Fu, Janiak Finalists in Annual $50K Business Plan Competition

• Janiak

Dan Janiak (second from left), Professor Peter Kofinas (third from left) and Angela Fu (fourth from left) at the announcement of the $50K Business Plan Competition finalists.

Fischell Department of Bioengineering (BioE) graduate student Angela Fu and Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) graduate student and Fischell Fellow Dan Janiak, both advised by Professor Peter Kofinas (BioE and MSE affiliate faculty member) have been named finalists in this year's University of Maryland Business Plan Competition. Fu and Kofinas' proposal is titled "ViruSense", and Janiak and Kofinas' proposal is titled "Intelligent Packaging Systems."

The competition, run by the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (MTECH), invites entrepreneurial thinkers to consider their best ideas and create teams to build them into a company over the course of the academic year. The competition serves to educate and mentor new entrepreneurs, and guide them through the process of writing a successful business plan and delivering a successful investor presentation. Now in its eighth year, it has historically awarded $335,000 in prizes to faculty, students, and alumni to launch innovative new ventures. Companies active in the competition have generated millions in revenues, grants and awards.

The final round of presentations will be held May 9, 2008.

For More Information:

Visit the $50K Business Plan Competition web site »

Learn more about Angela Fu and her research »

Learn more about Dan Janiak and his research »

Learn more about the Kofinas Group by visiting the Functional Macromolecular Laboratory web site »

Published April 9, 2008