Carolina Saunders, 7th grade head of Student U, enjoys a healthy cup of frozen yogurt with one of her students.

DURHAM, NC—Three teams of middle school students are helping a new company out of UNC Chapel Hill called Sqord test a device that will become part of the company’s e-gaming system designed to encourage kids to be more physically active.

The students, all participants in Student U, a Durham-based community effort to help students reach their academic potential, wore electronic devices similar to wristwatches from June 27 to July 8. The devices, provided by Texas Instruments, tracked each wearer’s activity level and used Sqord-developed software to record daily activity levels on a website. The system is designed to encourage kids to be more active through fun competitions and the awarding of points and prizes.

The three groups of 11 and 12 year-olds wore the electronic devices for the first week while participating in Student U on the campus of Durham Academy. For the second week, they were allowed to wear the devices home so that after school activity levels could be tracked. The test period culminated at noon on Friday, July 8, when the group with the highest overall activity level won a healthy “dessert party” catered by Durham’s Local Yogurt .

Sqord founder Coleman Greene, a recent MBA graduate of UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, hopes the two weeks of testing with the Durham youths will help the company refine and debug its software and provide insights about how much competitions, rewards and online diaries can help to change kids’ behaviors in positive ways.

“This is a way for us to work on getting our product ready for the market and to learn about what motivates kids to change their behavior,” said Greene. “We want our system to promote long-term increases in activity levels that will make kids healthier overall.”

Sqord is one of six new companies from UNC Chapel Hill that participates in this year’s Carolina Launch Pad. Started in 2009 by RENCI, the UNC Office of Technology Development and UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, Carolina Launch Pad helps UNC students, faculty and staff turn their ideas and technical prototypes into viable technology businesses.

This initiative supports the Innovate@Carolina Roadmap, UNC’s plan to help Carolina become a world leader in launching university-born ideas for the good of society. To learn more about the roadmap, visit http://innovate.unc.edu/.

Three Carolina Launch Pad participant companies will give live presentations at May 3^rd event.

Twelve startup companies based on innovations at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will present at the annual Emerging Company Showcase on May 3.

The new scientific and technology firms are poised to market discoveries such as devices for diagnosing and treating cancer, gaming that encourages more physical activity by children and technologies for better managing academic research laboratories.

The event is 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the William and Ida Friday Center in Chapel Hill. Admission is free; however RSVPs are required by registering here.

The showcase is hosted by Carolina KickStart in conjunction with the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, UNC Office of Technology Development and RENCI, the Renaissance Computing Institute.

“This event engages the entrepreneurial community and provides exposure for early-stage companies coming out of UNC,” said Don Rose, Ph.D., director of Carolina KickStart. “A forum like this not only celebrates the great innovations at the University, but demonstrates our efforts to translate those innovations into companies with high impact.”

Last year, nearly 200 people attended the showcase held at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School that featured 10 startups, all in the life science sector. This year, with the addition of technology companies to the lineup and the event moving to the larger and more accessible Friday Center, attendance is expected to be higher.

Companies in the scientific track giving live presentations are Allotropica Technologies, Clinical Sensors, Enci Therapeutics, Ironwood Material Science, Qualiber Inc. and Rheomics Inc. Companies in the technology track giving live presentations are Action for Balance, Altometrics, Dyzen, Keona Health, Rascals and Windsor Circle.

Two of the companies—Altometrics and Dyzen—are former participants in the Carolina Launch Pad program and one—Rheomics—currently participates in the program. Carolina Launch Pad gives pre-commercial technology startups from UNC-Chapel Hill office space, technical and business advice and assistance with website development and marketing. The program is a collaboration among RENCI, the Kenan-Flagler Business School and the UNC Office of Technology Development and is based at RENCI. Three to five companies are chosen each year to participate in the Launch Pad.

“The Office of Technology Development is working with these companies to identify and protect the intellectual property assets that form the basis of these new ventures,” said Cathy Innes, director, UNC Office of Technology Development, “We work closely with Kenan-Flagler Business School, Carolina KickStart and RENCI to help them launch.”

