Welcome

Posted on November 11, 2011 by SAGEGSSP

SAGE is excited to launch the 2012 edition of our innovation competition. For the past three years, the Climate Leadership Challenge has engaged students from across the University of Wisconsin-Madison in a solutions-oriented perspective on sustainability. The new “v. 2.0″ of the competition aims to engage more students, strengthen the culture of environmental problem solving, and generate even more world-changing ideas! With these goals in mind the competition has been renamed the Global Stewards Sustainability Prize (GSSP)!

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GSSP Competitors Move on to Additional Opportunities!

Posted on May 9, 2012 by SAGEGSSP

We’re incredibly proud of our GSSP competitors who have moved on to participate in competitions across the state!  They certainly cleaned house in the 2012 G. Steven Burrill Business Plan Competition.  With 42 teams competing, they did an exceptional job:

Waste 2 Energy took home 1st place, with a $10,000 prize

C-Machine (C-Motive Technologies) placed 2nd overall, with a $6,000 prize as well as the incubator ready team with a $15,000 office space package at the Metro Innovation Center

You can watch their presentations online here.

Runners up ($250 prize) include Manuprint (Re) and Weego.

The final 25 teams for the WI Governor’s Business Plan Competition have been released, we’re also happy to see C-Machine (Capacitive Exciter/C-Motive Technologies LLC) as well as Waste 2 Energy in the finalists!

Congratulations to our teams, we wish you the best of luck over the summer and into the future!

 

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VentureLab Wisconsin Entries Due May 15th!

Posted on May 9, 2012 by SAGEGSSP

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Entrepreneurs’ Resource Clinic (ERC) has partnered with the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) to bring the VentureLab program to Wisconsin!

VentureLab Wisconsin is a five-day, highly experiential and immersive program designed to assist early-stage entrepreneurs prepare to take technology products to market. 20 teams of business partners, including a mix of Wisconsin entrepreneurs and NCIIA grant recipients from across the United States, will be selected via a competitive application process to participate. More information and the web-based application form are available online:

VentureLab Wisconsin: invention2venture.org/venturelabwisconsin
Video about VentureLab: http://youtu.be/CX9ZOC0RNLA

Online applications will be accepted through May 15, 2012, with VentureLab Wisconsin scheduled for August 13-17, 2012 at the University Research Park in Madison, Wisconsin.

Students, faculty and business community members who have a socially-beneficial technological invention or innovation with commercial potential in any of the following areas are invited to apply to participate in the program:

  • Clean/Green Tech: Green materials, green chemistry, energy, packaging, water, waste reduction/management
  • Biomedical/Global Health: Capital-efficient medical devices, monitoring systems, procedure-related devices, world health technology
  • Advanced Computing Sciences: Platform technologies; high-growth technologies with a social benefit

Ideally, teams who apply for this opportunity should:

  • Have some proof of concept data or a working hypothesis at a minimum (they should be beyond the idea stage)
  • Have already done some market research (know who their customer is and that there is interest in their solution)
  • Have raised some early funds (grants, b-plan competitions)
  • Have a diverse team (engineers, business students)
  • Have or have applied for a patent and be in conversation with a university Technology Transfer Office (or understand the IP options for their product)
  • Be on a commercialization path with their product with us or without VentureLab Wisconsin

If accepted, the cost is $100 per team, which helps to defray the costs of the course materials and meals. Accommodations are not included in the fee but will be available at an additional cost.

For additional information about this program, please see this news releaseor contact campus liaison Troy Vosseller of the Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic by email at tevosseller@wisc.edu.

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Clean Energy Trust Accelerator Deadline to Apply May 8th

Posted on April 27, 2012 by SAGEGSSP
CLEAN ENERGY TRUST CTO LOGO
CTO
As a part of our core mission, we seek to build a vibrant cleantech, green business and renewable energy economy. One of the ways we accomplish this is to develop partnerships with key organizations such as the North Central Cleantech Open.

The Cleantech Open, the World’s largest cleantech accelerator, is accepting applications for its 2012 program. If you’re a Midwest entrepreneur with an early stage business, apply today and get access to:

Proven formula for success: Over 40% of Cleantech Open alumni have raised capital, totaling more than $660 million in external funding
Exposure to active investors: The North Central region has confirmed participation from investors with $2 billion to invest in cleantech companies
Exposure and press: the national program offers participants unique PR opportunities and potential to present to thousands from across the world
Free expert advice: after acceptance into the program, talk to experts and mentors from across the country in your cleantech industry – for free!
World-class training: attend the 30 hour entrepreneur academy, topical webinars, and present at regional and national events with over 2,000 attendees
Win Cash & Prizes: Last year, the grand prize package worth $250k went to a company from the Midwest in 2011 – this year it could be you!

