Three Teams from Rensselaer and Union College Compete Against Each Other in Annual Competition

The Vayu Innovation team members (from left to right) include second-year MBA students: Ravi Sangtani of Nagpur, India, Remy Arteaga of Albany, N.Y., Erica Coletti of Troy N.Y., and Chad Helm of Lloydminster, Canada. The team shared the winning moment with David Gautschi, dean of the Lally School. The team’s presentation included a description and demonstration of the device — in its final stages of engineering.

Troy, N.Y. — Vayu Innovations, a technology start-up company founded by four MBA graduate students from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Lally School of Management and Technology, won this year’s Tech Valley Collegiate Business Plan Competition. The competition — held on Rensselaer’s campus on May 3 — was sponsored by the Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship at Rensselaer’s Lally School of Management and Technology.

Vayu Innovations showcased its plan to develop and bring to market the Pocket Epi, a credit-card-sized, easy-to-carry self-injector that can be used by individuals or caregivers to deliver epinephrine during a life-threatening allergy attack. Pocket-Epi is designed to be less intimidating and easier to use than the current product on the market, according to the company. The device has a U.S. patent. The company plans to have a working prototype ready by fall 2006, according to Remy Arteaga, CEO of Vayu Innovations.

The Vayu Innovation team members include second-year MBA students: Remy Arteaga of Albany, N.Y., Erica Coletti of Troy N.Y., Ravi Sangtani of Nagpur, India, and Chad Helm of Lloydminster, Canada. The team’s presentation included a description and demonstration of the device — in its final stages of engineering.

“Changing times demand a new way to teach business leaders. The Lally School is in the business of advancing technological entrepreneurship and innovation in today’s ever-changing global economy. From start to finish, our annual collegiate business plan gives college students throughout the region the practical experience they will need to launch and grow a business,” said David Gautschi, dean of the Lally School. “The competition provides students with an opportunity to develop a passion for lifelong learning dedicated to the idea that management, technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship are critical to improving the quality of life. We are proud of Vayu Innovation’s achievement in this competition. We hope that all the participants will continue in their diligence and inspiration to develop ideas and create products that will deliver future benefits to society; and our challenge is to encourage even more students to participate in this event.”

Vayu Innovations received a $5,000 cash prize, and has the opportunity to receive $20,000 in seed funding, $15,000 in legal, patent, and financial services, and ancillary expenses for travel to a national business plan competition. The final level of the award is based on the company’s progress in implementing the business plan. The company also will receive a one-year virtual membership in Rensselaer’s Incubator Program. The program offers an extensive suite of business assistance services, including infrastructure-based support, consulting, business development, and networking opportunities.

“According to the FAAN organization (Food Allergy Anaphylaxis Network) more than 30,000 people each year end up in the emergency room as a result of a severe allergic reaction which results in 200 deaths. The main reason for this is that people are not carrying the current product with them. It’s too large to carry, too complex and intimidating to use,” said Arteaga. “The Pocket-Epi addresses these problems with a small, easy-to-carry injector that can fit in a pocket or wallet. We want to make sure that every person who is at risk for anaphylaxis has a Pocket-Epi on them.”

The additional finalists included:

• Campus Outlaw Inc., a team of undergraduate students from Union College, placed second and received a $4,000 cash prize. The company founders, Stephen Walker of Wolfeboro, N.H., and Josh DeBartolo of Middleburgh, N.Y., developed an online exchange for college students to buy and sell used textbooks. The Web site enables all students to post information about their used books. The exchange creates a centralized forum for students from the same campus to buy from and sell to one another.
  
  
• HealthMINE, created by an undergraduate student from Rensselaer, took third place and received a $3,000 cash prize. Michael Goldenberg of Latham, N.Y., developed an electronic database of healthcare information. The program is designed to support personalized medicine and advanced medical research, including drug safety and efficacy studies in order to improve informed patient care practices.

The business plan event included a two-minute “elevator pitch” competition, open to semi-finalists and finalists. Six teams had an opportunity to present their pitches to the judges represented by alumni members of Rensselaer Class of ’51. Vayu Innovations won the $1,000 cash prize.

The annual Rensselaer competition is open to all students attending a college or university in the region. To jump-start the competition, Rensselaer’s Lally School of Management professors offered a workshop to area college students in February. The workshop, held on Rensselaer’s campus, covered the fundamentals of writing a successful business plan. The outreach generated more than 30 submissions from which the three finalists were selected.

Dean Gautschi noted that BullEx Digital Safety, the 2005 competition winner, was one of five finalists in the national 2005 Fortune Small Business Competition. Most recently, the company won the $100,000 prize at the Summit in Tech Valley’s annual business plan competition. The company has established an office in the Rensselaer Technology Park, with additional manufacturing space in the Capital Region.

About Rensselaer’s Lally School
Rensselaer’s Lally School of Management and Technology was founded in 1963 as an integral part of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the nation’s oldest technological university. Rensselaer’s Lally School is dedicated to advancing business through innovation. Its curriculum is designed to produce leaders who combine creative passion with the ability to integrate technology across business functions. Lally School faculty members emphasize the value of hands-on experience available through campus resources such as the Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship and a world-class Business Incubator. Rensselaer’s Lally School offers graduate and undergraduate degree programs in management, doctoral programs in management and technology, an Executive MBA program, and a joint Sino-U.S. MBA for companies operating in China. For more information: www.lallyschool.rpi.edu.

About the Severino Center at Rensselaer’s Lally School
Established in 1988, the Paul J. ’69 and Kathleen M. Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship (SCTE) helps foster new generations of budding and successful entrepreneurs through outreach programs, education and research. Centered in Rensselaer’s Kenneth T. and Thelma P. Lally School of Management and Technology, the mission of the SCTE is to integrate educational and research programs by exposing every Rensselaer student to the practices and principles of entrepreneurship; infuse the fundamentals of entrepreneurship throughout the Rensselaer curriculum; extend Rensselaer’s leadership and national prominence in technological entrepreneurship; and enhance the synergy between entrepreneurship and information technology.

Contact: Jessica Otitigbe
Phone: (518) 276-6050
E-mail: otitij@rpi.edu