Tel Aviv University of Israel will be the host of the semi final stage of NovaTech 2009: the European competition for innovative entrepreneurship concepts in the field of information technologies, taking place on October 13.

The regional challenge for Central and Eastern Europe is organized for the 4th consecutive year by the Bulgarian Institute for Management and Technology and represents a qualification round for the global contest of Intel Education and Berkeley University - IBTEC.

Teams from seven countries from CEE and Israel will qualify for the global finals of the innovative "championship" scheduled for November 2009 in Berkeley University, California, USA.

IBTEC, and NovaTech as part of it, is a joint project of Intel Education in partnership with UC Berkeley University and the Bulgarian Institute for Management and Technology, meant to provide students, alumni and local entrepreneurs the opportunity to work together on transforming innovative technological ideas into successful businesses while constructing real-life business plans.

15 teams from Bulgaria, Israel, Rumania, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Turkey climbed to the semi final stage of the European Novatech contest. These teams won preliminary national rounds in their home countries in the areas of semiconductors and hardware, biotechnology, cellular and wireless, digital home and home electronics, retail and consumer software, energy and power generation as well nano-technology.

The teams competing will present their ventures with in a presentations which should combine the technological ideas and the business plans behind them.

At the end of the full day of presentations, the two winning teams will be announced at a ceremony to be held at the Delphi Auditorium of Tel Aviv University.

The team ranked in first place will receive a prize of $20,000, while the runner-up will receives $10,000.

The two top CEE team will gain the right to participate in the global IBTEC final in November in the USA.

Israel will be represented in the NovaTech 2009 semi final round by the three teams, which won the three places in BizTEC09, the national entrepreneur contest held this June.

The first place was won by Touch Point from the Ariel Academic Center. The technology developed by Touch Point allows upgrading flat displays - PC, plasma or LCD - into a touch screen at a cost of a few dollars without compromising quality and by means of relatively simple production technology. The team consists of four members, one of them faculty members and the three others his students.

The second place was won by Vizmo from the Technion, which uses cellular phone capabilities to allow customers calling the service centers to use self service functions from a phone menu. The two team members are students of the electric engineering faculty. They conceived and developed the idea concurrently with their studies.

The third place was won by PAN VR, a team of two friends from Tel Aviv University. PAN VR develops a product designed especially for the gaming community, which displays three-dimensional holograms on ordinary screens.

Intel established in Santa Clara, California, in 1968, by Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce.

In 1971, Intel presented the first microprocessor, thus creating the computerization revolution that changed the world. Intel, the world leader in silicon innovations, develops technologies, initiatives and products, which promote the way in which people live and work. Intel currently employs 82,000 employees worldwide, providing the computer industry with communication and software products, motherboards and undoubtedly, microprocessors. Intel has been operating in Israel since 1974. The company mainly engages in development and production of network, communication products and microprocessors. The company has 4 development centers (Haifa, Yakum, Jerusalem, Petach Tikva) and 2 production plants (Kiryat Gat and Jerusalem), employing approximately 6,500 direct employees and several more thousands of external employees.