It was not his first time participating in the Olin Cup, but the young Washington University alum was greeted with a much different result than last time. Eric Elias, who graduated with a degree in finance in 2007, took part in the competition in his senior year, but ran into technical issues that kept his group from being successful.

A Washington University graduate student debuted his idea for a business at the Rice University Business Plan Competition last weekend. Executive MBA student Stanislav Samarin initiated his plan, PulmoCAD, with a business partner in June 2010.

The 25th annual Olin Cup business plan competition concluded with a winning project from the biomedical field. Nalin Kutta, a student at the Washington University School of Medicine, and Matthew MacEwan, a doctoral student in biomedical engineering, won for their company idea, NanoMed.

A painless and temporary tattoo, a teacher management and effectiveness measurement system and a wind energy technology company are among the six finalists for this year’s Olin Cup Competition.

Robert Freling, the executive director of the Solar Electric Light Fund since 1997, spoke in Graham Chapel on Thursday afternoon as part of the Assembly Series. Following the speech, the Olin Cup Idea Bounce was held.

Judges on Thursday will select which 2009 Olin Cup Competition team finalists will go on to compete for a total of $70,000 in seed investments.
The Olin Cup Competition is co-sponsored by Olin Business School and several corporate sponsors from the community to help and encourage young entrepreneurs to create successful and viable business ventures.