Pictured in front of the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square are (from left) Peter Rodriguez, dean of Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business; Brad Burke, managing director of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, host of the annual business competition; Blake Teipel, co-founder and CEO of TriFusion Devices; Brandon Sweeney, co-founder and chief technology officer of TriFusion Devices; TriFusion Investor Gene Birdwell; and Dr. Valerie Taylor, senior associate dean for academic affairs in the Texas A&M University College of Engineering.
The 2016 winner of the Rice Business Plan Competition — TriFusion Devices from Texas A&M University's Startup Aggieland — rang the Nasdaq Stock Market opening bell in New York City on Monday (Oct. 10).
TriFusion is a tenant at the campus business accelerator and was coached at the RBPC by Mays Business School Professor Don Lewis with the Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship (CNVE), managing partner of Startup Aggieland.
TriFusion Devices’ technology promises to produce 3-D printed parts with mechanical properties that rival conventionally manufactured parts, which would set the stage for a 3-D printing revolution. Their materials technology allows for the first time post-printing fit adjustment of the final socket. This saves time, labor and materials by eliminating the residual limb plaster-casting process and the current need for test-fit sockets. The company can deliver a durable, custom-fit device in a matter of hours instead of weeks. TriFusion Devices won nearly $400,000 of the more than $1.7 million in cash and prizes awarded at the world’s richest and largest student startup competition April 14-16.