Purdue students head to China for Global Business Plan Competition

Purdue University students Kristeen Hudson, Brian Paplaski (pictured) and Joshua Hall are taking their first place finish at the university's Burton D. Morgan Business Plan Competition in February to a global competition in Hong Kong on 3-6 June, reports Purdue's News Bureau.

MissionMatchUp, an Internet-based company that helps raise money for mission trips and other fund raising needs, will square off against more than 60 finalists from Australia to Vietnam at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Innovation & Entrepreneurship Student Challenge.

Next month's event, which is open to secondary and university students, includes eight U.S. student teams, 13 from the United Kingdom, 10 from Canada and 17 from China.

Hudson and Paplaski, who are graduating from Purdue this week, launched MissionMatchUp as a social networking Web site to provide custom interfaces for individuals to create, distribute and raise funds for service trips and sponsors or donors for fundraising efforts. For the China competition, the team has added Hall, a junior from Mishawaka, studying computer information technology with a focus on network engineering.

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