As the members of the teams arrived, a blend of confidence and nervousness filled the air. Eight (8) teams were selected out of 29 applicants to share their business ideas with a panel of three judges, John Cammack, Hugh Evans and Vince Talbert, all successful entrepreneurs and members of the angel investment group The Baltimore Angels. Teams were comprised primarily of UMBC undergraduate and graduate students, and each was paired with a business mentor to help them further develop and polish their idea prior to the final competition.
Stakes were high with cash awards of $5,000 for 1st place, as well as membership to Betamore, a Federal Hill based incubator and educational facility co-founded by Cangialosi.
First place went to Kyran Richardson and Percy Addo for their development of InSource, a web-based space that brings skills together with people. InSource helps students and faculty know what skills students have so finding a partner to work on a project, research, or company is easy and seamless. Richardson said the idea came about when he and his roommate were trying to find students on campus to collaborate on some business ideas they had, but due to a lack of connections they were unable to find the skills they required. Knowing there is an abundance of talent around, they wanted to make the matching process easier in the future. When asked about the experience of participating in the CBIC, Richardson and Addo said they were “humbled by winning first place while competing against some of the most innovative students at UMBC.”
Second place went to Ethan Steininger for his company Compared Care whose mission is to make the healthcare world more transparent. There is a large geographical disparity within the healthcare industry and the same medical procedure will cost significantly more in one area vs another. ComparedCare.com will allow users to upload several variables to help them locate the best alternative. According to Steininger, “The CBIC was the ideal experience I needed to get started in entrepreneurship. It helped to validate my idea of Compared Care and placing second made it seem more legitimate. My mentor, UMBC alumus Andrew Pollack, was a perfect match and I will continue to communicate with him throughout this startup process.”
Third place went to Markus Proctor and his team consisting of Walter Pearson, Kimberly Hodges, and Harjit Singh for their company, EduPal, which is working to revolutionize students’ study habits and improve planning by creating an online tool to help them manage their time more effectively. Markus commented, “Being a part of the CBIC was definitely an exciting and memorable experience. The atmosphere was amazingly positive and I enjoyed networking with some of the brightest entrepreneurs on campus and in the region. Having the opportunity to share my passion with students, faculty, and members of The Baltimore Angels was worth every hour of practice."
Participation in the competition is just the first phase of the business education the winning teams will experience. By far the most important part of the CBIC will be what comes next, the involvement in Betamore programming and events which will provide valuable connections to the Baltimore business community.
Following the event Cangialosi said, “I am so proud of all the students who participated in the competition. It was exciting to see that innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit is running high at UMBC! I look forward to the next competition and taking it to the next level.”
CBS Sunday Morning, The Baltimore Sun, and the Baltimore Jewish Times have run features on Project Mah Jongg, now appearing at the Jewish Museum of Maryland and is on view in Baltimore through June 29, 2014..
The show, which originated at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, NYC has also garnered notice in the New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The LA Times. The show has travelled to Portland, Cleveland, LA, Miami Beach, Atlanta, and will continue on to San Francisco this summer.
CIRCA Director Timothy Nohe produced sound designs for three "Muji" players, documenting games in Chinatown and the Upper East Side. The sound work was invited by curator Melissa Martens Yaverbaum. Abbot Miller, a partner at Pentagram Design, designed the exhibit to highlight the intriguing objects and imagery surrounding the game. Original works by fashion icon Isaac Mizrahi, and renowned illustrators Maira Kalman, Christoph Niemann, and Bruce McCall pay homage to the influence mah jongg has had on design and contemporary artists. The exhibition's sumptuous companion publication "Mah Jongg: Crak, Bam, Dot," was edited by Abbott Miller and Patsy Tarr, and published by twice books.
]]>History graduate student Shae Adams worked in Special Collections this Spring with the Joseph L. Arnold manuscript. She has provided us with this report from the scene!
Intern Shae Adams here with breaking news from your very own Special Collections: Something exciting is happening in Special Collections! (Ed. note: something exciting is always happening in Special Collections.) We are partnering with the UMBC history department to bring you a digitized history of Baltimore that you can access from the comfort of your living room. Over the course of the semester I have begun compiling and editing a manuscript written by the late Dr. Joseph Arnold, a former UMBC history professor. The manuscript provides an overview of the history of Baltimore from its founding in 1730 to the beginnings of suburbanization in the 1920s with plenty of dramatic events in between. Dr. Arnold’s work explores the heroism of Baltimoreans during the War of 1812, the bitter divisions within the city during the Civil War, alongside the triumphs and tragedies of immigrants determined to find acceptance in their new home.
The manuscript is currently in the editing phases. But progress has been made! Only a few months ago, the book existed only as a jumble of chapters and revisions arranged in archival boxes. Now the chapters have been reunited in a single document ready for final content editing. Through the continued partnership with the history department, Special Collections has high hopes that the manuscript will become an integral part in growing UMBC’s presence in the digital humanities following its online publication.
Stay posted for further updates on this story as it unfolds!
Thank you, Shae!
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