STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
MBA Team Wins Prize at International Business Plan Competition
Heat 2 Optimize (H2O), a team of Boise State MBA students, bested teams from Germany, France and China to win the Benchmark Capital Challenge at the 2009 Global Moot Corp Business Plan Competition earlier this month in Austin, Texas. Boise State’s team was one of only 38 teams from around the world to compete.
The team, led by David Rush, worked with Boise inventor Dale Kramer to develop an innovative energy-saving electric water heater that allows utility companies to shift electricity consumption to off-peak periods.
H2O placed third in the preliminary round of the 2009 Global Moot Corp Business Plan Competition losing out to a team that went on to the final round. Rush’s team was honored with the Benchmark Capital Challenge award and $1,000 in prize money.
“This competition was the most valuable portion of my MBA experience so far,” Rush said, noting that he had the opportunity to interact with renowned entrepreneurs who have built companies and sold them for millions of dollars. “We’re going to take it one step at a time and continue to pursue our idea.”
Other competitors at the international competition included: Boston University, Brigham Young University, Carnegie Mellon University, Colorado School of Mines, Fayetteville State University, Kennesaw State University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, San Diego State University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas at Dallas, University of Arkansas, University of California at Berkeley, University of Chicago, University of Louisville, University of Michigan, University of Oregon, University of San Francisco, University of Utah, University of Adelaide (Australia), Queen’s University (Canada), University of Manitoba (Canada), University of Waterloo (Canada), Chinese University of Hong Kong (China), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (China), Pontifica Universidad Javeriana (Columbia), Universidad de los Andes (Columbia), E.M. Lyon (France), Wissenschaftliche Hochschule fur Untemehmenffuhrung (Germany), London Business School (Great Britain), University of Oxford (Great Britain), Centro de Investigacion en Materiales Avanzados (Mexico), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norway), and Thammasat University (Thailand).
For more information about Boise State’s College of Business and Economics and its Center for Entrepreneurship, visit cobe.boisestate.edu.