IDEA TO PRODUCT® COMPETITION

Overview

Students compete for $25,000 Top Award!

The Energy Idea to Product® (I2P®) Competition is all about innovation in energy -- innovation that has the potential to deliver clean, reliable and affordable energy to the world. 

The competition encompasses Bioenergy, and Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energies. There will be a top award of $25,000.

It starts with an innovative energy technology developed at either a university or at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.  A team of graduate students is formed from various disciplines (e.g., science, engineering, business, law), who then create a product idea that:

• Can meet an unmet need that exists in the market and
• Will have enough demand to create a sustainable business

This process is the very first step in the development of a technology commercialization plan.  The I2P® competition format forces technology entrepreneurs to think beyond the “cool factor” of the technology and prove that a market demand exists and that a business can be built on the product idea.

This type of competition results in several benefits:

• Students gain hands-on experience in the commercialization process and develop skills necessary to become a successful entrepreneur.
• It allows students to learn and understand the needs and motivations of different disciplines and how to better communicate with each other, which can be applied in the workforce upon graduation.
• Student teams will interact with and receive feedback from experienced entrepreneurs, investors and industry leaders.
• It identifies market-viable technologies faster, which can step up university patenting efforts and the formation of new companies.
• Provides a unique learning opportunity as this is the only competition of its kind to be held in conjunction with a professional venture forum.

® Idea to Product and I2P are registered trademarks of The University of Texas.

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Team Requirements

• The Energy I2P® Competition is open to student teams from any accredited university.
• The teams must be comprised of 2 to 4 graduate-level students from any area of study.
• Multidisciplinary teams are highly encouraged (e.g., science, business, engineering, law).
• All team members must be registered students sometime during the current academic year.
• Teams may be comprised of students from multiple universities.
• All presentations must be made by someone physically present at the event (not all team members are required to present).

Teams may submit more than one idea for a competition and/or may participate on more than one team.
  
© S. Nichols and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 2007
* Idea to Product and I2P are registered trademarks of The University of Texas.

Idea Sources

The ideas presented can be derived from a number of sources:

• Original technologies students develop while working on their degrees
• Technologies already available in the market but applied in an innovative way
• Intellectual property available from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).  Please contact us if you wish to receive a list.

Students are also encouraged to work with faculty and researchers at their institutions to develop new ideas.

What is an acceptable “energy” product idea?

If your idea doesn’t fit within these areas, please contact us to discuss it. 

© S. Nichols and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 2007
® Idea to Product and I2P are registered trademarks of The University of Texas.

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Guidelines

Ideally, teams should be comprised of students from different disciplines (e.g., science, business, law). Teams also should have the support of faculty advisors in those disciplines as well as mentors from outside of the university (e.g., experienced entrepreneurs, technologists and lawyers). The most successful teams are the ones that have this type of composition and external support.

There are three steps required for team participation in the competition:

• Teams have to submit an Application by February 7, 2008, to be considered for the competition. Teams selected to participate will be notified by February 18, 2008.
• Selected teams must submit a Technology Commercialization Plan for the competition by March 25, 2008.
• Selected teams must prepare a Presentation for the live portion of the competition.

Step 1: Application

On or before February 7, 2008, teams must submit a one-page description of their idea.

In this write-up, the teams must:

• Describe the product and its underlying technology
• Explain how it is innovative and unique
• Describe the target customer group and provide a general market size
• Explain the need that the product or service fulfills in the market
• Provide a minimal intellectual property (IP) protection strategy
• Provide certification from a faculty advisor (or an ORNL mentor) that can validate the technology

A panel of judges will select up to 12 participating teams from these submissions. The most promising applicants will be chosen based on identification and communication of the market need, market opportunity, and the unique and innovative aspects of the product and the underlying technology. The university and student names will not be shared with the judges.

Teams selected to participate in the event will be notified by February 18, 2008.  See the links below for more details on the guidelines, scoring and an example application.

I2P Application Guidelines
I2P Example Application
I2P Application Judging Criteria and Score Sheet

Click here to send your application.

Step 2:  Technology Commercialization Plan

Once the participating teams are selected, they will begin preparing a Technology Commercialization Plan (maximum of 5 pages).  This document will be considered in the judging and will be used to help the judges prepare for the presentations at the event. This is due by March 25, 2008.

Technology Commercialization Plans will explore:

• The benefits of the product or service
• How it is innovative and unique
• The customers and the “pain” they are experiencing with existing solutions
• The size of the potential market and its ability to support the product
• Intellectual property protection
• Current state of the technology and how soon it can be prototyped
• Window of opportunity for market entry
• Barriers to entry
• Competitive advantage

See the link below for guidelines on what the plan should contain:

I2P Technology Commercialization Plan Guidelines

If you have been notified that your team has been selected to present, click here to submit.

Step 3:  Presentation (at the competition)

In the feedback, semi-final and final rounds, teams will present a ten-minute presentation, followed by 15 minutes of questions from the judging panel. The presentations should expand on the information provided in the Technology Commercialization Plan.

The feedback round will be held Wednesday, April 2, 2008. This round does not count for scoring, but instead is an opportunity for the students to practice with judges and refine presentations for the semi-finals the following day.

The semi-final rounds of the competition will be held on Thursday, April 3, 2008. The top finishers of the semi-final rounds will advance to the finals on Friday, April 4.  During the finals, the teams compete for a $25,000 monetary performance-based awards.

See links below for the judging criteria used in presentations

I2P Presentation Judging Criteria
I2P Judge's Score Sheet

Click here to see videos of previous I2P® presentations.

® Idea to Product and I2P are registered trademarks of The University of Texas

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Deadlines

Following are the competition deadlines:

® Idea to Product and I2P are registered trademarks of The University of Texas

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Past Events

The first business competition held at Oak Ridge National Laboratory was Nano Nexus 2007 on April 2 – 4, 2007.  Fifteen teams representing 12 universities from the U. S. and the United Kingdom presented new product ideas based on nanotechnology.  Last year’s participants and links to some of their team profiles are listed below:

Grand Prize Winner ($25,000): The University of Texas

First Runner-Up ($2,500): Louisiana Tech

Third Runner-Up ($1,500): Vanderbilt University

Other Finalists ($500 each):

Florida State University
Georgia Tech/Emory
Georgia Tech/Emory

Semi-Finalists:
Duke University
Imperial College (UK)
Florida International University
Tuskeegee University
University of Tennessee
University of Virginia

® Idea to Product and I2P are registered trademarks of The University of Texas

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