Inaugural Asian I2P Competition 2005

NUS Entrepreneurship Centre, together with NUS Industry & Technology Relations Office (INTRO), successfully co-organized the inaugural Asian I2P (Idea-to-Product) competition with Exploit Technology of A*Star on 26-27 Sep.

The I2P competition (www.ideatoproduct.org) was initiated by University of Texas at Austin in 2001 to showcase and advance the technology and expertise emerging from engineering, science, pharmacy, business and law school students. I2P was developed to encourage technology innovation, creativity, leadership and entrepreneurship in all disciplines.

• Zhejiang Univertiy, China
• 2 teams from Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad, India
• Keio University, Japan
• National Chengchi University, Taiwan
• Chulalongkong University, Thailand

as well as 4 teams from Singapore, namely two each from A*Star (Data Storage Institute, DSI and Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, IBN) and NUS (Biomers and Bytesquare from 6th Start-Up@Singapore)

The winner of the competition was BioMers from NUS which took home US$5,000 in prize money.

Biomers, also the winner of the General Category in this year’s 6th Start-Up@Singapore, is a student-researcher-professional team with a cross national make-up, including a PhD student and research assistant from Faculty of Dentistry and Bioengineering of NUS, as well as business development manager from Centre for Scientific Enterprise and Imperial College in London. They have developed a complete aesthetic alternative to unsightly metallic braces for the treatment of malocclusion (crooked teeth). BioMer’s braces are not clearly visible to others and have the necessary mechanical properties to straighten teeth. With an unrivalled product in the market, BioMers aims to capture a significant portion of the 1 million orthodontic patients in the U.S. who are currently seeking an aesthetic treatment for their malocclusion.

Presentation by one of the finalist teams at Asian I2P competition at Biopolis

Asian I2P Winner, Biomers, together with Managing Director of A*Star, Mr. Boon Swan Foo

The first runner-up was R’Way Project from Japan’s Keio University which offers efficient PET bottle recycling by improving the process with the equipment it developed. The second runner-up was Vote from Chinese University of Hong Kong, which develops a revolutionary mobile phone input method using a camera-based motion tracking engine.

By winning the Asian leg of the competition, Biomers and R’Way Project were also invited to take part in the 2005 International I2P™ Competition which was held at University of Texas, Austin from 4-5 Nov.

For more details on the International I2P competition and upcoming 2006 events, please refer to http://www.ideatoproduct.org.