mobile DNA of Russia for inventing a low-cost, portable DNA test solution that can be used at the point of care to quickly identify thousands of infectious diseases, genetic predispositions and hereditary conditions. The $10,000 third-place prize went to NanoDiagX of Egypt, which used gold nanoparticles to develop a virus test that can detect Hepatitis C in less than an hour, and at one-tenth the cost of current commercial tests.

“Intel has a strong commitment to fostering student innovation around the globe,” said Shelly Esque, president of the Intel Foundation and vice president in Intel’s Legal and Corporate Affairs group. “Through our education programs, we’ve seen firsthand how empowering entrepreneurs positively impacts individuals, communities and economies. The Intel Global Challenge at UC Berkeley helps students develop lifelong innovation skills to identify problems and develop solutions they will use throughout their careers.”

The competition, held at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, drew 28 teams from more than 20 countries. Founded in 2005, the Intel Global Challenge at UC Berkeley is a joint project of Intel and the UC Berkeley Lester Center for Entrepreneurship. The project is designed to motivate young entrepreneurs to develop innovative technologies that solve real world challenges, build viable business models and move that technology out of university labs and into the market.

This year, the finalist teams presented business plans that reflect groundbreaking work in such fields as healthcare, technology, energy conservation and disaster management. These plans included ultraviolet radiation detection, a coconut-based packaging alternative, and an advanced fire protection and detection system. Representatives of more than 12 leading venture capital firms from the San Francisco Bay Area served as judges and provided valuable feedback to the teams.

In addition, three special awards, worth $5,000 each, were presented to Intel Global Challenge teams earlier this week. The Social Innovation Award went to NextDrop of Berkeley, Calif., for its water management solution that helps people in emerging markets better predict water availability in communities. aQuainnova of Thailand won the Emerging Impact Award for the team’s Genovex business tool, which can provide early detection of viral diseases in shrimp. The Young Innovator Award was given to the entrepreneurs from team BUCKY’o’Zun of Denmark for their inexpensive chemical compound that when added to sun lotions, anti-aging creams, paints, among other products, provides 99.99 percent protection against all forms of UV radiation.

Intel has also launched a People’s Choice Awards Contest for the public to vote for its favorite competing team of young entrepreneurs. The winning People’s Choice Awards team will receive a $5,000 prize.

 

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2010 Winners of the 6th Annual Intel+UC Berkeley Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge   (Click here to see a list of all participating teams)

 

First Place – $25,000 Prize

OsComp Systems from Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra in the Dominican Republic: OsComp Systems (OCS) has invented a breakthrough, patent-pending technology that reduces operating and capital costs for natural gas compression by over 30%. Compression costs affect the entire natural gas supply chain from wellheads all the way to the end user. Worldwide, natural gas compressors consume more than USD200 billion in fuel/electricity and generate more than 340 million tons of CO2 each year. Sales of natural gas compressors is a USD7.2 billion per year market (2010) and is expected to grow more than 8.7% per year for the next decade. OCS makes marginal gas wells profitable once again, and increases the margins from already profitable ones. Compression is needed at the wellhead to enhance production, among other uses. OCS has confirmed that packagers and leasing fleet operators are willing to adopt our technology after successful field trials and long-term durability projections.

Second Place – $10,000 Prize

Magoosh from the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley: Magoosh is disrupting the three billion dollar test preparation market with personalized test preparation delivered through videos on any device. Magoosh is different in its mode of teaching: students learn through short-form videos that deliver content according to each student’s strengths and weaknesses. The key benefits to the student are effectiveness (the personalized videos create an experience that is like having a personal tutor on demand), convenience (since the student can learn anywhere, anytime, on any device), and affordability (since Magoosh costs a fraction of the thousand dollars or more than is normally spent on a class). Magoosh product sales have exceeded ten thousand dollars in each month over September and October of 2010. Students from over one hundred and fifty countries have learned with Magoosh products

Third Place – $5,000 Prize

ADTELLIGENCE from University of Mannheim, Germany: ADTELLIGENCE provides the leading advertising targeting platform for the social web. Social networks, Web 2.0 sites, and social web providers can monetize their platforms more effectively by using their members’ real interests, demographics, and geographic information —matching them with the most relevant ads—all within a fully automated closed-loop marketing process for advertisers. We unify self-service ad-booking, ultra-precise user profile targeting based on real data, payment, monitoring, analytics, and market intelligence into a fully automated SaaS solution that runs on cloud computing (by adriana at tforge). Our superior targeting technology enables advertisers to precisely target their advertising and increase online shop revenues using real data from social network users or single sign-on services like Facebook, Connect, and Open Social.