“The companies in the showcase represent the best of breed from our vital UNC innovation ecosystem, all with business models ready to scale,” said Ted Zoller, Ph.D., director of UNC Kenan-Flagler’s Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and associate professor of strategy and entrepreneurship. “The showcase is a way to make linkages with entrepreneurs and investors who can take these companies to the next level. There is no better single event at UNC to find game-changing deals.”

Zoller is an instructor in Launching the Venture, a series of courses that help UNC faculty, students and staff to develop commercialization strategies for technologies, devices or ideas. Carolina KickStart’s Rose teaches the medical component of the course, which culminates in developing a business plan and puts startup companies on a path to seeking outside management or investors, such as through the Emerging Company Showcase. Many of the company founders presenting at the showcase have completed the course.

“The showcase highlights cutting edge technologies developed at UNC,” said Cam Patterson, M.D., M.B.A., associate dean for medical entrepreneurship, UNC School of Medicine, and executive director of Carolina KickStart. “The Innovate@Carolina initiative emphasizes that this is a core part of our institutional mandate. These are the companies that will drive innovation, improve quality of life, and drive economic growth in the state of North Carolina over the next decade.”

Carolina KickStart is a program of the NC TraCS Institute, home of UNC’s Clinical and Translational Science Awards from the National Institutes of Health. The program helps commercialize ideas and inventions to bring biomedical and technological discoveries to market for use by patients and other consumers. RENCI, a collaboration involving UNC, Duke, N.C. State and other universities, does cyberinfrastructure research and has programs to spur the development of technology infrastructure to move innovations into the marketplace.

This event supports the Innovate@Carolina Roadmap, UNC’s plan to help Carolina become a world leader in launching university-born ideas for the good of society. To learn more about the roadmap, visit innovate.unc.edu .

NC TraCS Institute contact: Michelle Maclay,  (919) 843-5365, Michelle_Maclay@med.unc.edu

News Services contact: Patric Lane, (919) 962-8596, patric_lane@unc.edu

Above: Russell Taylor, Ricky Spero and Richard Superfine of Rheomics, a Carolina Launch Pad firm.

CHAPEL HILL, NC, March 14, 2011—Entrepreneurs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are encouraged to apply for a spot in the Carolina Launch Pad, the pre-commercial technology business accelerator located at RENCI (Renaissance Computing Institute).

The program, a partnership involving RENCI, the UNC-Chapel Hill Office of Technology Development (OTD) and UNC-Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, seeks faculty, students and staff looking to turn their technical innovations into viable businesses and who have not yet secured startup funding. The application form is available online at the Carolina Launch Pad website and must be submitted by April 11. Applicants must be active in the UNC-Chapel Hill community. Faculty, current students, staff, and alumni who have graduated within the past two years are eligible.

Now in its third year, Carolina Launch Pad already boasts a number of successful alumni and participants. Among the program’s successes are:

• Dyzen, Inc., a company that develops web-based scientific lab management software, won a $40,000 NC Innovation Development for Economic Advancement (IDEA) grant in 2009 to help fully launch the business. The firm, formed by a team of faculty and staff from UNC’s McAllister Heart Institute, now leases office space in Research Triangle Park.
• Altometrics, Inc., which is developing a performance monitoring system for cloud computing, won a $150,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Science Foundation in late 2010. The company, founded by recent UNC computer science Ph.D. recipient Jeff Terrell, also received $30,000 in matching funds from the North Carolina Office of Science and Technology.
• Rheomics, Inc., develops instruments and analysis systems to measure clotting and  rheology and diagnose cancer using small samples. Ricky Spero, one of the company’s founders and a post doctoral associate in the physics and astronomy department, recently received a two-year Innovation Fellowship from Carolina Kickstart, the UNC School of Medicine’s entrepreneur support initiative.

“The idea behind Carolina Launch Pad is simple: give UNC’s technology entrepreneurs a place outside their campus offices or labs where they can concentrate on their business ideas, trade ideas with others who are launching new businesses, and learn from experts at RENCI, the business school and the local business community,” said David Knowles, RENCI’s director of economic development and engagement and manager of the Carolina Launch Pad program.

“Based on the feedback we’ve received from participants so far, it works. Just being able to talk to others who are dealing with the same business startup issues is a real boost, as is being immersed in an institute like RENCI with such strong technical expertise”

Up to three new participants will be selected to participate in the 2011-2012 Launch Pad class. Applications will be reviewed in late April and all applicants will be contacted by early May.

