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UO students take second place in business plan competition in Hong Kong

TakeShape team wins $35,000 in seven days in two international competitions

HONG KONG -- (April 22, 2008) -- Team members from the University of Oregon’s Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship (LCE) have taken second place in the International Business Plan Competition 2008 at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). The team, TakeShape, plans to license a patented three-dimensional body scanner to market to institutional sports teams and the health and fitness market.

TakeShape had a lucrative week, achieving a first-place finish at the UO’s New Venture Championship on April 12 and a second-place finish at the HKUST competition, garnering almost $35,000 in prize awards over seven days. TakeShape team members are Cody Stavig, Peter Vomocil, Bill Sedlak and Andrew Earle.

Randy Swangard, managing director of the LCE, said that in addition to prize money, the business plan competitions gave venture teams the opportunity to showcase their business plans in front of international panels of investors and executives. The University of Oregon team was one of 12 teams representing seven countries at the HKUST competition. The HKUST event is the only university business plan competition in China open to graduate teams from other universities.

"The TakeShape team was outstanding in all facets of the Hong Kong competition," said Don Upson, LCE faculty advisor. "The finish validates the team’s potential for a successful launch. They were clearly the most viable business in the entire competition."

The LCE venture teams of TakeShape and Momentum (Bradley Russell, Emily McGrath, Kevin Snyder and Natasha MacDonald) now turn their attention to participating in the University of Texas Moot Corp competition May 1 to 3. Oregon will be among an elite group of universities with two teams competing at this competition.

LCE is one of four distinct centers at the University of Oregon’s Lundquist College of Business. The others focus on sports marketing, securities analysis, and sustainable business practices. LCE has produced start-up companies in each of the past four years through is innovative Venture Launch Pathway Program.

About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of 62 of the leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. Membership in the AAU is by invitation only. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.

Contact: Randy Swangard, Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship, 541-346-3312
Pat Walsh, The Ulum Group, 541-434-7021

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Media Relations Contact Info

Phone: (541) 346-3134
Email: uonews@uoregon.edu

Staff Members (Position Details)
Phil Weiler: 541-346-3873; pweiler@uoregon.edu
Julie Brown: 541-346-3185; julbrown@uoregon.edu
Heidi Hiaasen: 541-346-3606, heidih@uoregon.edu
Jim Barlow: 541-346-3481; jebarlow@uoregon.edu
Pauline Austin: 541-346-3129; paustin@uoregon.edu
Shannon Rose: 541-346-3314; roses@uoregon.edu

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