People’s Choice Award – $5,000 Prize (voted on by the public after the Challenge)

Bio-oil from Tsinghua University in Ching: Bio-oil aims to promote an alternative energy source while reducing pressure on the environment. Our company produces biodiesel using various kinds of waste oil as raw materials. Not only do we solve problems arising from the disposal of waste oil, but we also provide a clean and sustainable form of energy—thus bringing valuable benefits to society. The production technology creates biodiesel and 1-2-propanediol (PDO) through a bio-enzymatic reaction. The production process is pollution free, cost saving versus traditional methods, and has a high raw material-to-end product conversion rate. Almost all animal and plant oils can be used, even waste oil. Our innovative technology also produces the chemical product PDO as a by-product that increases the profit per ton of waste oil substantially.

 

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2009 Intel + UC Berkeley Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge Winners   (Click here to see a list of all participating teams)

11/20/09
Berkeley, CA

Ihealth, a team from Tsinghua University, Peoples Republic of China, whose bionic technology of biodegradable bone screws promises to improve the quality of life for patients with bone injuries, won the 5th Annual Intel+UC Berkeley Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge on Thursday, November 19, on the UC Berkeley campus. The award includes a $25,000 cash prize.

The competition was sponsored by Intel Corporation and hosted by the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business to promote the commercialization of technology innovations that promise significant positive impact on industry and society.

The second place award was won by CaptchaAd, a team from the Technical University Munich in Germany, the world’s first company to combine enhanced SPAM protection, interactive video advertising and a more conscious perception of advertising by the user.

The third place award went to Zimplistic, a team from the National University of Singapore, which automates the production of rotis, a staple diet of 800 million Indians eating 2.4 billion rotis everyday.

The People’s Choice Award, voted on by all attendees at the competition finals, was also won by first-place finisher Ihealth.

Descriptions of the winning teams’ proposals:

Ihealth – Tsinghua University, P.R. China
Ihealth Group aims to improve life quality with its revolutionary new product—MPHB biodegradable bone screws. Ihealth has developed MPHB bone screw in light of bionics which has been granted a national patent in China. Our product overcomes the disadvantages of the existing materials and provides a nearly perfect solution for the rehabilitation and fixation of bone injuries.

CaptchaAd – Technical University Munich, Germany
The CaptchaAd GmbH is the world’s first company to combine enhanced SPAM protection with interactive video advertising and thus increase the security on websites and facilitates visitor’s use, while at the same time ensuring a more conscious perception of advertising by the user. Instead of distorted codes conventional CAPTCHAs (an anti SPAM function usedmore than 250 million times a day worldwide) use to differentiate between humans and machines, CaptchaAd (Captcha Advertising) uses questions concerning the content of the spot. A CaptchaAd is a short commercial including a question which can easily be read and answered by site customers to substitute the “normal” CAPTCHA process. This results in a higher level of attention and involvement by the user to the viewed content.

Zimplistic – National University of Singapore, Singapore
Roti is staple diet of 800 million Indians eating 2.4 billion rotis everyday. Making rotis is a very time consuming, tedious and skillful task and since there is no fully automatic home appliance that makes rotis, people resort to unhealthy and expensive alternatives like frozen rotis. Zimplistic is a Singapore based startup that has designed & developed the first ever, fully automatic “Rotimatic” (by adriana at tforge). It is like a coffee machine. It is the size of a mini microwave oven, the user just has to enter no. of rotis, and it measures, kneads, flattens, roasts and puffs rotis out.

 

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2008 Intel + UC Berkeley Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge Winners   (Click here to see a list of all participating teams)

 

First Prize Winner:
NeuroMOD, National University of Singapore: Start-up@Singapore Competition

NeuroMOD Technologies (NeuroMOD) is a development stage company that designs, develop, manufacture, and market implantable medical devices for patients suffering from neurological disorders. Our initial product, the NeuroMOD Epilepsy Control System (NECS), focuses on epilepsy, a neurological disorder which affects more than 50 million people in the world today.