Carolina Launch Pad is supported by RENCI through funding from the UNC Chapel Hill Office of the Provost.

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Carolina Launch Pad and RENCI support the Innovate@Carolina Roadmap, UNC’s plan to help Carolina become a world leader in launching university-born ideas for the good of society. To learn more about the roadmap, visit http://innovate.unc.edu.

About RENCI
RENCI applies advanced cyber technologies to university research initiatives and to complex problems identified by the state of North Carolina. Founded in 2004 as a major collaboration involving Duke University, North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, RENCI is an institute of UNC Chapel Hill with facilities across the state. For more see http://www.renci.org.

Altometrics was founded by Jeff Terrell (above) and Sir Robert Burbridge.

CHAPEL HILL, NC—The founders of Altometrics, Inc., have a goal that sounds simple: make the Internet faster. They want to speed up the performance of your favorite websites, prevent those frustrating slow-downs and enable richer Web services.

The young entrepreneurs recently received a big boost towards reaching their goal in the form of a $150,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Science Foundation. The award comes with $30,000 in matching funds from the North Carolina Office of Science and Technology. Altometrics is the brainchild of Jeff Terrell, and Sir Robert Burbridge. Terrell, who recently earned his Ph.D. in computer science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, serves as the company’s CTO while Burbridge, a former software engineer at Cisco, is the CEO.

“This is huge for us,” said Terrell. “This means the two of us can focus on the business full time and we will be able to hire another employee. It means we will be able to take our products and services to market that much sooner.”

Altometrics is one of five startups that participated in the Carolina Launch Pad during 2010. The Launch Pad is a pre-commercial technology business accelerator aimed at helping UNC-Chapel Hill faculty, staff and students turn their technology innovations into viable businesses.

The Launch Pad is a joint effort of RENCI (Renaissance Computing Institute) and UNC’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business and Office of Technology Development (OTD). Each Launch Pad participant receives office space at RENCI for one year, including Internet access, storage space and phone. Launch Pad entrepreneurs also have the chance to interact with RENCI’s technical experts, work with RENCI communications staff to develop logos and websites, and receive advice and support from experts in the business school, OTD and the Triangle area business community.

Altometrics, which recently moved into its own office space in Durham, is developing a tool that will allow companies to effectively manage the performance of applications that run over networks—including cloud-based applications—that a growing number of businesses rely on. The company’s new data structures and algorithms will not only be able to track performance data but will also identify and diagnose server performance issues in cloud infrastructures without straining server resources.

“It’s a system that observes and profiles server performance even when those servers are in the cloud,” said Terrell, who began developing the new technology as his Ph.D. dissertation. “With more computing infrastructure moving to the cloud, we think the time is right for what we do. We hope to make the idea of cloud computing more prevalent by making the Internet run faster. In turn, that will allow businesses to save on IT expenses and put more resources into their core business concerns.”

In addition to continuing their product development, the Altometrics team plans to apply for a Phase II SBIR grant in 2011.

For more on Altometrics, visit the company website at http://altometrics.com.

For more on Carolina Launch Pad, see www.carolinalaunchpad.org

Carolina Launch Pad supports the Innovate@Carolina Roadmap, UNC’s plan to help Carolina become a world leader in launching university-born ideas for the good of society. To learn more about the roadmap, visit http://innovate.unc.edu.

CHAPEL HILL, NC—Carolina Launch Pad, the pre-commercial technology business accelerator located at RENCI (the Renaissance Computing Institute), this month welcomed Rheomics Inc. to the program.

Rheomics builds systems that fuel the mechanical revolution in biology, and will lead to diagnostics of clotting disorders and cancer metastasis. The company’s patented technologies make it possible to pull on blood clots, individual cells, or small particles—the size of a bacterium or smaller—with precise forces. Rheomics sees a market opportunity for this technology in new cancer diagnostics, point-of-care blood clotting analysis, biofluid rheology and lab instruments to advance biological research.

Rheomics was founded by Richard Superfine, Ph.D., a professor in the department of physics and astronomy, Russell Taylor, Ph.D., a professor in computer science with a joint appointment in physics and astronomy, and Richard Spero, Ph.D, a post doctoral associate in the physics and astronomy department.

