Telfer Student Selected to Compete for National Entrepreneurial Award

- Only 2nd ever University of Ottawa Student to Compete -

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OTTAWA, Ontario (March 18, 2010) – Siavosh Noruziaan has an unusual background for
a student entrepreneur coming as he does from a degree program in biochemistry and
chemical engineering. Yet Mr. Noruziaan not only competed against 21 other Business
Model competitors from the Telfer School of Management and the Faculty of Engineering,
he won it all.

Mr. Noruziaan finished 3rd in the Business Model Competition and then worked intensely
to finish 1st in the subsequent Wes Nicol Business Plan Competition. Now he gets a chance
to compete against outstanding candidates from five other Canadian Universities in the
National event.

“Siavosh is the quintessential student entrepreneur,” said Entrepreneur-in-Residence Bruce

M. Firestone, Founder of the Ottawa Senators. “He is competitive, charming, can juggle
many things at a time, is innovative, hard working and has experience in his field.”

Mr. Noruziaan’s enterprise revolves around bringing system and process to the deck and
fence business not just locally but across Canada. “I want to dominate the fence and deck
industry,” says student entrepreneur Siavosh Noruziaan. “This is a mainly ‘Mom and Pop’
industry with terrific margins. I plan to systemize it, bring 21st Century tech tools to bear
on it plus develop a model that borrows and improves on well-known and understood
franchises like College Pro Painting.”

The Telfer School of Management uses two completely different sets of judges—one to
judge their Business Model Competition (which they do every year with participation from
Exploriem.org, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to teaching and mentoring
entrepreneurs) and another to judge the Wes Nicol Business Plan Competition. If a team is
not in the top 5 or 6 in the former, they can not compete for the latter. In that way, the Biz
Model Comp acts as a filter for the Wes Nicol. Interestingly, both sets of judges had
exactly the same three groups at the top with Mr. Noruziaan winning the last round.

First prize and $5,000 went to Mr. Siavosh Noruziaan, second prize and $2,000 were
awarded to Ms. Katrysha Gellis, Mr. Will Robertson, and Mr. Jermiah Hadwen (the group
that won first place in the Telfer School of Management Business Model Competition)
with the third place and $1,000 being taken by Mr. Jean-Benoit Lesage.

Judges for the Biz Model Comp this year were: QNX Software’s Dan Cardamore, Network
Hippo’s Scott Annan and Hewlett Packard’s JP Chartier. For the Wes Nicol, judges were:
OCRI’s Manu Sharma, Nakina Systems’ Sergio Pellizzari and Devries Financial’s Scott
Devries.

-30 -

For further information about the UPEI competition please contact:

Prof. Bruce M. Firestone, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Telfer School of Management,

University of Ottawa; Executive Director, Exploriem.org; Founder, Ottawa Senators; Real
Estate Broker and Mortgage Broker, Partners Advantage GMAC Real Estate, Brokerage
Tel. 613.422.6757 Email bfirestone@partnersadvantage.ca

For more information, please contact:

Alison Canavan
613-290-4456
alisonc@aceeventmanagement.ca

More about the Wes Nicol Competition

The Nicol Entrepreneurial Award, launched in 1997, is unique for its emphasis on the value of the
entrepreneurial spirit and the key role it plays in the success of a business. The Nicol Entrepreneurial Award
attracts the brightest students from multiple disciplines to encourage the development of the next generation
of entrepreneurs who will drive the Canadian economy. No other business award offers as true-to-life an
experience or is as inclusive as the Nicol Entrepreneurial Award, which welcomes entries from any
undergraduate student with a solid business idea, from any program.

Teams from fourteen of Canada’s top universities compete locally for cash prizes and the opportunity to be
chosen by the national selection judges to be one of six finalists to go head-to-head at the National Award
Gala for the National Nicol Award.

The Award will be presented during the 6th Annual Nicol Entrepreneurial Award Gala on March 30, 2010 at
the Fairmont Chateau Laurier hotel in Ottawa. Mr. Nicol is pleased to welcome, Richard L’Abbé, co-founder
and former CEO of Med-Eng Systems Inc., as the keynote speaker at this year’s event.
More about the Telfer School of Management

The Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa is uniquely positioned to link with and learn
from Canada's leaders. The Telfer MBA distinguishes itself from other Canadian MBA programs by
preparing the future leaders of high performance organizations. Telfer MBA courses cover fundamental
business disciplines such as strategy, marketing, finance, accounting, human resources, and information
systems as well as offering a new concentration in entrepreneurship.

Distinctive programs include: Bachelor of Commerce, MBA, MHA, Executive MBA and MSc
programs. The Telfer School of Management is accredited by AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS ranking us among
the best business schools worldwide.

Located in the heart of Canada's capital and offering a broad range of outstanding research and teaching
programs in both of our country's official languages, the University of Ottawa is Canada's university.

More about Exploriem.org

Exploriem.org is a registered Canadian Not-For-Profit Professional Entrepreneurs and Intrapreneurs

Organization, headquartered in Ottawa, Canada. The Organization appeals not only to entrepreneurs and
would-be entrepreneurs but also intrapreneurs and high achievers interested in participating in helping to
shape the technological, economic and sociological future. Exploriem.org’s goal is to mentor, teach and
perform research to assist in the furtherance of entrepreneurship around the globe.