Texas Venture Labs received some nice recognition from U.S. News & World Report recently. In the magazine’s ranking and writeup of graduate-level engineering programs — in which UT’s Cockrell School ranks no. 9 —  TVL is mentioned as an enriching element of the program.

To quote from the article: “Additional opportunities to supplement an engineering education include initiatives at Texas Venture Labs, where business and engineering principles are fused to promote start-ups on campus.”

In only two semesters, TVL has welcomed more than a dozen engineering students into the program. They are collaborating with business, law and natural sciences grad students to accelerate entrepreneurial ventures from UT and Austin.

Click here to visit the listing at U.S. News‘ website.

Click here to read an article that explains a little more about TVL and its opportunities for Cockrell students.

Universities are hotbeds of research and new technology innovation. The challenge can be getting those new ideas and inventions out into the broader world. But thanks to increased cooperation across campus and the addition of entrepreneurial-minded programming, technologies created by University of Texas faculty members, researchers and students are finding a wider pipeline to market than ever before.

A university the size of UT Austin has researchers working in a vast array of fields—engineering, biology, chemistry and computer science, to name just a few. That breadth of innovation puts the university into the top tier of all research institutions in the country. But the wide variety of disciplines can be a challenge to manage from a commercialization viewpoint, said Richard Miller, the university’s chief commercialization officer, in remarks at Venture Expo, a daylong event put on by Texas Venture Labs Nov. 19.  Read more.

AUSTIN, Texas—Rob Adams, director of Texas Venture Labs (TVL) at The University of Texas at Austin, announced the program’s first Venture Exposition to be held November 19, 2010. The event is open to the public and will showcase new ventures ready for commercialization and funding from across the university.

“This is an update since the launch of Texas Venture Labs last March,” said Adams. “We will talk about new ventures from across the campus that are under development — opportunities for commercialization and funding coming from sources such as the Office of Technology Commercialization, the Austin Technology Incubator and Texas Venture Labs.”

“There are solid deals in the works coming from multiple campus sources,” said Jeff Harbach, a second-year MBA who has worked with Texas Venture Labs since it was formed. “As a student in TVL, I’ve had an up-close look at the cross-campus collaboration of the graduate schools of business, engineering, and law.”

The day-long event will include more than 15 presentations on new ventures and feature a lunch program with remarks on “The State of Entrepreneurship at UT” by University President William Powers Jr. Other speakers will include Thomas Gilligan, Dean of the McCombs School of Business; Gregory Fenves, Dean of the Cockrell School of Engineering; Richard Miller, new Chief Commercialization Officer at the university; and Adams.

The morning session will include opportunities from the Office of Technology Commercialization featuring technologies developed on campus with commercial potential. This will be followed by the Austin Technology Incubator which will feature several startup companies that are ready for funding.

The afternoon will include a space dedication for Texas Venture Labs and details on the ten new ventures currently in the program, covering deals that are in the process of being prepared for commercialization as well as opportunities ready to fund.

Bazaarvoice CEO Brett Hurt will be keynoting the close of the event, sharing thoughts on entrepreneurs, universities and venture capital which will be followed by a cocktail reception. All events take place at the AT&T Executive Conference Center.

There is no charge for the event, but registration is limited and filling up fast. The schedule and registration for the public is available at http://tinyurl.com/venexpo.

Background:

Texas Venture Labs is an interdisciplinary education and research initiative at The University of Texas at Austin created to support entrepreneurship, innovation and company formation while providing a unique and directly applicable educational experience for participating students and a research environment for faculty. Venture Labs delivers the intellectual horsepower required to promote new venture creation at UT Austin through education and mentoring; market and business plan validation; team-building and networking; and providing direct links to resources and funding.

Visit Hudson on Fifth this Thursday to think and drink with two of TVL’s partner companies: Ordoro and Hurricane Party.

The two startups are participating in the TECH Cocktail event.

TECH cocktail is a media and events company better connecting, educating and amplifying the start-up technology community. Started as a community building event founded in May 2006 by Frank Gruber and Eric Olson, TECH cocktail has been hosting mixer events and covering technology start-ups across the country with the focus of helping to amplify the local technology signal. TECH cocktail is aimed at helping build and strengthen local tech start-up communities both online and off. During past mixer events we have had companies find employees, co-founders, funding and some start-ups have even been acquired.

When: Thursday, Oct 7th, 2010 – 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. CT

Where: Hudson on Fifth, 301 W 5th, Austin, TX

RSVP here.

Entrepreneur Magazine (August 2010)  named Austin the top creative center for entrepreneurs. Brooklyn, Seatlle, Nashville and Providence (RI) were also named as creative centers.

