Diagnostic anSERS Heads to Cupid's Cup Finals

Diagnostic anSERS, the Fischell Department of Bioengineering (BioE)-based startup company founded by graduate students Eric Hoppmann and Sean Virgile, both advised by BioE and Institute for Systems Research assistant professor Ian White, will advance to the final round of the Cupid's Cup, the national business competition held by the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. Virgile represented the company at the semifinals on February 21.

On April 5, Diagnostic anSERS and their five fellow finalists will pitch their business plans to a panel of judges including Cupid's Cup founder Kevin Plank, UMD alumnus and CEO of Under Armour. The winner will receive $70,000 and access to Plank's professional network.

Diagnostic anSERS uses a novel ink jet printing process to fabricate inexpensive substrates for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), a molecular fingerprinting technique. The result is a low-cost, on-demand, and portable version of an advanced sensor technology that is typically a high-end investment and confined to a lab. The printed sensors can be used to detect trace amounts of explosives, toxins and narcotics.

The company previously took third prize in the Graduate Student, Faculty and Researchers category of the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute 's University of Maryland $75K Business Plan Competition, won the October 2012 Pitch Dingman competition, and has just been awarded $135,000 in funding from the Maryland Industrial Partnerships program.

For More Information:

Read the Smith School's press release »
Visit the Cupid's Cup web site »
Visit the Diagnostic anSERS web site »
Visit the White Research Group web site »

Published February 26, 2013