The company is licensing UNC technology developed by the Center for Computer-Integrated Systems for Microscopy and Manipulation, an NIH-funded national resource led by Superfine and Taylor, that conducts biophysics research and builds and disseminates bioinstrumentation. Also working with Rheomics is Suresh Balu, an experienced entrepreneur with a background in product and market strategy, management consulting, and investments.

“In the next decade, systems that quickly measure the stiffness and viscosity of blood clots, biofluids, and cancer cells will be instrumental to the diagnosis and treatment of disease,” said Superfine. “We can’t wait to introduce our first product in this emerging area of biomedical instrumentation. Carolina Launch Pad is the perfect environment for Rheomics to continue developing its technology and refining its go-to-market strategy.”

Carolina Launch Pad targets Carolina faculty, staff and students who want to turn their technological inventions and ideas into viable businesses and have not yet developed their ideas into funded start-ups. The program began in January 2009 as a partnership involving RENCI, the UNC-Chapel Hill Office of Technology Development (OTD) and UNC Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Each Launch Pad participant receives office space for one year at RENCI headquarters at 100 Europa Drive in Chapel Hill. The entrepreneurs have the chance to collaborate with RENCI’s world-class technology experts, attended RENCI lectures and events, and receive help in developing logos and websites. In addition, professionals with OTD, the business school and from the Triangle IT community provide coaching and mentoring to the entrepreneurs in partnership with UNC’s Launching the Venture program.

“Our selection committee all agreed that Rheomics has excellent potential to succeed as a new business coming out of the Carolina talent pool,” said David Knowles, RENCI’s director of economic development and engagement. “They are a great addition to the program and will contribute to the creative and entrepreneurial atmosphere of the Launch Pad and to the growing culture of innovation at Carolina.”

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Carolina Launchpad supports the Innovate@Carolina Roadmap, UNC’s plan to help Carolina become a world leader in launching university-born ideas for the good of society. To learn more about the roadmap, visit http://innovate.unc.edu.

Zaid Farooqui and Corey Harris, winners of the 2010 Carolina Challenge.

It didn’t take long for Blinkcoupons.com, one of the new ventures that are part of RENCI’s 2010 Carolina Launch Pad program, to get noticed.  

The fledgling company run by University of North Carolina students won second place for a commercial venture in the 2010 Carolina Challenge, a competition run by UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. Blinkcoupons won additional recognition in the Challenge as best undergraduate team.

“We spent lot of time working on our pitch and our business plan,” said Zaid Farooqui, a senior communications major who launched the company last year. “We wouldn’t have been able to pull it off without the office space here at the Launch Pad. It gave us a place where we could really concentrate.”

Blinkcoupons is a mobile coupon company focused on the student market. The company partners with media in college markets—in Chapel Hill its partner is the Daily Tar Heel—to advertise the site to potential customers. Its profits come from the pizza parlors, fast food restaurants, pubs and other local businesses who provide coupons to the site. Farooqui met business partner Corey Harris, a senior majoring in economics and entrepreneurship, last year at an event aimed at young entrepreneurs.  At the time, Farooqui had recently returned to school after taking  time off to concentrate on his first venture, iJigg.com, which he described as “a YouTube for music” that receives more than 1.5 million visits a month.

“I was a sales rep for Universities Directories when we first got together,” recalled Harris. “He had the idea and the technical expertise and I had an interest in the marketing side and a background in marketing, so getting together just made sense.”

First came their successful application to Carolina Launch Pad, the pre-commercial business incubator for UNC faculty, staff and students with technology-focused business ideas. The Launch Pad provides pre-commercial ventures with office space, lap top computer, telephone, Internet access, office supplies and access to experts with RENCI, Kenan-Flagler Business School, the UNC Office of Technology Development and the Triangle area business community.

The Carolina Challenge entry involved many long hours and late nights in the Launch Pad office, as the Blinkcoupons team worked first on its application, then on presentations and a business plan. Winners of the 2010 Carolina Challenge were announced after the final round of competition on March 27.

Future plans for the Blinkcoupons team include forming an additional 18 partnerships with media outlets in other college markets and continuing to participate in Launch Pad activities.

