T&M International Business Plan Competition

Since 2007, the Dual Degree Program in Technology and Management at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (T&M-DDP, HKUST) and the Hoeft Technology and Management Program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (T&M UIUC) have co-organized T&M International Business Plan Competition in different cities across the world. Various guest universities have been invited to increase the level of international culture appreciation and teamwork challenges.

The pedagogy for the competition relies on an intensive residential period which includes daily combinations of faculty mentoring, team brainstorming, company visits, local landmark visits and numerous opportunities to practice investor pitching. Students work in small teams of maximum 6 students from all of the participating universities. Each team combination is chosen with goal to maximize multi-disciplinary coverage across engineering, science and business management. Students, as well as faculty, are engaged in about 12 hours intensive activities each day in a highly stimulating and intellectually challenging environment.

Prior to the trip, participating universities will prepare students with business planning skills and subject matter familiarity such that students can “hit the ground running”. Typical pre-trip workshops would include subjects such as industry domain knowledge related to the theme, latest technology trends, the lean-startup process, business plan writing, investor pitching and cross-culture teamwork. Target students are high-caliber full-time Bachelors or Masters Students interested in innovation and entrepreneurship.