The Hilton Head Workshop is pleased to announce the 2022 Bench-to-Market Award. Building on the successful experience of the MEMS Shark Pup Tank, this award is given to a team of young researchers (students or recent graduates) with solid plans to turn their research into innovative products that could visibly impact the global economy in 5-7 years.

One winner will be selected based on evaluations by feedback from an expert panel of judges on Tuesday, June 7 during Sensorization Journey. The winner will receive a package of in-kind services including:

• 8 hours of product development/strategy consulting by AMFitzgerald (expires on 12/16/22)
• A copy of "MEMS Product Development: From Concept to Commercialization" by Alissa M. Fitzgerald, Carolyn D. White, and Charles C. Chung
• 8 hours of free consulting by Dr. Chip Spangler (Aspen Microsystems Founder; former President and CTO of Aspen Technologies which exited successfully; former Chair of Hilton Head Workshop)
• Sensors Converge Conference (San Jose, 27-29 June 2022): speaking opportunity, complimentary registration, and access to networking opportunities courtesy of SEMI/MSIG
• Up to $5,000 off multi-project wafer fabrication, plus up to $2,500 in fabrication engineering support. One complimentary registration to LAB2FAB Workshop (Whistler, September 25-27, 2022) from CMC Microsystems (expires on 05/30/24).

How to participate

Initial submission - due 5 May 2022
Each team needs to submit a micro-business plan via this form:

• A 2-page micro-business plan that contains:
  
  • Business opportunity and intended customer (300 words)
  • Technical solution and its novelty (200 words plus one figure)
  • Competitive advantage and why the solution will succeed (300 words)
  • Risks and benefits (300 words)
  • Estimate of required resources for years 1 to 3 (one table)
  • Tasks and milestones for years 1 to 3 (one table/Gantt chart)

Final submission - due 20 May 2022
If invited the submit a final pitch package, the teams must submit the following material:

• A mini-business plan as a single PDF file that includes (use of figures is optional):
  
  • Cover page, introducing the business name and team members
  • Overview of technology and status (1st page, 500 words)
  • Overview of potential market applications (2nd page, 500 words)
  • Development milestones and seed funding needs to develop full business plan (3rd page, 1 table/chart)
  • Estimated impact on the global economy in 5 years (4th page, 300 words)
  • SWOT analysis (5th page, 500 words)
• A deck of slides as a single PDF file describing:
  
  • Slide 1: Business name and team
  • Slide 2: Opportunity: market need, size, and problem to be solved
  • Slide 3: The technological solution and product offering
  • Slide 4: Needed resources
  • Slide 5: Development timeline and milestones
• A 3-minute video presentation by the team using the slide deck in the above and any other resources needed

Selection process

The selection criteria by judges will include:

• Innovation;
• Feasibility/manufacturability;
• Market opportunity (disruptiveness);
• Potential for global impact in 5 years;
• The thoroughness of idea evaluation.