If mankind could find a way to harvest it, the collective brain power assembled today at Rice University could probably light up Houston.

Sadly, that idea is one of the few scientific and technological innovations not on display this weekend at the Rice University Business Plan Competition hosted by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business. (Look out, 2011!)

The field consisted of 42 teams from graduate programs across the country (culled from 420 applicants) vying for a combined $1 million in prize money, making it the richest and largest competition of its kind.

Groups from six categories — life sciences, information technology, energy, green tech, social and other technologies — are competing for a grand prize of $385,000, and other sizeable grants of $100,000 (from the Greater Houston Partnership’s Opportunity Houston, Waste Management, and DFJ Mercury Tech Transfer Investment) and a quartet of grants from NASA that add up to $110,000.

On break inside the Jones School of Business, the trio from Microfluidic Innovations, LLC (and Purdue University) said that team member Ahmed Amin first began working on the idea in 2004, and that they had been competing as a company since 2008. "You make changes to your presentation for each competition," Samir Sahoo said. "Actually, we made the most changes probably between yesterday and today.

"We had to really go through and make it accessible for people who don't work in the field."

Their product? A programmable, multi-purpose lab-in-a-chip that would significantly cut down on lab time and cost for a multitude of industries and disciplines.

Outside in the courtyard, three guys from PCCA Technologies, Inc. (from Carnegie Mellon University) were relaxing after just completing their first-round presentation. Their Releyent Technologies has created a glucose-sensing contact lens that would replace the replace the need for frequent needle pricks for diabetics in determining their blood-glucose level. Members Chris Shepard and Mike Mussallem disagreed on whether the process was more fun or nerve-wracking, but were united in their desire to grab a beer before returning to observe the afternoon presentations.

The competition also including several opportunities for networking, including a barbecue dinner at the university on Thursday night. There will be a semi-final, shark tank and final round before the winners are announced on Saturday evening.

"Networking is as much a part of the process as the official competition," PCAA Tim Wilkinson said. "Lots of the judges are venture capitalists, so it's a great way to meet people and get your name out there."

"You learn about your own product from being in this kind of competition," Microfluidic Innovations' Sahoo said. "If people aren't impressed, you might need to rethink some of your ideas."