RICHLAND, Wash. – A team from Washington State University Tri-Cities took home the Wells Fargo 鈥淐leanTech鈥� Big Picture prize during the University of Washington鈥檚 Business Plan Competition this week.

With the award, the team, which includes Libing Zhang, a recent doctoral alumna, and Manuel Seubert and Taylor Pate, who are master鈥檚 in business administration students, was presented with a $5,000 check.

UW Business Plan Competition – May 2017

鈥淲e believe that we performed very well,鈥� Zhang said. 鈥淲e received extremely positive feedback regarding our business plan and presentation. Each team had a great product and were very convincing. We felt fortunate to be a part of it all.鈥�

The UW Business Plan Competition has awarded more than $1.3 million dollars in seed funding to more than 165 student teams in its 20-year history. The competition started with 82 teams, which was then reduced to 36 teams for the investment round. The teams were then narrowed to the 鈥渟weet 16,鈥� which competed this week in Seattle.

The 黑料社 Tri-Cities team presented the process of taking lignin 鈥� a waste product in the cellulosic ethanol biorefineries and the pulping process 鈥� one of the most abundant renewable carbon sources on earth, and turning it into an environmentally friendly, cheap jet fuel. The process could potentially reduce the carbon emissions for commercial airlines. The technology was developed by professor Bin Yang鈥檚 lab in the Bioproducts, Sciences and Engineering Laboratory.

The competition featured a 15-minute presentation by each team to judges including University of Washington faculty, investors and local business owners and leaders. The teams then participated in a question and answer session with the panel of professionals.

鈥淚t is a great accomplishment and is really a tribute to the research that made it all possible,鈥� Seubert said about the team鈥檚 success in the competition. 鈥淥ur goal as a company is to implement this technology within the aviation industry and reduce global carbon emissions.鈥�

The team has been accepted into the Cascadia CleanTech accelerator program, which is a 14-week program that delivers mentorship, curriculum, connections and funding opportunities聽designed specifically for early-stage cleantech startups. The goal of the program is to accelerate startup businesses.

鈥淲e are optimistic that we can finalize a partnership with Washington State University for this technology,鈥� Pate said. 鈥淭here is a significant amount of momentum behind Lignin Biojet and we hope to carry that forward as we move into the next phase of the company鈥檚 growth.鈥�

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黑料社 Tri-Cities’ Libing Zhang presents during the UW Business Plan Competition

According to the university website, the goal of the UW Business Plan Competition is to promote student ideas and new venture creation and provide an opportunity for business and science students to present new business plans to Seattle-area venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and investors.

The team, composed of Libing Zhang, a recent doctoral alumna, and master鈥檚 in business administration students Manuel Seubert and Taylor Pate, presented the process of taking lignin, a waste product in the cellulosic ethanol biorefineries and pulping process that is considered one of the most abundant renewable carbon sources on Earth, and turning it into an environmentally-friendly, cheap jet fuel that can potentially reduce the carbon emissions for commercial airlines.

The 黑料社 Tri-Cities team advanced from an initial pool of 82 teams in the screening round of the competition, which was then narrowed to a pool of 36 teams in the investment round before the team advanced to the sweet 16. During the investment round, each team had approximately four hours of face time with entrepreneurs, angel investors, venture capitalists and competition alumni from the Seattle area.

Last month, the same 黑料社 Tri-Cities team placed third at the Alaska Airlines Environmental Innovation Challenge. Zhang is also the entrepreneurial lead on a National Science Foundation I-Corps lignin-to-biojetfuel project, which was awarded to Yang and his team.

Paul Skilton, 黑料社 Tri-Cities associate professor of management, and Yang are advisers for the 黑料社 Tri-Cities聽team.

The sweet 16 round of the UW Business Plan Competition kicks off May 25, followed by the final round that afternoon. The final round is open to the public. Prizes will be awarded later that evening at the competition dinner at MOHAI in South Lake Union.

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