“Along with the office space and the privacy, we’ve learned a lot from David’s (RENCI’s David Knowles, who directs the Launch Pad program) guidance and by being able to tap into the entrepreneurial network on campus and beyond,” said Farooqui.

Farooqui, Harris and Blinkcoupons’ two other employees—Howard Lee and Ashley Klein—all plan to graduate from UNC in December. However, as long as college students look for bargains and Blinkcoupons is there to provide, they are likely to have a continuing presence on campus.

CHAPEL HILL, NC, January 8, 2010—New participants in Carolina Launch Pad will move into office space within the next few weeks as the pre-commercial incubator located at RENCI begins its second year.

Carolina Launch Pad, funded by RENCI through the UNC Office of the Provost, targets faculty, staff and students at UNC Chapel Hill who want to turn their technological inventions and ideas into viable businesses and have not yet developed their ideas into funded start-ups. The program is a partnership involving RENCI, the UNC Chapel Hill Office of Technology Development (OTD) and UNC Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Launch Pad began in January 2009 with a group of five entrepreneurs who were given office space at RENCI’s headquarters in the Europa Center office building in Chapel Hill, laptop computers, phones, Internet access and storage space. Those participants will end their one-year stay at RENCI by the end of January and will continue to work on development plans for their businesses. One inaugural Launch Pad venture, Dyzen, recently received a $50,000 NC IDEA commercialization grant.

The Launch Pad Selection Advisory Committee chose a new batch of pre-commercial ventures for the program in December. In addition to the office space and equipment, Launch Pad participants have the chance to work with RENCI technical staff and are coached and mentored by professionals with the OTD, the business school and from the Triangle area IT community.

The 2010 participants are:

• Inferential, Inc., led by Jeff Terrell, a recent Ph.D. graduate from the UNC computer science department.  Inferential is developing an application to make it easier for data network service providers to effectively manage the performance of their network-based applications.
• Blinkness, headed by Zaid Farooqui, an undergraduate in communication studies who has already launched another startup. Farooqui plans to develop Blinkness into the de facto online destination for college students purchasing goods or services in their college communities.
• Heel Vision, created by Nikul Patel, a senior psychology major; Bhushan Desai, a senior chemistry major; and Divesh Gidwani, a senior in applied sciences. Heel Vision is developing an integrated, interactive virtual environment to enhance athletic ability. The firm was a finalist in last year’s Carolina Challenge competition.
• Freedom Media Solutions, led by recent UNC MBA graduate and serial entrepreneur Kemp Qiu. The firm is developing a Web-based platform for sharing digital content from online media sources on TV screens using a custom-built remote control.

“The first year of Carolina Launch Pad was a great success and we look forward an even better 2010,” said David Knowles, RENCI’s director of economic development and engagement. “The entrepreneurs love being in close proximity to the staff and the technical resources at RENCI. The interactions they have and the people they meet through the program will help them fine-tune their ideas and get a good start on creating profitable small businesses.”

For more information, see the Carolina Launch Pad website.

About RENCI

RENCI (the Renaissance Computing Institute) applies advanced technology resources and expertise to problems identified by the state of North Carolina and to university research initiatives. Its research contributes to the development of the next generation of technology infrastructure and cyber tools. Founded in 2004 as a major collaboration involving UNC Chapel Hill, Duke University and North Carolina State University, RENCI is a statewide virtual organization with facilities at campuses across North Carolina.   
For more see http://www.renci.org.

RENCI Contact: Karen Green, 919.445.9648 (office), 919.619.8213 (mobile), kgreen@renci.org

Carolina Launch Pad, or Launch Pad for short, targets Carolina faculty, staff and students who want to turn their technological inventions and ideas into viable businesses and have not yet developed their ideas into funded start-ups. The program is a partnership involving RENCI, the UNC Chapel Hill Office of Technology Development (OTD) and UNC Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.

The first group of Launch Pad participants moved into office space at RENCI headquarters at 100 Europa Drive in Chapel Hill last December and will wrap up their participation in December 2009. Each of the five year-one Launch Pad ventures occupied office space at RENCI equipped with a desk, laptop computer, phone, Internet access, and storage space.  The entrepreneurs collaborated with RENCI’s world-class technology experts, attended RENCI lectures and events, and received help in developing logos and websites. In addition, professionals with OTD, the business school and from the Triangle IT community offered coaching and mentoring to the entrepreneurs in partnership with UNC’s Launching the Venture program.