Second Prize Winner:
Polyskin, National Institute of Immunology, India: DST-Intel India Innovation Pioneers Challenge

Affordable solutions for burn wound management has been lacking in India having over a million patients annually. Existing solutions are expensive and require specialized skills for administration, limiting their reach. Polyskin uses a patent-pending process to formulate membranes out of drug encapsulated polylactide (PLA) particles. These are sent in bulk to hospitals who use our simple process to prepare membranes to treat the wounds. PLA, a USFDA approved, bio-compatible polymer has been in use for sixty years clinically. Preclinical trials have been completed and the company seeks $ 0.75 M for commercialization. Our process can be used for newer drug delivery systems for treating tumors and for tissue engineering applications.

Third Prize Winner:
SCU Panda Park, Sichuan University, China: National “Challenge Cup” Entrepreneurship Contest – China

With the advanced technique support from the key laboratory of leather chemistry and engineering of education ministry, Sichuan University, we use the new clean leather technology—-“the tannery method in which takes the carbon dioxide supercritical fluid as reaction media” to replace water in traditional process by carbon dixoide supercritical fluid, to provide environmental protection, ecological quality leather technology. In the world, the technology can be realized only in the skin into leather wet in the course of almost non-operation of water, thereby eliminating the source of tannery waste water.

People’s Choice Prize Winner:
Nano Precision Medical, Univeristy of California, Berkeley & San Francisco: Berkeley Business Plan Competition

Nano Precision Medical is developing a novel technology called NanoFlow which enables the high-precision and low-cost delivery of a wide variety of therapeutic molecules—improving patient outcomes and lowering side effects. Our first product in development is an implantable device that can deliver precise doses of Interferon-alpha over many months to treat chronic hepatitis C (HCV). With an addressable HCV treatment market size estimated at $1.2 billion and expected to double in the next 5 years in the U.S. alone, HCV treatment represents an extremely attractive opportunity (by arce at tf). Furthermore, substantial evidence exists to suggest that continuous delivery of IFN-α will both increase effectiveness as well as decrease the debilitating side effects compared with current delivery methods that leave the patients in a severely debilitated state.

 

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2007 Intel + UC Berkeley Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge Winners   (Click here to see a list of all participating teams)

 

First Prize Winner:
Navaris Medical, Germany: Business_Creators@UnternehmerTUM

Navaris Medical introduces revolutionary operation procedures for removal of lymph nodes containing breast cancer cells by introducing intra-operative 3D imaging that can be applied before, during and after the operation, allowing the surgeon to precisely locate the lymph nodes – visually and three-dimensionally.

Second Prize Winner:
NRG Fuels, Israel: NOVATech Competition Central Eastern Europe

One of the most promising measures to combat global warming and depleting fuel supplies lies in the use of Biodiesel. As of today, biodiesel is mostly produced from of crop-based feedstock. Thus, its production is constrained by limiting factors such as availability of agricultural land, cost and ethical paradoxes of using arable land for the production of fuel rather than food. Negev Renewable Green Fuels (‘NRG Fuels’) is a clean-tech developer of innovative microalgae growth technology for biodiesel production. The company provides a low-cost/high output solution to the problems described above by utilizing sea water, non-agricultural land and cutting-edge microalgae technology for the production of biodiesel. Another important environmental impact is due to the increased absorbance of carbon dioxide in the process of microalgae growth; a key issue in minimizing global warming and its hazardous effects.

Third Prize Winner:
Trivial Solutions, Brazil: GV-Intel Brazilian Challenge of Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital

Trivial presents vEye, a navigation system to be used in outdoor environments and based on tactile feedback (vibration) provided by mobile phones. By using voice command recognition software, vEye can detect where the user intends to go and give him step-by-step directions for getting there by means of simple commands issued to the user via different vibration patterns; vEye intends to bridge the gap between the visually impaired and navigation information that is available today but is targeted only for people who can see (i.e. maps, signs, etc.). By providing them with the necessary means to walk through unknown environments without having to depend on anyone else vEye leads people to a much more autonomous life.

