LEAD

The grinding sound of minds hard at work, churning out new ideas and stirring creativity with conception, was even louder than the thunderous applause following the award ceremony's key note speaker. A ceremony to honor the winners of MPowered Entrepreneurship club's "1000 Pitches" competition was the final part of the contest-an ending designed to ignite countless new beginnings for inspired University of Michigan students. Established to generate over 1000 entrepreneurial student pitches, the competition helps to foster a new mindset and encourage students to bring their ideas to the table, according to MPowered's Michael Ryan Scadron. "We're at the University of Michigan, a place that has spawned great people like [Google co-founder] Larry Page and Tony Fadell, the inventor of the IPod. These kids could be walking around here now and have these ideas. What we are trying to do is help them to move forward," he said.

The number of pitches submitted-in the form of short videos-more than doubled from 2008's inaugural competition with this year's total reaching 2,165, an encouraging sign for the MPowered team. With nine potential entry categories, ranging from High-Tech to this year's new Michigan Matters, "1000 Pitches" offered broad opportunity for idea submission, and the $1,000 prize per category presented financial incentive for creative thinkers. Through a series of criteria, a group of 16-20 MPowered members narrowed down the entries to 90 innovative finalists. "That's when we send them to the celebrity judges," Scadron joked, referring to the group of local business people who determine the final nine winners. Winners are encouraged to spend their prize money in an effort to actualize their pitch, but according to Scadron, this is not always the reality.

University President, Mary Sue Coleman, has even weighed in on the event, promoting it several times in public appearances, according to AnnArbor.com. With strong community backing, MPowered abides by its "1000 Pitches" slogan to "Think Big," and plans for statewide expansion in its future. Until then, the MPowered team can be easily spotted around campus every "T-shirt Tuesday" clad in their club's blue short-sleeved shirts. A new University endeavor, the "1000 Pitches" competition itself is a recent example of an idea generated by the entrepreneurial mindset of two U-M Students. The competition now serves as a launching pad for thousands of new ideas, and a platform to empower Michigan students to sustain their repute as the "leaders and the best."