Another five teams or individuals looking to start technology-related businesses will be invited to participate in Launch Pad in 2010. Participants must be faculty, staff, students, or recent graduates of UNC Chapel Hill with a technology business idea that has not been commercialized. An application form is available at the Carolina Launch Pad website. All applications must be submitted by October 15.

“Carolina Launch Pad gave us a place outside the laboratory where we could concentrate on our business idea,” said Cam Patterson, chief of cardiology at the UNC School of Medicine, founding director of the UNC McAllister Heart Institute, and a year-one Launch Pad participant with a venture called Dyzen. “We were able to meet and share ideas with many different technical experts and IT business professionals and to learn how to focus our message to our customers. That’s just not possible when you are in the lab or your campus office.”

New participants in the program will be selected by the Carolina Launch Pad Selection Advisory Committee, which consists of David Knowles, RENCI’s director of economic development and engagement; Ted Zoller, executive director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Kenan-Flagler Business School; Cathy Innes, director of the Office of Technology Development; Timothy L. Quigg, associate chair for administration and finance in the computer science department; and Paul Jones, director of ibiblio.org and a faculty member who teaches in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the School of Library and Information Sciences. Applicants will be notified of their acceptance in November.

Carolina Launch Pad is supported by RENCI through funding from the UNC Chapel Hill Office of the Provost.

For more information, see the Carolina Launch Pad website.

Launch Pad, a collaboration between RENCI, the UNC-Chapel Hill Office of Technology Development (OTD) and UNC-Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, targets aspiring IT entrepreneurs who are part of the UNC community and who have not yet developed their business ideas into funded start-ups. The Launch Pad Selection Advisory Committee chose five participants for the program after reviewing 15 applications from across the UNC campus. Launch Pad is funded by RENCI through funds from the UNC-Chapel Hill Office of the Provost.

Launch Pad participants each receive a small office at RENCI headquarters, 100 Europa Drive, Chapel Hill, equipped with a desk, laptop computer, phone and storages space.  They have access to RENCI’s world-class technology experts, Innovations Lab and Visualization Lab and are able to attend RENCI lectures and other events. In addition, professionals with OTD, the business school and from the Triangle IT community will coach and mentor the entrepreneurs.

The creative atmosphere, supportive workspace and mentoring opportunities give the fledgling entrepreneurs the chance to further explore their business ideas and develop plans for viable competitive ventures. Each Launch Pad participant will be housed at RENCI for one year and each year, a new class will be selected to participate in the program.  Funded start-ups and companies already selling products are not eligible for the program.

Launch Pad’s Class of 08 – 09 is:

• MotionGen, which creates digital images and data for mobile devices as a way to assist practicing dentists, dental students and their patients. Jim Britton, associate director of the Capital Markets Club at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and the associate director of the MBA for Executives program, leads MotionGen, along with Daniel Salazar, a Kenan-Flagler MBA graduate.

• Optimal Learning, a venture that builds sensor devices to help students identify and monitor stress by combining a newly patented biofeedback sensor with multimedia, interactive computer technology. Leslie Babinski, a clinical associate professor in the School of Education, leads the venture.

• SCI ICE, which provides an intuitive, visual Web-based system for inventory tracking and ordering, grants management, and “smart freezer” hardware for small-to-mid-sized academic research labs. The venture is led by Dr. Cam Patterson, chief of cardiology in the UNC School of Medicine and founding director of the Carolina Cardiovascular Biology Center, and Rob Lineberger, a software development specialist at the Cardiovascular Center.

• IdeaBahn, a Web application that helps teams and individuals set goals and create and evaluate ideas. The intuitive interface compels users to build upon ideas rather than letting good ideas stagnate. IdeaBahn is the brainchild of Daniel Hammond a UNC student and recipient of the Kenan Music Scholarship who is pursuing a double major in music and economics with a minor in entrepreneurship, and Rachit Shukla, a recent Wharton Business School graduate.

