{"65150":{"#nid":"65150","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Business Plan Competition: Strength-building Shirt Most Prepared for Market","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen Patrick Whaley was still a child, he first had the idea for the \nweighted, muscle-building clothing that would win the Most Fundable Award \n($35,000 worth of legal, financial and other services) in Georgia Tech\u2019s 2011 \nBusiness Plan Competition (BPC). The finals were held recently at the College of Management.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen I was a kid, I was really skinny. To build up muscle, I would actually \ncarry extra books in my bag,\u201d explains Whaley, who earned his bachelor\u2019s degree \nin mechanical engineering from Tech in 2010 and now leads the company Titin \nTech. \u201cSo I started thinking, \u2018Why couldn\u2019t I just have clothing be \nweighted?\u2019\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETitin Tech\u2019s initial product is a weighted shirt that can be worn during \nworkouts to build additional strength \u2013 or throughout the day for continual \nexercise. The shirt uses form-fitting gel pockets that keep the body cool while \nadding weight (six to 20 lbs).\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhaley had initially set his sights on the athletic market, but a \nlife-threatening injury he suffered in mid-2009 expanded his vision for the \nproduct to include patients requiring physical rehabilitation. As he recovered \nfrom a gunshot wound to the chest suffered during an armed robbery, he realized \nthat he could use the invention to aid his own healing process. \u201cIt was hard to \nlift my right side up after I came home from the hospital,\u201d says Whaley, an \namateur bodybuilder who lost a third of one lung from the shooting.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe patented shirt he developed recently became available for sale on the \u003Ca title=\u0022Titin Tech\u0022 href=\u0022http:\/\/www.titintech.com\/\u0022\u003ETitin Tech Website\u003C\/a\u003E and orders are pouring \nin, Whaley says. Therefore, Titin Tech\u2019s victory in the Most Fundable category \nmight not seem so surprising. The award goes to the team deemed by judges to be \nmost ready for the marketplace.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIntended as an educational exercise, the BPC attracts some participants who \nare simply interested in learning about the venture-creation process, while \nothers know they are serious about developing real companies. Participation in \nthe BPC is open to all Georgia Tech students and alumni of various degree \nprograms who\u2019ve graduated within the last five years.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn March 2010, during his last semester at Tech, Whaley won First Place and \nPeople\u0027s Choice in Georgia Tech\u2019s InVenture Competition (an innovation contest \nnot involving a business plan), receiving $20,000 total. The professional \nnetwork and resources he\u2019s gained through InVenture and the BPC have helped \nprepare him for success in the marketplace, he says.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFirst Place\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to the Most Fundable Award, the BPC also includes numerous other \nprizes. The Puribio team won First Place ($10,000) for its plan to market a \nhemodialysis machine for clinic, home and hospital treatments. Puribio also won \nthe Most Innovative Award (a $10,000 service package).\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPuribio\u2019s technology is targeted at the growing number of people with kidney \nfailure (more than a 100,000 cases a year). These patients typically must \nundergo treatment three times a week for three to five hours per session. \nCurrently, only eight percent of dialysis is performed in patients\u2019 homes. But \nPuribio could increase that percentage with its small, portable dialysis machine \ndesign. Other benefits would include less blood cell damage and the removal of \nmore waste molecules than current technology, resulting in longer patient \nlife.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJane Kang, a doctoral student in mechanical engineering, has worked on this \ndialysis machine since starting the PhD program in 2008. To help develop a plan \nto market her\u0026nbsp;technologies, BPC administrators helped her find MBA students \nDaniel\u0026nbsp;Eyrich and Manish Gupta, who saw great potential in her work. Emory law \nstudent David\u0026nbsp;Giannantonio, who holds bachelor\u0027s and master\u0027s degrees in biology \n(2006, 2008) from Tech, also joined the team.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EKang says that participation in the BPC, which includes a series of \npreparatory workshops leading up to the competition each spring, was of immense \neducational value and could help her bring the early-stage Puribio technology to \nmarket after she finishes the PhD program in a couple of years. \u201cThe feedback I \nreceived from judges was great and will help me attract potential \ninvestors.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Second Place winner ($3,000) was Boss Medical, which plans to market a \nnew device to improve spinal fusion procedures. Third Place went to SpherIgenics \n($2,000), which specializes in the delivery of biological therapies through the \nprocess of micro-encapsulation. In addition to Titin Tech, other finalists (who \nreceived $500 each) included Roadside Technologies, a system designed to warm \nroadside personnel of impending vehicular collisions; and Kiddie Collar, a \ndrool-catching collar for babies that replaces a bib to prevent rashes and keep \nclothes dry. For a full list of winners, visit the \u003Ca title=\u0022BPC\u0022 href=\u0022http:\/\/mgt.gatech.edu\/fac_research\/centers_initiatives\/bpc\/index.html\u0022\u003EBusiness \nPlan Competition\u003C\/a\u003E site.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThirty teams made it to the BPC semifinals. Judges for the different stages \nof the competition included numerous leaders in the corporate, venture capital, \ntechnology transfer, legal, and academic communities.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESponsors included Georgia Tech College of Management, the Institute for \nLeadership and Entrepreneurship, MaRC Sustainable Design \u0026amp; Manufacturing, \nTedd Munchak Chair in Entrepreneurship, Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable \nSystems, GREENGUARD Environmental Institute, Advanced Technology Development \nCenter, Nelson Mullins Riley \u0026amp; Scarborough LLP, AuditMyBooks, Troutman \nSanders, Gray Ghost Ventures, Delaney, HLB Gross Collins PC, Executive \nEntrepreneurs Society, and Bondurant Mixson \u0026amp; Elmore LLP.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen Patrick Whaley was still a child, he first had the idea for the \nweighted, muscle-building clothing that would win the Most Fundable Award \n($35,000 worth of legal, financial and other services) in Georgia Tech\u2019s 2011 \nBusiness Plan Competition (BPC). The finals were held recently at the College of Management.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Titin Tech wins the Most Fundable Award the 2011 Georgia Tech Business Plan Competition."}],"uid":"27271","created_gmt":"2011-03-24 13:54:07","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:08:26","author":"Brad Dixon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-03-24T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-03-24T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"65148":{"id":"65148","type":"image","title":"Titin Tech","body":null,"created":"1449176801","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:06:41","changed":"1475894574","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:54","alt":"Titin Tech","file":{"fid":"192178","name":"TitinTechPhoto.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/TitinTechPhoto_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/TitinTechPhoto_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4770180,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/TitinTechPhoto_0.jpg?itok=xFuE7M_7"}},"65149":{"id":"65149","type":"image","title":"Puribio","body":null,"created":"1449176801","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:06:41","changed":"1475894574","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:54","alt":"Puribio","file":{"fid":"192179","name":"puribio.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/puribio_0.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/puribio_0.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1238183,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/puribio_0.JPG?itok=yCRUo4cN"}}},"media_ids":["65148","65149"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/mgt.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech College of Management"}],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2654","name":"business plan"},{"id":"2983","name":"business plan competition"},{"id":"11257","name":"clothing"},{"id":"12498","name":"dialysis"},{"id":"12496","name":"dialysis machine"},{"id":"2301","name":"entrepreneur"},{"id":"3472","name":"entrepreneurship"},{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"9313","name":"Georgia Tech College of Management"},{"id":"12495","name":"Puribio"},{"id":"171077","name":"strength building"},{"id":"11340","name":"Titin Tech"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBrad Dixon, Communications Manager\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECollege of Management\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["brad.dixon@mgt.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}