Telfer Student Selected to Compete for National Entrepreneurial Award

- Only 2

ever University of Ottawa Student to Compete -

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEOTTAWA, Ontario (March 18, 2010) – Siavosh Noruziaan has an unusual background for a student entrepreneur coming as he does from a degree program in biochemistry andchemical engineering. Yet Mr. Noruziaan not only competed against 21 other BusinessModel competitors from the Telfer School of Management and the Faculty of Engineering,he won it all.Mr. Noruziaan finished 3

in the Business Model Competition and then worked intenselyto finish 1

in the subsequent Wes Nicol Business Plan Competition. Now he gets a chanceto compete against outstanding candidates from five other Canadian Universities in the National event.“

Siavosh is the quintessential student entrepreneur

,” said Entrepreneur-in-Residence BruceM. Firestone, Founder of the Ottawa Senators. “

He is competitive, charming, can jugglemany 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 andfence 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 21

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 fromExploriem.org, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to teaching and mentoringentrepreneurs) and another to judge the Wes Nicol Business Plan Competition. If a team isnot in the top 5 or 6 in the former, they can not compete for the latter. In that way, the BizModel Comp acts as a filter for the Wes Nicol. Interestingly, both sets of judges hadexactly 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 wereawarded 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 ScottDevries.-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; RealEstate Broker and Mortgage Brok er, Partners Advantage GMAC Real Estate, BrokerageTel. 613.422.6757 Email bfirestone@partnersadvantage.caFor more information, please contact:Alison Canavan613-290-4456alisonc@aceeventmanagement.ca

More about the Wes Nicol Competition

The Nicol Entrepreneurial Award, launched in 1997, is unique for its emphasis on the value of theentrepreneurial spirit and the key role it plays in the success of a business. The Nicol Entrepreneurial Awardattracts the brightest students from multiple disciplines to encourage the development of the next generationof entrepreneurs who will drive the Canadian economy. No other business award offers as true-to-life anexperience or is as inclusive as the Nicol Entrepreneurial Award, which welcomes entries from anyundergraduate 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 bechosen by the national selection judges to be one of six finalists to go head-to-head at the National AwardGala for the National Nicol Award.The Award will be presented during the 6

Annual Nicol Entrepreneurial Award Gala on March 30, 2010 atthe 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.