• Spherical Instruments Company, which has developed a patent-pending game controller that enhances and simplifies the user’s control of the interactive electronic game environment. Nicholas Stroud, a UNC student studying English and business administration, leads Spherical Instruments with Steve Dorozenski, an entrepreneur with 30 years of experience, Claudio Rodriguez, an electrical engineer and head of technology development, and Eugene Watkins, a recent Kenan-Flagler MBA graduate

For more on Carolina Launch Pad, please see http://www.carolinalaunchpad.org/.

RENCI…Catalyst for Innovation
The Renaissance Computing Institute brings together teams of talented researchers, engineers, technologists and leaders in government, business, the arts and humanities to attack major research questions and community issues in ways that accelerate discovery and drive innovation. RENCI has nationally significant expertise and capabilities in high performance computing, visualization, collaborative tools, networking, device prototyping, and data systems as well as engagement sites across the state. Founded in 2004 as a major collaborative venture of Duke University, North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the state of North Carolina, RENCI is a statewide virtual organization.  For more, see www.renci.org.

A new pre-commercial business accelerator, Carolina Launch Pad—or Launch Pad for short—is aimed at aspiring IT entrepreneurs who are part of the UNC community and who have not yet developed their business ideas into funded start-ups. The program is a partnership between the Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI), the UNC Chapel Hill Office of Technology Development (OTD) and UNC Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Launch Pad aims to work with up to five entrepreneurs each year beginning in November. Those chosen to participate in the program will be housed in professional office space at RENCI headquarters in the Europa Center office building, 100 Europa Drive, Chapel Hill, where they will have the chance to interact with RENCI’s world-class technology experts, learn about its technology resources and attend lectures and other events. In addition, professionals with OTD, the business school and from the Triangle IT community will coach and mentor the entrepreneurs.

Each Launch Pad participant will receive a small office equipped with a desk, laptop computer, and phone and storage space. The common work area will offer a printer and fax machine and a conference table. Parking for a limited number of team members will be available at no charge. Launch Pad participants will have access to a RENCI Web server to host a basic website during their one-year stay. Access to RENCI’s technological resources, such as high performance computers, the Innovations Lab and the Visualization Lab, will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

“We are targeting talented faculty, students and staff who have great ideas for a technology start-up or an experimental IT prototype, but who haven’t had the chance to explore commercialization possibilities at any great depth,” said David Knowles, RENCI’s director of economic development. “By providing these emerging entrepreneurs with a creative atmosphere, a supportive workspace, and targeted mentorship programs, this facility will be a key addition to technology commercialization efforts at Carolina.”

”Carolina Launch Pad will bring together Carolina’s IT and media venturing communities to provide a common ground to help develop innovative companies, leveraging the considerable assets of RENCI, OTD and Kenan-Flagler,” added Ted Zoller, executive director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Kenan-Flagler Business School. “This will be a very powerful complementary asset to our successful Launching the Venture program, which provides a rigorous framework for entrepreneurs in the planning phase.”

Cathy Innes, director of the Office of Technology Development said, “OTD is excited about this new opportunity for emerging technology entrepreneurs to explore the viability of their ideas in a dynamic environment. The partnership between RENCI, OTD and Kenan-Flagler will provide a unique environment and tremendous resources to enhance the success rate of new companies and entrepreneurs.”

To apply for the program, teams or individuals must complete the Carolina Launch Pad application form at www.carolinalaunchpad.org by September 30. A limited number of applicants will be selected to interview with the Selection Advisory Committee in early October. The project admission date is November 1.

Knowles, Zoller and Innes will serve on the Selection Advisory Committee along with Timothy L. Quigg, associate chair for administration and finance in the computer science department, and Paul Jones, director of ibiblio.org and a faculty member who teaches in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the School of Library and Information Science. Carolina Launch Pad is supported by RENCI through funding from the Office of the Provost.

For more information, see the Carolina Launch Pad website at www.carolinalaunchpad.org.

RENCI…Catalyst for Innovation
The Renaissance Computing Institute brings together teams of talented researchers, engineers, technologists and leaders in government, business, the arts and humanities to attack major research questions and community issues in ways that accelerate discovery and drive innovation. RENCI has nationally significant expertise and capabilities in high performance computing, visualization, collaborative tools, networking, device prototyping, and data systems as well as engagement sites across the state. Founded in 2004 as a major collaborative venture of Duke University, North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the state of North Carolina, RENCI is a statewide virtual organization. For more, see www.renci.org.