In April, we celebrated another year of the e5 Program, a tuition-free fifth year for select students to pursue an entrepreneurial project. Four students completed their e5 year and shared their findings at a presentation session. Here is a summary of their projects:

• Alexander Abrams ’19 – Working with Mira Agneshwar, Alexander developed UR Next Step, a website to help students prepare for the next step after their senior year.
• Max Berlin ’19 and Grant O’Brien ’19 – Max and Grant spent their e5 year working on Empire Film and Media Ensemble, a nonprofit designed to perform and record a film music repertoire.
• John Uchal ’19 – John dedicated his fifth year to analyzing the practices and methods of musical instrument design, and brainstorming ways to leverage technology to improve the creation of these instruments.

This spring we welcomed Martin Babinec to deliver the Spring 2019 Ain Center Lecture. Martin founded TriNet in 1988, serving as CEO for 20 years and now continues as board director. TriNet’s cloud-based HR services cover 17,000+ clients and generate $4B+ annual revenue. Martin is a champion for entrepreneurship and economic development in upstate New York, where he serves as Managing Director of UpVentures Capital, Founder/Chairman of Upstate Venture Connect, and Co-Founder/Chairman of StartFast Venture Accelerator. Martin’s background garnered excitement on and off-campus – more than 70 individuals attended his talk.

In addition to the traditional lecture, Martin and his colleague Phil Levinson (VP and Head of Marketing for EdCast) also spoke during an informal networking lunch. Members of the entrepreneurship faculty, the Simon School Venture Capital Fund, Simon Entrepreneurs Association, the Ain Team, and other guests joined Martin and Phil t0 discuss the nature of investing and entrepreneurship.

Hosted on the UR River Campus, the New York Business Plan Competition Finger Lakes Regional Contest was held on April 10. Twenty-six student teams represented seven universities to vie for spots in the statewide finals. Three University of Rochester teams advanced to the Albany round and two of those took home top prizes on April 26. Our advancing teams were:

• First Place in MedTech & Well-Being ($10,000 Cash Prize): Successful Heart Solutions – Vincent Costantino ’19S (MBA), Joseph Geiger ’19S (MBA), Yangyang Shao ’19 (MS) and Jonathan Yakubov ’19 (MS)
• Second Place in MedTech & Well-Being ($2,500 Cash Prize): StrongBrain – Max Sims ’16 (BA and BS), ’19S (MBA)
• Finalist in Technology & Entertainment: MyStohos – Arjun Arora ’19S (MBA), Steven Chew ’19S (MBA) and Michael Gounalakis ’18S (MS)

A record-breaking 14 teams applied to the 2019 Charles and Janet Forbes Entrepreneurial Competition, designed to encourage undergrad engineering students to consider commercializing their research. This year, the five top teams were able to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges, including Ann Forbes ’75, Teddy Bradford, John Diehl, Annette Dunn, and Dean Faklis. Our 2019 winners are:

• First Place ($5,000 Cash Prize): EZ Water – Afnan Ahmed ’21, Syed Muhammad Miqdad ’19, Claude Mulindi ’22, and Derrick Murekezi ’19
• Second Place ($2,500 Cash Prize): WetWare Systems – Nicholas Drogo ’19, Andrew Kaseman ’21, Scott McKinney ’21, Oliver Ostriker ’19, and Bradley Smith ’20
• Third Place ($1,000 Cash Prize): HORN Empowers – Terrikia Benjamin ’20, Emmanuel Gweamee ’20, and Aime Laurent Twizerimana ’20

Like the Forbes Competition, the 2019 Mark Ain Business Model Competition also received a record number of applicants. Out of 33 teams from across the University, just 10 were chosen to pitch during the semi-final round on May 2. Judges Annie Fitzpatrick Post ’06S (MBA), Jan Kamish, and Mike Kamish ’86 (MS) selected five teams to compete in the final round.

On May 15, those final five were given 10 minutes to share their idea with our distinguished judges, Mark Ain ’67S (MBA), Al Chesonis, Debora LaBudde ’92, ’93S (MBA), and Brennan Mulcahey ’09, ’11S (MBA).

• First Place ($10,000 Cash Prize and Student Incubator Spot): Successful Heart Solutions – Vinny Costantino ’19 (MBA), Joe Geiger ’19 (MBA), Yangyang Shao ’19 (MS), and Jonathan Yakubov ’19 (MS)
• Second Place ($2,500 Cash Prize): StrongBrain – Max Sims ’16 (BA and BS), ’19 (MBA)
• Third Place ($1,000 Cash Prize): MyStohos – Arjun Arora ’19 (MBA) and Steven Chew ’19 (MBA)