WSU Student Invention to Compete Nationally

PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State University is sending five undergraduate students to Santa Barbara, Calif., March 2-3 as one of nine teams invited to participate as semifinalists in the Spirit of Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (S.E.E.D.) national business plan competition. 

The interdisciplinary team, BEM Synergy, Inc., consists of team leader Divesh Aidasani (Biochemistry major), and four Boeing Scholars: Sharlene Kauffman (Marketing major), Laura Johnson (Bioengineering major), Daniel Munoz (Electrical Engineering major), and Yesenia Rodriguez (Bioengineering major).

BEM is working on a project sponsored in part by Boeing, to develop an automated airborne-pathogen detection system (biosensor) for airliners to ensure the safety of passengers. The device monitors the spread of various disease-causing pathogens, such as Anthrax or Avian Flu. Through the team’s research relationship with Boeing and WSU professors, the students are building a prototype for the biosensor, which will be presented along with their business plan at the competition. 

“This has definitely been an excellent opportunity to experience things as they operate in the real world, this program is training us for our future,” said Aidasani. “As a team leader, this has been a career-defining moment. Being able to lead such a talented team is just a priceless opportunity.”

“The experience that these students are gaining will be a significant part of their undergraduate studies,” said  said the team’s advisor, Jerman Rose, director of Entrepreneurial Studies in the College of Business. “The skills they are using will prepare them for the business world, and will give them an edge for success.” 

This is the third year in a row that a WSU team was invited from teams across the nation to participate in the S.E.E.D. competition. 

The 2007 WSU team will compete against students from Loyola Marymount University, Johns Hopkins University (with Yale and University of Maryland), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of San Francisco, Carnegie-Mellon University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, John Carroll University, and University of Georgia. 

The vision of the two-day S.E.E.D. competition is to put top collegiate business plans in front of a world-class panel of evaluators, early-stage investors and product development specialists to help transition start-up venture propositions from class projects into successful up-and-running businesses. The students can expect specific input on raising capital and taking their business from start-up to sustainable revenue in the target market, as well as introductions to seed capital and potential strategic partnership referrals.

The BEM Synergy team also competed against 11 other business plan teams in the preliminary WSU Business Plan Competition held in December 2006, where they took first place in one of three leagues. The final round of the WSU competition will be held on the Pullman, Wash., campus on April 13 and 14, 2007.

For more information about the college’s entrepreneurship programs, visit www.business.wsu.edu/Entrepreneurship.