So, take the next steps and launch your business by starting the application process at ourwebsite. To learn more about how to submit the most competitive application, join the Cleantech Open team on its upcoming May 3rd free application webinar!

This year, the North Central region is expanding and accepting applications from Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

If you have questions, the North Central Cleantech Open team is available atnc_info@cleantechopen.com.
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Congratulations 2012 GSSP Winners

Posted on April 18, 2012 by SAGEGSSP

Congratulations to the eight GSSP finalist teams who competed at the Nelson Institute Earth Day Conference on Monday, April 16!  These teams spent the day pitching to judges and conference attendees for an opportunity to win over $50,000 in prizes.

SAGE and the Global Stewards Society are proud to present the three $15,000 grand prize winners of the 2012 Global Stewards Sustainability Prize:

C-Machine

(Justin Reed, Micah Erickson)

C-Machine is a concept for recyclable electric motors that provide a more sustainable and efficient method of generating electric power.

PureWater Trike

(John Boland, Joshua Gilberts)

The PureWater Trike converts a recycled bicycle into a tricycle with an attached, pedal-powered water filtration and storage unit, to help provide clean water in developing countries.

Waste 2 Energy

(Aleia McCord, Sarah Stefanos)

The Waste 2 Energy project diverts municipal waste from Uganda landfills, converting it into renewable, clean-burning fuel, and uses the byproducts as organic fertilizer.

In addition to the grand prizes, the UW Madison Global Health Institute and Office of Sustainability teamed up to offer the Healthy Places Prize.  This $5,000 prize was awarded by conference attendee votes for the GSSP project with the greatest potential positive impact on human health. The Healthy Places Prize went to:

Weego

(Sushil Dinesh, Dadit Hidayat, Jeremiah Donohue, Mohamad Danijarsa)

The Weego proposal outlines a smart-phone application that enables easy carpooling through a ride-sharing algorithm.

We’d also like to congratulate the other four GSSP finalist teams, which put together exceptional displays and great proposals! Each finalist team receives $2,000 towards its project:

The Madison Canopy Project, submitted by Evan Slocum and Huan Gu, to identify locations of current and potential urban forest canopy in Madison and raise awareness of urban forest benefits.


Manuprint, submitted by Eric Ronning, for a low-cost prosthetic hand that uses affordable, renewable plastics.


An Irrigation System for Kenya, developed by Claire Davis, Phil Thomas, Tamara Sinensky and Seth Berger, for small-scale irrigation and community development to increase crop yield and income in southwestern Kenya.


Winstruments, an idea for the manufacture of personal weather and air pollution stations that tie into social networks, proposed by Alex Kubicek, Bryan Dow, Elise Garms and Kendra Hill.

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2012 GSSP Finalists Announced!

Posted on April 11, 2012 by SAGEGSSP

Congratulations to the eight finalists of the 2012 Global Stewards Sustainability Prize! We’re proud to see these teams advance to the final round at the Nelson Earth Day Conference on Monday, and we hope to see you there to check out their booths and hear their pitches:

C Machine
Micah Erickson and Justin Reed

C-Motive Technologies LLC has developed a recyclable motor called the C-Machine as an environmentally friendly and sustainable way of generating and consuming electric energy.

The Madison Canopy Project
Evan Slocum and Huan Gu

The Madison Canopy Project will use remote sensing and geospatial analysis to identify locations of current and potential forest canopy as well as target high need areas.  With this information, they will develop informational material, track locations, and demonstrate benefits of green infrastructure in Madison.  The Madison Canopy Project will also raise awareness of trees and their importance through high visibility plantings and marketing to property owners, donors, and community groups.

ManuPrint
Eric Ronning

Manuprint is a low cost, low impact, prosthetic hand targeted at developing countries.  The prosthesis is 3D printable with renewable plastics, and will reduce the number of parts manufactured and shipped with each hand.

Pilot Irrigation System and Community Development in Southwestern Kenya
Claire Davis, Phil Thomas, Tamara Sinensky and Seth Berger

This team has designed and plans to implement a small scale irrigation system to increase crop yield and income, while also building the foundation necessary for a sustainable community-wide irrigation system in Orongo, Kenya.

PureWater Trike
Jack Boland and Josh Gilberts

The PureWater Trike is an ordinary bicycle with an attachable tricycle conversion as well as an integrated pump and filter. A PureWater Trike is constructed from a recycled bicycle and a few specialized parts such as a pump, hose, and filter. The PureWater Trike is used to reduce transit time to a water source and allows the user to pump water through a hose and filter and into containers on the back by pedaling backwards.

Waste 2 Energy
Aleia McCord and Sarah Stefanos

Our company diverts organic municipal waste from landfills in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, converts this waste to biogas, and upgrades the biogas to produce renewable, clean-burning transportation fuel in the form of compressed natural gas (CNG). The solid digested wastes produced during this process can also be sold as a nutrient-rich organic fertilizer.

