by Jeremy Craig
Executive Doctorate in Business student Berkley Baker smiles with his winning check.
Berkley Baker, head of CIMI Solutions, won the award for his CIMI Robotic Surgery Solution, software that will improve the use and efficiency of robots used in surgery. The surgical robots cost $1.5 to $2.2 million to purchase and $500,000 a year to operate.
“We’re very grateful for the opportunity,” said Baker, an Army veteran whose career includes work in the medical device industry. “It was a privilege to be selected as the winner of the event, and it was exciting to see all of the talent in the room.”
The April 10 competition included presentations of business plans and questioning by business leaders serving as judges. A record 41 teams of students entered the competition this year.
Senior marketing major Justin McLeod discusses his Event Tent app, which won second place in the competition.
“But most important, the quality of the student plans increased again this year. This has become an impressive competition.”
The second-place winner was Justin McLeod, a senior majoring in marketing, who garnered $10,000 for his Event Tent app, focused on event promotion and planning, joined by fellow students junior graphic design major Christopher Davis and senior computer science major Duvall Smith.
Other finalists included The Atlanta Beltline Hostel Inc., and Goza Tequila LLC.
Judges included Kevin D. Johnson, president of Johnson Media Inc.; Lydia Jones, former district director of the University of Georgia’s Small Business Development Centers; and Jason Perry, an audit services partner in the offices of Grant Thornton, an audit, tax and advisory firm.
Prize sponsors included Krevolin Horst LLC, Grant Thornton, SparkMarket, Niche Video Media, Johnson Media, and The Myers Group.
The largest business school in the South and part of a major research institution, Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business has 200 faculty, 8,000 students and 75,000 alumni. With programs on five continents and students from 88 countries, the college is world-class and worldwide. Its part-time MBA is ranked among the best by the Bloomberg Businessweek and U.S. News & World Report, and its Executive MBA is on the Financial Times list of the world’s premier programs. Located in Atlanta, the Robinson College and Georgia State have produced more of Georgia’s top executives with graduate degrees than any other school in the Southeast.