The Graduate Student Business Plan Competition was created in 2004 by LES Foundation, an initiative of LES USA/Canada. In 2008, through partnership with LESI, the competition grew quickly and became global. Today, the Competition has a reputation for being a world-class event emphasizing IP education, professional mentorship and networking – but with an added sense of community and collegiality that sets it apart from the rest.

Each year, a Grand Prize Winner and a Global Award Recipient is selected. Our 2010 winners recently got to ring the closing bell at Nasdaq. The article below was featured in Forbes and CNBC.

 

 

Silicon Solar Solutions Invited to Close NASDAQ Solar has a Bright Future in the Green Valley

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark., Aug 20, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Silicon Solar Solutions, an R&D company with a strong patent portfolio focused on silicon based photovoltaic devices, will ring the closing bell at NASDAQ on Friday, August 20th. Silicon Solar Solutions is commercializing a technology to create large grain polysilicon that can reduce the cost of solar cells by 26%, or $0.42 per watt.

The fully in-line process reduces the labor requirements significantly when compared to traditional processing which enables cost competitive local manufacturing. Closing the NASDAQ is part of winning the Stuart Clark Venture Challenge and will be broadcast onto the NASDAQ tower overlooking Times Square.

All of the company's employees will be in attendance in addition to representatives from the University of Arkansas, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, Innovate Arkansas, Green Valley Development, and private investors.

Steve Rust, president and CEO of Green Valley Development said, "We are proud to be associated with such forward thinkers for the Arkansas economy. Silicon Solar Solutions is an extraordinary local company that fits our mission to attract the world's best sustainability innovators, grow local companies, recruit new companies and technologies and then coordinate just in time delivery of the capital, resources, and services needed for a Green Valley company to excel in the world market." The startup Silicon Solar Solutions has competed in eight international competitions in the last six months and placed top three in each, including winning two international competitions in a single weekend. The company took first place at the DOE Sponsored Oak Ridge National Labs Global Venture Challenge, the Stewart Clark Venture Challenge and the Licensing Executives Society Business Plan Competition. These wins also provided entry into the Moot Corp Competition which is the most prestigious business plan competition in the world, where the team took third place. Silicon Solar Solutions was founded by PhD student Douglas Hutchings and MBA students Ben Allen and Adam Perkins in December of 2008. The company has grown to include ten people in various capacities.

In addition to the student competitions, Silicon Solar Solutions has shown that it can compete with the best in the world. The company is currently the only Arkansas-based startup to be a finalist in the MassChallenge and a semifinalist in the CleanTech Open, which are open to any venture in the world. These business launching competitions pair startups with industry experts, legal advisors, and funding opportunities in addition to the chance to win hundreds of thousands in cash and services. Silicon Solar Solutions continues to build on prior success with the goal of bringing competitive solar manufacturing to Arkansas.

Silicon Solar Solutions also licenses core intellectual property to existing solar manufacturers. Our mission is to develop and commercialize state-of-the-art photovoltaic research for the express purpose of helping to address the global energy crisis. Silicon Solar Solutions patented processes will produce the most cost effective solar energy solution making us a leader in the area of photovoltaic devices with an emphasis on low cost, high conversion efficiency solar cells.

About Silicon Solar Solutions Silicon Solar Solutions (www.siliconsolarsolutions.com) provides a low cost method for manufacturing silicon-based solar cells and thin-film modules. Our proprietary process for creating large grain polysilicon increases conversion efficiency while eliminating costly processing steps and minimizing labor requirements. The technologies developed by Silicon Solar Solutions utilize abundant, non-toxic, materials that minimize negative environmental impact and are easily recyclable. Our goal is to enable competitive solar manufacturing regardless of geographic location.