Weego
Dadit Hidayat, Sushil Dinesh, Jeremiah Donohue, and Mohamad Danijarsa

Weego is a comprehensive online carpool project that allows commuters to find rides on a moments notice, without the need for planning ahead of time.

WInstruments
Alex Kubicek, Bryan Dow, Elise Garms and Kendra Hill

WInstruments is a personal weather and air pollution station manufacturer, weather data reseller, and weather and pollution social network developer and facilitator.

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SB Innovation Open – Deadline is April 23rd!

Posted on April 10, 2012 by SAGEGSSP

Another great free opportunity (to submit a project entry) – The Sustainable Brands 2012 conference is seeking entries into its SB Innovation Open. Submit today, as entry is closed on April 23rd!

THE 10 SEMI-FINALISTS WILL WIN:

  • A full conference pass to SB’12
  • Opportunity to display your business idea as part of the Sustainable Solutions Expo
  • Pitch coaching from Darian Heyman, Founder/CEO of Code Green Agency. See snippets of Darian speak at TedEx Presidio
  • Visibility with highly influential industry leaders who can help you take your brand to the next level
  • One on one consultancy time with our judges, including high impact investors

4 Finalists will be selected to pitch in front of the full SB’12 Audience on the main stage. These pitches will also be recorded and broadcast live to our online viewers across the world.

THE WINNERS WILL ALSO RECEIVE:

  • A full conference pass to SB’13
  • Consulting support from industry professionals and veteran entrepreneurs
  • More prizes to be announced…

JUDGES WILL REVIEW EACH SUBMISSION, AND SELECT WINNERS BASED ON THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA:

  • Creativity in delivering environmental or social benefit, coupled with identified impact metrics (for example, “our business innovation helps customers lower their carbon footprint by XX% compared to the product we’re disrupting”, or “our innovation will help customers increase savings by XX% and keep their money local, leading to more stable local economies.”)
  • Team quality, particularly as it relates to demonstrated track record and understanding of systemic issues of sustainability
  • Economic scalability: growth and impact potential
  • Above and Beyond: bonus points for disruptive innovation. The idea has approached the issue from a new perspective and is offering a solution that will truly shift the market as we know it.

For more information, or to enter, check out their website.

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Student Opportunity – Summer Institute on Sustainability and Energy – UIC

Posted on April 7, 2012 by SAGEGSSP

Cool opportunity this summer to get a kick start on your idea:

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The Summer Institute on Sustainability and Energy (SISE) at the University of Illinois at Chicago is an intense interdisciplinary program for graduate and senior-level undergraduate students. From August 9-17, participants from diverse academic backgrounds will be immersed in a broad spectrum of sustainability and energy related topics: policy, economics, health, science, engineering, environment, urban planning, business, and entrepreneurship.

The theme of the SISE2012 program will be Election 2012: Energy, Economics and Environment. Using the presidential election as the point of departure for a critical analysis of national energy and sustainability issues, students will be enveloped in discussions about national challenges such as energy security, economic recovery and growth, US competitiveness, and climate change. Students will divide into teams to propose innovative solutions that rely on combinations of technology, policy and entrepreneurship. The positions of the two political parties are likely to be quite distinct and the public debate lively, providing ample inspiration and engagement for the SISE2012 program. Following its treatment of US energy needs and perspectives, SISE will turn to world energy, addressing the energy relationships between the US and other regions and nations.

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Program cost is $300 if accepted – for more information on the application process take a look here.  Must apply by June 1st, 2012.

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2012 Mini-Plan Competition Winner – Pure Water Trike!

Posted on March 15, 2012 by SAGEGSSP

We’d like to congratulate the 2012 winner of the mini-plan competition – Pure Water Trike! This team has recently competed in the Schoof and Tong Innovation Competition, and is excited to demonstrate the capacity for their innovation to change access to water for over 884 million people.


The trike is manufactured from discarded bicycles, with a goal of one trike conversion kit from one discarded bicycle.  This conversion kit creates a trike from a traditional bicycle and will allow an individual to ride to a water supply with a pump, filter, and water vessel integrated onto the trike.  The user then backpedals to operate the pump and fill the vessel before returning home with a full load of filtered water.

Congratulations to Pure Water Trike, we’re looking forward to their full entry (and maybe yours?) in less than a week!

Thanks to Fresh Madison Market for providing the mini-plan prize.

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Keystone Center – Climate Conversations Forum – Milwaukee

Posted on March 4, 2012 by SAGEGSSP

The Keystone Center is pleased to invite you to participate (free) in the upcoming Climate Conversations forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on March 30, 2012, from 11:30 am to 4:00 pm.  

