CS Students in Entrepreneurial Competition

02-28-2006

The 2006 Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurial Competition took place February 16th and marked the 19th year for the competition. This event allows students to form entrepreneurial firms across colleges within the univeristy. Management students pair up with science, technology and engineering students to develop the best product in the competition in order to fund their venture. There was a graduate (gold) division including five teams and an undergraduate (black) division also having five teams. Teams presented to a panel of judges made up of 10 venture capitalists and professors.

CS graduate students Abhinav Jain and Mummorthy Murugesan, plus Bharath Chandrasekaran (Neuroscience), and Jayaganesh Swaminathan (Speech, Language and Hearing) make up the Science of Sounds Technology firm. The group came in second place in the gold division. They presented their proposal for a computerized baby sleep monitor that transmits signals to a wristwatch-type device. Second place afforded them $15,000 in funding for their product.

CS undergraduate Alexei Czeskis and Amica Elliott (Science) presented their Merlin's Magic Castle project at the competition. Merlin took third place in the black division and earned the firm $8,000 in funding. The Merlin's Magic Castle group has worked with the Lafayette Adult Reading Academy. Their products help children learn English and foreign languages through interactive toys.

For more information on the Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurial Competition see the Purdue University News Story or the Lafayette Journal and Courier Story.