Fifteen

$100K EPC Co-Executive-Lead, Jimmy Chen, MBA ’09, described that the wide representation from organizations around Boston and beyond included MIT / MIT Sloan, Harvard / HBS, UVA Darden, Dartmouth, BU, BC, Northeastern, MGH, Boston Children’s Hospital and even DA-IICT Gandhinagar (Gujarat) – India.

After a round of over 150 pitches and a preliminary judging round, participants and attendees flocked to the “Next Big Thing” technology showcase and networking event. The night culminated in the EPC Finale, a high-energy event bringing spectacle complete with a boxing ring, thunder-sticks and comedic videos to complement the pitches given by the finalists and to celebrate the day.

$100K EPC Co-Executive-Lead, Ryan Carag, MBA ’09, opened the boxing-themed night by likening entrepreneurs to Rocky: “They’re scrappy. No matter the odds, they still fight. They’re persistent. They get punched, knocked down, knocked out. But they get up and keep on pushing.  They’re usually the underdog.”

$100K Managing Director, Freddy Kerrest, MBA ’09, commented: “USC may have college football. Duke may have college basketball... but here at MIT, we have the $100K.”

Keynote speaker Stephen Boyer of CyberAnalytix, a finalist team at the all three 2007-2008 $100K events (EPC, ESC and BPC), backed-up the theme with his keynote: “The odds are against you… but in the $100K, you win by participating.”

Poll Everywhere, a text-message-based voting system founded by Sloanie Jeff Vyduna, provided its services for the Audience Choice Award.

Event MC, Josh Van Aaslt, MBA ’10, kept the energy high and delivered the starting chant of “Let’s get ready to rumble!” as each of ten finalists gave their pitch to the overflowed house at Kirsch Auditorium.

Paul Suthapong, MBA ’09, reached the finals with his pitch for RayMen, a team using nano-material technology from MIT to turn ordinary recycled plastic into a nano-thin film to increase insulation and energy efficiency of windows.

Riccardo Signorelli won both Audience Choice Award and the EPC Championship with his pitch for an MIT-bred nano-tech ultra capacitor which he wants to use to help quicken the adoption of wind and solar power and to replace lead-acid batteries in stop-start delivery vehicles.