A total of $11,000 in cash and prizes was last week during the final round of the TOP DAWG Business Plan Competition at Louisiana Tech University.

Awards were given to the top three finishers as well as for spirit and best presentation.

The Oilfield Diagnostics team of Karren Lovelady (Graphic Design/Marketing major) and Noah Bergeron (Ph. D Engineering) won first place and $4,000 with a new form of offshore pipe and platform inspection.

Second place ($2,000) was awarded to Blue Green Fuels, an alternative bio-fuel feed stock or oil that will be used to create bio-diesel and the team of Jeremy Pardue (Masters in Engineering Tech Management) and Klark Kent (Masters in Engineering Tech Management).

The Brute Force team of Colin Hosli (Electrical Engineering), David Richard (Electrical Engineering) and Mark McKee (Electrical Engineering) won third place and $1,000 for an innovative product line of “automated spotting” power lifting equipment.

In addition to the cash awards, the Louisiana Tech Enterprise Center sponsors incubator space valued at $4,500 for six months to the first, second, and third-place teams.

Jones Walker recognized the team that is the most entrepreneurial through sponsorship of the $2,000 Jones Walker Entrepreneurial Spirit Award. This award went to Unitext and Blake Hosli (Ph. D in Engineering) and Shasta Phelps for an electronic notebook and textbook reader for college students.

Jones Walker, with more than 270 attorneys, provides the full range of legal services to a national and international corporate client base through offices in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.joneswalker.com.

The Oilfield Diagnostics team also won the $2,000 Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce Best Presentation Award.

Proceeds generated by the Ruston-Lincoln Parish Business Awards Breakfast, a collaborate event of the Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce and the Louisiana Tech College of Business, fund the award.

Supporting sponsors for the TOP DAWG include the Louisiana Tech College of Business, Louisiana Tech College of Engineering, and the Louisiana Tech Student Activity Grant.

Seven, multi-disciplinary teams progressed to Saturday’s final round. Teams are scored on the quality of their plan and presentation as well as the overall viability of their business concept. The TOP DAWG was established in 2002 and was organized by the student organization, ABESE (The Association of Business Engineering and Science Entrepreneurs). ABESE promotes and cultivates an entrepreneurial culture on the Tech campus.

Written by Brian Miller