International focus on e-challenge workshop

Monday, 28 July 2003

A marketing specialist from Germany, who is a Visiting Professor in the Education Centre for Innovation and Commercialisation, will present this week's Entrepreneurs' Challenge workshop.

Professor Thomas Baaken will address "The Market as a Key Factor, Market Research and Marketing for New Business" on Wednesday 30 July at 5:00pm, Santos Building, Level 2, Microsoft Auditorium.

"We are truly privileged to have someone of this calibre present at our workshop," says Marissa Haltis, Project Manager of the E- Challenge.

Professor Baaken's major focus is on marketing of innovations and new technologies as well as entrepreneurship. As a member of several advisory and duty boards of start up companies and small-to-medium enterprises, he places emphasis on the market needs and buyer behaviours.

Before assuming his role at the University of Adelaide in February this year, he served as Vice President (Deputy Vice-Chancellor) in Research and Development at the University of Applied Sciences, Muenster from 1998.

He was responsible for research strategies and programs, industrial liaison, entrepreneurial activities, links to the European Community, technology transfer and the marketing of the university.

The E-Challenge calls for participating teams to plan business ventures that have real commercial value. Teams consult with industry mentors, academics, management consultants and other key supporters throughout the competition.

For the past two years, the challenge has attracted young people with bright ideas in a business-planning competition that offers more than $70,000 in prizes.

With competition hotting up as the E-Challenge heads toward the final, ideas like these add to the excitement of this three-year-old event.

The winning team receives prizes to the value of $50,000, the second team $17,000 and the third $6,000. The semi-finals are on 17 September and the finals a week later.

Besides Hewlett-Packard's considerable financial injection over the past three years, E-Challenge also enjoys support from the Adelaide Graduate School of Business, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Coopers Brewery, Computer Associates, Corporate Express, Centre for Innovation, Business and Manufacturing, Woman Chiefs of Business Enterprises, Playford Capital, Taylor Collison, Madders Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys and Department of Industry, Tourism & Resources.

Contact Details