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ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Several Michigan Engineering students were members of U-M teams that won first prize and received additional top honors in the Cleantech Venture Challenge hosted by the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Deming Center for Entrepreneurship recently.

University of Michigan teams captured the $15,000 first prize, $5,000 third prize, $2,000 fourth prize and shared the $10,000 second prize.  The winners of the Cleantech Venture Challenge were announced on February 29, 2008.

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science doctoral students Ruba Borno and Tzeno Galchev  were members of the team Potentia, which won first prize. The other member of the team is Rishi Das, an MBA candidate in the Ross School of Business. They plan to commercialize an energy-scavenging battery replacement technology for wireless sensors. These sensors would monitor the environmental conditions and adjust for optimal performance. For example, the lights in a building could be turned off when a room is empty and smart ventilation systems could be optimized to save energy.

Mechanical Engineering doctoral student Jim Beyer is a member of team EnDep Systems. EnDep Systems won fourth place with its plan to apply a unique configuration to off-the-shelf components to enable hybrid vehicle owners to plug their cars in at home. Other members of this team are Arie Jungejan and Tom Leahy, who are both pursuing master's degrees in the Ross School of Business and the School of Natural Resources and Environment.

All the U-M teams were coached by faculty and staff from The Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies.

“Competitions are a great way for students to fine tune business plans, hone presentation skills and prepare for life after the university—whether that is with a start-up or as an innovator in an established company,” said Tom Kinnear, Executive Director of the Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies. 

The Cleantech Venture Challenge requires teams to present their business plans and answer questions from a panel of distinguished venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, who serve as judges and also provide valuable feedback on the business plans. The plans are venture-grade, for-profit business models, and/or technologies with high growth potential. They provide innovative solutions, services, or products that reduce environmental impacts or improve ecological sustainability.

The top-ranked team with a clean energy technology business plan will be invited to present its plan at the annual National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Industry Growth Forum in November 2008. Investor's Circle (IC), angel investors who support early stage sustainable companies, will circulate all four teams' executive summaries to investors.

The University of Michigan College of Engineering is ranked among the top engineering schools in the country. Michigan Engineering boasts one of the largest engineering research budgets of any public university, at more than $130 million annually. Michigan Engineering is home to 11 academic departments and a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center. The college plays a leading role in the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute and the Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute. Within the college, there is a special emphasis on research in three emerging areas: nanotechnology and integrated microsystems; cellular and molecular biotechnology; and information technology. Michigan Engineering is raising $300 million for capital projects and program support in these and other areas to continue fostering breakthrough scholarly advances, an unparalleled scope of student opportunities and contributions that improve the quality of life on an international scale.