U2B Team Winner Announced in Business Plan Contest

April 30, 2001

University Park, Pa. --- A research and development business that will focus on knowledge creation and transfer has been selected as the winning team in the inaugural U2B Fox Challenge (U2B = University-to-Business) at Penn State.

Following final presentations by the finalists on April 25, 2001, a panel of University and business leaders has selected Aryam as the winning business, says Dr. Raymond Lombra, associate dean of Penn State's College of the Liberal Arts.

Aryam intends to create a research and development business that will focus on knowledge creation and transfer. Team leader, Uday Turaga, a doctoral student in fuel science says, "The knowledge economy's continued growth will require creative solutions. Providing these to re-invent the way knowledge is created is Aryam's mission."

In addition to Turaga, the Aryam team members include Kaushik Raha, a doctoral student in life sciences, Michael Sprague, a master's degree student in fuel science, and Ryan Zarnitz, a senior majoring in chemical engineering.

The U2B Fox Challenge, a Universitywide business plan contest, was initiated to engage students at Penn State in entrepreneurship, from conceptualization and planning through the launching of a new company. It is the brainchild of Penn State alumnus Ken Fox, a 1993 economics graduate in the College of the Liberal Arts and co-founder and managing director of Internet Capital Group, Inc., a Philadelphia- area company engaged in business-to-business e-commerce.

The contest kicked off last September with more than 400 participants resulting in the submission of 195 business plan summaries.

"After reviewing the plans, we narrowed the field to an impressive group of six semi-finalists and finally to four teams of finalists," says Fox. "The goal was to stimulate entrepreneurial thinking, and based upon the enthusiastic participation of so many students, I am very pleased by the outcome.

?"The Aryam group will be given seed money to help facilitate the next steps in their business development," says Fox, "and as they become a viable entity, we expect additional capital will be available for their business. Aryam's business plan, while it has a grand vision, starts with the very practical premise that there are great international opportunities for U.S. companies to outsource research and development in the sciences like they have in information technology.

"While the competition was open to all Penn State students, we chose to base the contest in Liberal Arts because of the importance that is placed there on communication skills, team building, and critical thinking---elements that are necessary for the development of successful business ventures," says Fox.

A review panel, in addition to Fox, included Penn State alumnus Bob Capretto, an entrepreneur and oral surgeon in Pittsburgh, and Gary Weber, assistant vice president for research and director of technology transfer at Penn State. The panel reviewed the semi-finalists' business plans and provided input that the teams incorporated into their final presentations.

Additionally, the teams had access to expertise off-campus as they developed their business plans. SCORE---Counselors to America's Small Businesses, Central Pennsylvania Chapter, provided assistance to both semi-finalist and finalist teams.

The other finalists were:

Adiella---offshore outsourcing service providing Web and software development. Team members are: Husam Ali Brohi, Ali Chaudhry, Sobia Chaudhry, and Auzim Sultan.

Pleasant Cove---senior day care and home assistance franchise. Pleasant Cove team members are: Heather Bergman and Mark Bergman

Vasor---customizable online product support service. Vasor team members are: Laura Beck, Richard Kaplan, Colin Murphy, Justin Plock, John Ruiz, William Them, and Luis Valbuena

**dw**

Contact:

Chris Gamble, assistant to the dean for alumni relations, College of the Liberal Arts

(814) 863-1827 cxg29@psu.edu.