UT Dallas Big Idea Competition Awards Ceremony

The Big Idea Competition (BIC) at The University of Texas at Dallas is one of the most celebrated nights of entrepreneurship in North Texas and recognizes the entrepreneurial progress of UT Dallas students, faculty, and alumni. Again this year we will be featuring and recognizing the innovation of UT Southwestern’s research community. Attend this year's Awards Ceremony, with special guest host Hannah Davis, to find out who takes home the big prizes on this very special night.

Meet the startup founders competing this year.

The 2021 competition offers the following awards in 5 tracks:

• UTD Student Track: $25,000
• UTD Alumni Track: $25,000
• UTD Research Commercialization Track: $100,000
• UTSW Biotech+ Track: $100,000
• Capital Factory's Investment Challenge: $50,000

AGENDA

3:15 PM – Doors open at the ATC Lecture Hall

4:00 PM – Award Presentations

• UTSW Biotech+
• UTD Student Track
• UTD Alumni Track
• UTD Research Commercialization Track
• Capital Factory’s Investment Challenge
• UTDesign Startup Challenge

5:30 PM – A Conversation with Ross Perot Jr. (Chairman, Hillwood) and Anurag Jain (Chairman, Access Healthcare)

6:00 PM – Event concludes

**This event will be available to attend in person and streamed live. Registration is required to receive parking and event details.

Ross Perot Jr. serves as chairman of The Perot Group, which manages the various Perot family interests including real estate, oil and gas and financial investments. He also serves as chairman of Hillwood, a Texas-based, leading global real estate development company he founded in 1988.

Mr. Perot co-founded Perot Jain, a Dallas-based venture capital firm, with long-time business partner Anurag Jain in 2014. Perot Jain has led more than 60 successful investments in companies focused on AI, Mobility, Healthcare and Robotics.

Mr. Perot is a lifelong, innovative entrepreneur, particularly in the fields of highly disruptive, industry transforming investments and companies. In 1988, foreseeing the growth and transportation needs of North Texas, he developed the country’s first industrial airport, Fort Worth Alliance Airport, through a unique public-private partnership. The airport ultimately became the anchor for AllianceTexas, a 27,000-acre master-planned, mixed-use community developed by Hillwood as part of Mr. Perot’s vision of expansion for the area.

AllianceTexas has since generated nearly $84 billion in regional economic impact and has become an integrated testbed for both surface and air mobility technology. It is home to the AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone (MIZ), a one-of-a-kind infrastructure in North Texas offering mobility visionaries and entrepreneurs full access to an unparalleled testing ecosystem, resources and partnerships essential to comprehensively test, scale and commercialize technologies.

In 1988, Mr. Perot also co-founded Perot Systems Corporation, a worldwide information technology services and business solutions company. He served in various roles within the company including CEO and chairman of the board and as a member of its Board of Directors. Perot Systems was acquired by Dell Inc. in 2009, and Mr. Perot continued to serve on the Board of Directors until 2013.

As an aviation enthusiast and leader, Mr. Perot completed the first helicopter flight around the world in less than 30 days in 1982 with co-pilot Jay Coburn. He then served eight years in the United States Air Force, later chairing the Air Force Memorial Foundation and leading the 14-year effort to build the United States Air Force Memorial in Washington, DC.

Mr. Perot currently serves on the board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and was selected as a member of President Trump’s Economic Revival Task Force. He sits on the board of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and is board member emeritus for both Vanderbilt University and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum where his record-breaking helicopter, The Spirit of Texas, is housed.

Anurag Jain is a futurist, a consummate entrepreneur, philanthropist, and venture capitalist focused on charting a better course for humanity by pioneering solutions to the world’s most complex problems.

Anurag’s ability to harness and leverage technology paired with a global mindset has enabled him to launch multiple companies successfully. He is currently the Chairman of Access Healthcare, a healthcare services platform utilizing A.I. and RPA to transform the revenue cycle management industry. This company has scaled from 100 people in 2012 to over 16,000 global employees today.

Anurag also co-founded Brigade Corporation, an international customer support company. He was an early pioneer in the India IT and Business Process Outsourcing industry as a founder of Vision Healthsource. He subsequently went on to lead a 41,000 strong global workforce of Dell Services (earlier Perot Systems).

As the Managing Partner of Perot Jain, a Dallas-based venture capital firm, Anurag has invested heavily in various exponential technologies to help build 50 highly disruptive, industry-transforming companies. The firm concentrates its investments on AI, computer vision, robotics, and other exponential technologies with a focus on how these technologies will impact the future of mobility, human longevity, and overall quality of life. Anurag and Ross Perot Jr. are majority owners of US Major League Cricket’s Texas Titans team, the opening day scheduled for Spring 2022.

Anurag views philanthropy and corporate social responsibility as core tenets in both his personal life and business. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the US India Chamber of Commerce and as Chairman-Emeritus of the North Texas Food Bank (NTFB). NTFB is a hunger relief non-profit organization that prepares and distributes meals to those in need. In March 2020, he launched a COVID-19 food relief and recovery program, Get Shift Done, to provide job opportunities to members of the hospitality workforce impacted negatively by business shut-downs. Get Shift Done provides displaced workers with wages performing assignments at local hunger relief non-profits serving meals to families, children, and the elderly across America and India. In the United States, the initiative has served over 60 million meals and employed 28,000 workers to date. Get Shift Done was named #1 Most Innovative Not-For-Profit Organization 2021 by Fast Company. Along with fellow entrepreneurs, he has also mobilized medical equipment and supplies to India for the Indian Red Cross, OxygenForIndia.org, and GiveIndia.org.

Anurag received his MBA from the University of Michigan and a B.E. (Hons.) in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) in Pilani, India. He and Ross Perot Jr. have provided financial and curriculum sponsorship to create the BITS Perot Jain Centre for Advancement in Entrepreneurship to launch in Spring 2022.

The BITS Distinguished Alumnus Award in Public Life/Entrepreneurship/Philanthropy was awarded to Anurag recognition of his outstanding contributions to society and as an entrepreneurial leader. Anurag is the recipient of the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year award 2016.

Start your mornings with Hannah Davis, the current host of Good Morning Texas. A multimedia
journalist with more than a decade of storytelling, Hannah focuses on interesting people,
delicious food and unique places.
Hannah has been a reporter at WFAA in Dallas, TX since 2016, interviewing everyone from
Jamie Foxx and Kristin Cavalarri to Beto O’Rourke and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first elected
female head of state in Africa.

Prior to WFAA, Hannah was a reporter for KWCH in Wichita, KS.
She earned her bachelor's degree in Journalism at the University of Kansas.
In her time as a field reporter, she discovered the joy of telling the stories of everyday people.
She created Rise & Shiners, a segment that highlights local heroes, from mom & pop business
owners to community leaders who are making a difference.
Her authentic and joyful storytelling appeals to a multitude of demographics, earning her fans
of all ages.

When she's not on the clock, Hannah enjoys hiking with her dogs, reading a good book, visiting
local coffee shops and hanging with her husband. A workout enthusiast, Hannah lifts weights,
runs and practices yoga regularly. You can find her on Instagram @hungreehannah or Twitter
@hannahinhd

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Edith O' Donnell Arts and Technology Building, 800 W Campbell Rd, Richardson, United States