Lu Finalist in Annual $50K Business Plan Competition

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering undergraduate student Keran Lu has been named a finalist in this year's University of Maryland Business Plan Competition.

Lu's faculty advisor and colleague in the competition is ChBE Professor Nam Sun Wang. Together, they are SymViva Technologies, a company with the mission of bringing advanced insulin therapy solutions to market. SymViva's goal is to research and develop technologies that will simplify and/or consolidate diabetes care into one technological entity.

"Currently," says Lu of the endeavor, "we are in the process of researching and developing a support technology for commercializing a vesicular drug carrier capable of delivering insulin transdermally. In the future, we hope to develop strategic partnerships with the University of Maryland and other institutions to promote cooperative and mutually beneficial research efforts toward developing the technology required to ultimately achieve our vision."

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 »

Published April 14, 2008