AOL Award Sunday, Feb 27, 2005 TechCast wins First Prize in AOL technology strategy competition. For years, AOL has sponsored a competition among academic scholars working on Internet applications. The most recent competition was held at the Virginia Center for Innovative Technology, located near the Dulles Airport in the heart of Virginia’s equivalent to Silicon Valley. Approximately 40 entrants were competing to attract AOL interest in the innovative merits of their research. The scholars presented their work to an audience of AOL engineers and managers, who then rated each entry. TechCast won First Prize of $1500 in the Business Applications Track. AOL was so taken by the TechCast project that Professor Halal, Kemal Cakici, and Jeff Kallmeyer were invited back to make another presentation on June 24 at AOL Headquarters in Herndon, Virginia.