UA Students Win Entrepreneurship Contest

Akron, Ohio, April 14, 2008 ― A team of University of Akron students won $5,000 in cash and more than $10,000 in other prizes at the recent LaunchTown regional business idea competition, beating teams from five other Northeast Ohio universities representing the Entrepreneurship Education Consortium.

The UA team, PureBalance Polymeric Solutions, consists of Parth Shah of Ahmedabab, India, a doctoral candidate in chemical and biomolecular engineering; Anand Parikh of Mumbai, India, a doctoral candidate in biomedical engineering; Tim Johnson of Jackson Township, an MBA candidate in management; and Shana Horonetz of Akron, an MBA candidate in entrepreneurship.

The team's invention will use patented polymers for a variety of medical products reaching multi-billion-dollar markets. PureBalance aims to develop therapeutic drug delivery systems using innovative polymers developed at UA for applications in postoperative atrial fibrillation, wound healing and other diseases.

“PureBalance's business idea outlined the need to partner with Northeast Ohio's medical community, investors, government and educational institutions,” says team adviser Dr. Todd A. Finkle, academic director of the Fitzgerald Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies. “The idea begins with a seven-year process to win U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval and ends with an increased demand for talent in the Northeast Ohio region.''

Shah, a co-owner of the technology, filed a provisional patent for the invention through the university. He will be chief executive of PureBalance until the patent is granted and a CEO is hired. Parikh will help Shah develop the first product. Johnson and Horonetz will handle finance, marketing and operations.
Other advisers were associate professors Dr. Stephanie Lopina of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Drs. Yang Yun and Glen Njus of Biomedical Engineering.

“The creativity and foresight of our UA student team are aligned with the entrepreneurial goals and strategic vision of the Orthopedic Research Cluster of Northeast Ohio and the Academic Health Center initiatives being organized through a partnership among the university, regional health care industry, the State of Ohio, the City of Akron and the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine,” says Dr. George Haritos, dean of UA's College of Engineering.

The UA team bested Kent State, Cleveland State, John Carroll and Ashland universities and Baldwin Wallace College in the second annual competition, held at John Carroll University April 7.

LaunchTown's Web site is http://www.launchtown.org/_index.php?page=home .

Entrepreneurship Education Consortium's Web site is http://www.eecneohio.com/acorn.php?page=home .

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