We want to hear your insights about changes in weather, extreme weather impacts and climate-related challenges facing you, your business, and your community, and to identify the information you need to make more informed decisions about these challenges. At this forum, you will have an opportunity to:

  • Share your experiences with extreme weather events or other changes in your community that may be related to climate change.
  • Discuss ways to respond to these changes both individually and in partnership with others such as health care providers, farmers, businesspeople, housing leaders, faith-based community representatives, etc.
  • Discuss scientific research and policy efforts that are on-going or need to be undertaken.
  • Consider specific actions that you and others can take to affect national and regional climate analysis that will benefit your community, your business, and your region.
  • Connect and exchange views with a diverse group of regional thought leaders.

This unique stakeholder forum is being hosted by The Keystone Center as part of an effort to incorporate new voices and perspectives into the National Climate Assessment (NCA) process, which is an ongoing effort of the federal government to compile comprehensive knowledge on the impacts of, and options for adapting to, climate change across the country.  This is the second in a series of Climate Conversations we will be holding nationwide, the results of which will be shared with you and other participants and will be provided as input to the NCA process.

Meeting Details

  • Date: Friday, March 30, 2012
  • Time: 11:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
  • Location: Doubletree by Hilton Milwaukee Downtown, 611 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
  • Cost:  No Charge. A light lunch will be provided.
  •  Format: Short informational presentations followed by small-group discussions in a “World Café” format, intended to maximize thoughtful discussion and creative dialogue in an informal, comfortable atmosphere.
  • Attendance: Due to space constraints, attendance is limited.  Please register as soon as possible to ensure your place at the table.  If you know others who should be invited, please send us their names, organizations and e-mail addresses, pass on this invitation to them, or request that they register at www.keystone.org/climateconversations/milwaukee.
  • Transportation: Participants are responsible for their own transportation to and from the meeting venue. A limited amount of travel assistance funding may be available on a case-by-case, first-come-first-serve basis for those who would otherwise be unable to attend. Those in need of funding assistance may request a travel stipend through the online registration process.
  • Registration: YOU MUST REGISTER AT THIS LINK TO ATTEND. Receiving this invitation does not guarantee you a spot. Please register ASAP.

Please contact Caitlin Ellsworth at cellsworth@keystone.org or call her at (202) 452-0108 if you have any questions. Again, space is limited, so please remember to register as soon as possible.

Again, a key goal of this project is to bring new voices into the regional, and nationwide, discussion on impacts of and responses to weather and climate-related challenges, so please share this invitation with any friends or colleagues who you think will bring a unique perspective to this conversation.

Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you in Milwaukee.

Sincerely,

The Keystone Center

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Wisconsin Entrepreneurial Bootcamp 2012

Posted on March 1, 2012 by SAGEGSSP

Check out yet another great opportunity available to UW graduate students:

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Are you a graduate student in science, or engineering who wants to know more about:

  • Key tools and concepts for starting a new firm?Imagining and assessing products and markets for ideas?
  • Understanding and using financial analysis?
  • What is authenticity in entrepreneurship?
  • The Wisconsin School of Business invites you to apply to join this successful program.
  • Program activities typically include face-to-face sessions with:
  • John Morgridge – Former Chairman/CEO – CISCO Systems; UW alum; WEB sponsor
  • Steven Burrill – Founder – Burrill & Co.; UW alum; Burrill Business Plan sponsor
  • Top UW faculty from across campus
  • Campus and community experts in start-up formation and culture, intellectual property, and funding

DETAILS AT A GLANCE
WHEN: June 17 – June 22, 2012 (Sunday afternoon through Friday afternoon)
Full-time, full-commitment immersion program with evening assignments and events
WHERE: UW- Madison campus. Classrooms in Grainger Hall.
ELIGIBILITY: Physical, life science, and engineering graduate students or post docs preferred.  A few
seats are set aside for non-science graduate students with strong links to technology
entrepreneurship. Such students are invited to apply. Must be enrolled at UW-Madison
and/or post-doc status.  Competitive admissions with limited seats.
COST: No cost to participants due to generous donations from program sponsors.
Activities:  Multiple readings, case analyses, real-time work with ideas, lively social events, expert panels,
practice in financial and market assessment and other tools.
This is not a sit-back and listen part-time course. It’s an exciting and demanding learning experience.
“The Bootcamp was a transformative experience.  I have a new perspective, new vocabulary, and a new
network with which to approach my future work. It was a privilege to attend.” – Prior WEB Student
TO LEARN MORE/APPLY PLEASE GO TO
http://bus.wisc.edu/degrees-programs/non-business-majors/wisconsin-entrepreneurial-bootcamp
APPLICATION DEADLINE:  April 13, 2012

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