People’s Choice Prize Winner:
Qmodule, Russia: BIT Russia Competition

Qmodule defines its mission as making innovative contribution to the development, production and marketing of BATTERY-FREE ELECTRONICS. Qmodule holds 4 basic international patents and demonstrated feasibility of Qmodule technologies at numerous working prototypes of battery-free consumer and industrial electronic products. Qmodule is going to launch pilot production and sales of the Qmodule battery-free products on the markets with more than $200 billion capacity.

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2006 Intel + Berkeley Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge Winners

 

First Prize Winner
Aurora Biofuels: UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition
Aurora BioFuels is an innovative alternative energy company with a revolutionary method of creating biodiesel. Aurora’s proprietary technology, developed at the University of California, Berkeley, allows Aurora BioFuels to create biodiesel with >100X higher yields and significantly lower costs than current production methods.
Second Prize Winner
Richcore: DST-Intel Indian Innovation PioneerChallenge
Richcore lifesciences Private Limited, www.richcoreindia.com , is an innovative biotech application research company from India. The company has developed a proprietory technology which imparts hygroscopic properties to ordinary paper, enabling it to absorb moisture from the atmosphere and remain moist perpetually. The technology has applications in a wide spectrum of industries like, Healthcare, Tissue culture, Horticulture, Packaging, Food processing, Solid-state fermentation, Artificial flowers etc.
Third Prize Winners
Chilight: China College Student Business Plan Competition
LED is ideal illuminating and decorating light source, outweighing traditional light source in many aspects, especially in saving energy, protecting environment and improving health. With the support of the National Key Lab in Peking Univ., Chilight Corporation focuses on the middle of the LED industry chain, producing big power LED chips in high quality with the advanced technology of exclusive patents. Chilight aims at becoming top high technology corporation of illumination. For Chilight, Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and Shanghai 2010 World Expo are to be important business chances for development.

Watel Solutions: Arizona State University
In a world where clean, drinkable water is becoming a scarce resource, Watel Solutions has developed a unit that produces potable water by condensing humidity from the air. The unit’s comparative benefit lies in its efficiency in producing high amounts of water per kilowatt, allowing it to be powered by solar energy. The Company’s business strategy is to tap into virgin markets of the world, primarily Africa, where Watel Solutions is providing a cost-effective solution to the problem of quality and scarcity of drinkable water.
Humanitarian Award
Gravitonus GP: BIT2006 Russia
Gravitonus GP founded by two experienced medical doctors, dedicated to bringing the next wave of accessibility solutions for 700,000 handicapped people to world market. They developed an Alternative Computer Control System (ACCS) technology that helps paralyzed individuals resume active lives.

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2005 Intel + Berkeley Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge Winners

 

Grand Prize Winner
Harmonic Devices: UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition
Harmonic Devices is a revolutionary micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) device startup based on research breakthroughs made at the Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center (BSAC) at the University of California at Berkeley. Harmonic?s proprietary MEMS resonator technology delivers new levels of component miniaturization, integration and performance for wireless communication devices, enabling smaller form factors, longer battery life, lower heat dissipation and lower costs. For its initial target market, mobile phones and other portable wireless handsets, Harmonic will introduce the world?s first silicon chip integrating timing references (?clocks?) as well as radio frequency (RF) and intermediate frequency (IF) filters.

Special Prize for the Best Technology Impact Plan
The plan which will potentially have the greatest impact within it’s industry sector.

Biomers: Start-up@Singapore Competition
BioMers has developed a complete aesthetic alternative to unsightly metallic braces for the treatment of malocclusion (crooked teeth). BioMer’s braces are not clearly visible to others and have the necessary mechanical properties to straighten teeth. With an unrivaled product in the market, BioMers aims to capture a significant portion of the 1 million orthodontic patients in the U.S. who are currently seeking an aesthetic treatment for their malocclusion.

Special Prize for the Global Market Plan

Infinity Corp.
Infinity Corp’s business plan is to license breakthrough lens technology, LiquidLensTM to the high-growth digital imaging market of camera phone, compact digital camera and camcorder. LiquidLensTM uses fluid to create adaptive focusing and optical zooming lens that allows better image quality, 50 times smaller in size and consumes less power as compared to conventional lens.