Here’s why they selected Austin as tops:                           

• $3.5 million: Amount the nonprofit Central Texas Angel Network invested in regional startups in 2009–10 of them in Austin
• Tech savvy: Austin earned the nickname “Silicon Hills” for its emerging tech culture.
• Don’t mess with taxes: Like the rest of Texas, Austin has no state personal income tax and no corporate income tax.
• Population: 1,705,075
  Median resident age: 29.6 years
  Mean housing price: $274,373

Randall Crowder, Texas Venture Labs Fellow

Texas Venture Labs at The University of Texas at Austin announced the hiring of Randall Crowder as the first Texas Venture Labs Fellow. Crowder is also an entrepreneur, active investor and executive director of the Central Texas Angel Network (CTAN) and a managing partner at TEXO Ventures.

“Randall is the perfect person to help us grow our organization,” said Rob Adams, director of Texas Venture Labs. “He is passionate about new venture creation and the innovative spirit that fuels entrepreneurs. He understands what makes a startup successful and what it takes to successfully raise and leverage investor capital.”

Created earlier this year, Texas Venture Labs offers entrepreneurs a quicker and more effective route to bring their innovations to market. “We’ve proven this is an environment where viable ventures can be launched,” said Adams. “With Texas Venture Labs, we’ve put in place a gateway and systematic process for students, faculty and entrepreneurs to access business, technology and legal resources available both on campus and in the Texas entrepreneur community.”

Crowder will work alongside Adams managing the projects and resources as well as developing the operating procedures.

CTAN, one of the most active angel networks in the country, connects early-stage growth companies in Central Texas with information and advisors to raise money and assist in their growth. Since joining CTAN in December 2008, Crowder has facilitated a 300 percent increase in investing by the organization.

TEXO Ventures is a venture firm focused on early-stage health care investments with a focus on innovative medical device and health care information technology companies.

Crowder holds a bachelor of science degree in general management from the United States Military Academy at West Point and an MBA from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin, with a concentration in entrepreneurship. He is a former director of the Venture Fellows organization at McCombs, a current volunteer with the Prison Entrepreneurship Program and a Kauffman Fellow, a program dedicated to identifying, developing and networking the next generation of leaders. Prior to attending business school, Crowder was a captain in the United States Army.

Knowing the right questions to ask is critical in evaluating a new product or project. Renee Hopkins, McCombs’ new Assistant Director of Communication and Gwen Smith Ishmael, Senior Vice President of Insights and Innovation at Decision Analyst, have narrowed down the questions for us.

These six questions provide an analytical framework for companies to focus their efforts in the right places, avoid oversights and increase their chances of success.

1. How well does this innovation effort fit the current organization?
2. What degree of strategic advantage does this innovation effort provide?
3. How well does this innovation satisfy customer needs?
4. How might we pursue this innovation?
5. How clear is the definition of success for this innovation?
6. How readily will management support this innovation effort?

See their June 24, 2010 BusinessWeek article for additional insight.

I2P UT Competition First Place Winner - Andrew Mills of Digital Proctor

Good ideas are still emerging from 2010 Texas Moot Corp competitors. On April 24, Digital Proctor, a finalist in the 2010 Texas Moot Corp competition, won the I2P® UT Austin Competition. Team members were Andrew Mills, a Ph.D. computer science major, and Hyunji Lim, who is earning her master’s in biomedical engineering, Class of 2010.

Revolutionizing Online Education

Each of us has a unique typing pattern, much like a unique fingerprint. Digital Proctor has developed the technology to capture this pattern, that would include information such as how hard you press down on certain keys. The new technology provides for closer monitoring of assignments and tests submitted for online college classes, which should dramatically cut down on cheating.

“It’s going to revolutionize the way students and professors trust each other,” Mills said. “When you think about it right now, it’s like the Wild Wild West: You have no idea who on the other end of the Internet is actually completing the assignments. This introduces the level of trust that’s in place with traditional schools to the online setting.”

I2P® UT Austin Competition

The I2P® UT Austin Competition is a student-led event, coordinated by the I2P® Program and the Technology Entrepreneurship Society with support from Austin Technology Incubator and the Chair of Free Enterprise at Cockrell School of Engineering. The competition is an early-stage technology commercialization plan competition open to UT Austin students of all disciplines who are interested in technology-focused entrepreneurship.

Related Links:

2010 I2P® UT Austin Competition Winners

See Digital Proctor’s Competition Video

Typing Analysis Software Keeps Online Students Honest

2010 Texas Moot Corp Competition Winner

2010 Global Moot Corp Competition Winner

NYTimes.com: “You’re the Boss” Covers Global Moot Corp Competition