MotionCorrect Wins Mark Ain Business Model Competition

Student business MotionCorrect was awarded first place and a $10,000 cash prize in the ninth annual Mark Ain Business Model competition that took place Wednesday, May 13. The team includes Junning Chai ’15 (MS in TEAM); Sairam Ramasubramaniam ’15S (MBA); Nishant Saboo ’15S (MBA); and Wenli Wang, PhD candidate in biomedical genetics. Second place, and a $2,500 cash prize, was awarded to NullSpace, represented by Lucian Copeland ’15 (KEY) and Alexander Matthers ’15. Fuse-UR won the third-place prize of $1,000. The team includes Kierstan Ryan ’15 (MS in CMTI); Megan Stockdill ’15 (MS in CMTI); Elie Farah ’15S (MBA); and Brian Shen ’15 (MS in TEAM) and PhD candidate in chemical engineering. Judges of this year’s competition included Arunas Chesonis ’91S (MBA), ’04 (HNR), chairman and CEO of Sweetwater Energy; Debora LaBudde ’92, ’93S (MBA), managing general partner of ENVOI Ventures; and Kathleen Murray ’74, managing director of McMorran Strategists, LLC, based in New York City.

UVANY Spring Mixer in Albany: 5/20

Join leaders from the Upstate deal community including Amerisource Funding, First Niagara, GE Capital,Nixon Peabody LLP, Pine Street Capital, The Bonadio Group, Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP and other top bankers, lawyers, investors, accountants, consultants and deal practitioners from across the State on Wednesday, May 20 at 5:30 p.m. in the Fort Orange Club, 110 Washington Ave. in Albany. The networking event hosted jointly by the Upstate Venture Association of New York (UVANY) and the Upstate Turnaround Management Association (TMA). Register online.

Two Graduate Students Spots Available at Buffalo's Pre-Seed Workshop: 5/27, 5/28, 6/4

Buffalo's Pre-Seed Workshop (PSW), running May 27, 28, and June 4, is seeking two graduate students for two of its teams. Students must be willing to commit to all the days of the event in addition to about 5 hours of “homework”: some quick market research; helping with the PowerPoint slides; and general input in any and all areas. There is no compensation, no travel reimbursement, and they have to get themselves to Buffalo. Participants will gain great, real-life experience with technology commercialization, serious connections, and possible avenues into regional startup companies. Only those serious should volunteer. Prior PSW experience would be a plus but is not required. Contact Mark Wilson if you are interested.