A DePaul University entrepreneur student who developed a business plan for an innovative flexible book-binding system has captured first place in a new regional collegiate business competition.

DePaul senior Rania El-Sorrogy won the top prize of $5,000 in the first Illinois-Missouri region Idea to Product (I2P) collegiate entrepreneur competition sponsored by the University of Texas-Austin. El-Sorrogy’s entry was her business plan for Livre Libre, a new system for producing books with modular bindings that allow chapters to be added or removed from the text while maintaining the overall strength and cohesion of a complete book. In addition to allowing readers to carry only the sections they need, the invention would allow publishers to update book chapters without having to reprint the entire textbook.

El-Sorrogy, 20, of Barrington, Ill., who has a patent pending on the book-binding idea, has been engaged in entrepreneurial pursuits since she was in high school. Inspired by students straining to carry textbook-filled backpacks, she began creating the business plan for Livre Libre in a DePaul entrepreneur course last year.

“I’m often the target market of my ideas,” El-Sorrogy said. “I felt the pain (of carrying textbooks) and know others have this problem, so I figured out a solution that would work in the real world.” She credited her mentor, Raman Chadha, associate professor of management and executive director of the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center at DePaul, and one of her instructors, adjunct management professor and veteran entrepreneur Len Gingerella, with helping her develop the plan into a viable business opportunity.

“Raman taught me that the difference between an idea and an opportunity is the market,” she said. “A business idea becomes viable when it can fill a gap in the market and has the ability to do so. That's where the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center comes in. They helped me go beyond an idea to paper – a business plan – and then helped me go from paper to its real world application – opportunity.”

El-Sorrogy, who graduates this June, is currently seeking publishing industry partners and licensing opportunities to launch the business.

DePaul’s Coleman Entrepreneurship Center manages outreach programs—including consulting and networking services—for students and alumni to stimulate start-up and growth of entrepreneurial firms. The center supports DePaul’s graduate and undergraduate entrepreneur degree programs, which earned No. 2 and No. 3 best-programs-in-the-nation rankings, respectively, from Entrepreneur magazine.

El-Sorrogy’s entry was chosen the best among 26 proposals for technology-based products submitted by students from DePaul, Illinois Institute of Technology, Southern Illinois University, St. Louis University, University of Missouri and Washington University, St. Louis, at the regional competition held at Saint Louis University March 9. A panel of technology transfer and entrepreneurship leaders judged the contest, choosing 12 semifinalists, who were invited to make a 10-minute oral presentation and submit a five-page written product description at the regional contest. Based on the business viability of the ideas presented, the judges chose first-through-fourth place winners. A yet-to-be-determined number of regional winners will be invited to enter the Global I2P Competition to be held Nov. 2 and 3 at the University of Texas-Austin.

DePaul sophomore Justin Romo, 21, of Lincoln Park in Chicago, also was chosen to compete in the semi-final round. Although he did not advance, he won a $250 prize for making the top 12 with his product idea, a device that coordinates wearable virtual reality technology and allows users to simultaneously experience the sights, sounds and touch of a virtual experience.

“This was a tremendous achievement for these students and a proud moment for DePaul,” said Chadha. “We are privileged to work with such talented students as Rania and Justin. They are dedicated to bringing their ideas to life, and are perfect examples of the entrepreneurial spirit that DePaul students possess.”

The Coleman Entrepreneur Center is currently sponsoring a university-wide business plan competition of its own called the New Venture Challenge. This year’s competition has drawn 31 entries from DePaul student and alumni teams. From this pool, fourteen semi-finalists have been named. Three will be selected to present their ideas to a judging panel of entrepreneur industry experts at a May 10 final competition on DePaul’s Loop Campus.