Paul Kirsch of the University of Michigan's Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies; Ethem Aktakka and Tzeno Galchev, Ph.D. fellows in engineering; Adam Carver, U-M MBA/MS '12; and Tom Kinnear of Zell Lurie, from left. The students' Team Enertia won $12,000 last February at the Michigan Business Challenge, followed with $50,000 at the DTE Clean Energy Competition.

Eight University of Michigan student teams have advanced to the semifinal round of the Michigan Business Challenge to be held Feb. 18 at the Ross School of Business. The annual competition, hosted by the Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, will award over $60,000 in prize money to participating teams.

What began as a one-day competition in 1984 to encourage entrepreneurship and business development by students has grown to become a five-month, multistage event with hands-on business plan development. Each successive round requires more information about the proposed business, leading up to the stage where the advancing teams submit a full business plan. More than 45 judges, comprised of seasoned business leaders and investors from the Midwest, provide feedback to progressing teams.

The competition draws students from multiple disciplines to work together on developing their business ideas. Nearly half of the competing teams include students from engineering, medicine and law. The competition also serves as a solid business plan catalyst for students working with researchers on project commercialization.

Many teams go on to participate in national intercollegiate competitions. Winning teams often earn enough seed funding to fuel the initial stages of business growth and at times even attract sizable Series A investments. During 2009-2010, Michigan teams took home $464,000 in prize money at intercollegiate and U.S.-based competitions.

Since 2001, the Michigan Business Challenge has engaged over 500 teams. It is a strong component among the many initiatives in the university’s robust portfolio that advances entrepreneurial skill development and prepares students to launch businesses after graduation.

The awards presentation is a free public event that will be held at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 18 at the Ross School of Business, Sixth Floor Colloquium. It will also showcase the recipients of Dare to Dream Grants for student start-ups.

Mary Nickson is the marketing program manager for the University of Michigan’s Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies. She may be reached at mnickson@umich.edu.