U News | Rochester Institute of Technology has a new entrepreneurial hub
George Mason University's Accelerate Investor Conference drew 480 registered attendees, 19 speakers, and 48 company pitches.
From Rochester Institute of Technology:
The school’s new entrepreneurial hub is designed to support entrepreneurs at every stage of their journeys—from ideation to launch, growth, and exits.
The Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, in partnership with students, faculty, staff, alumni, industrial partners, and investors, will catalyze the development of successful ventures, and will strategically consolidate several existing departments and centers supporting the university entrepreneurial community, and beyond.
The office encompasses the Simone Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Center for Urban Entrepreneurship, Venture Creations incubator, and the Office of Intellectual Property Management to benefit startups, corporate partners, investors, and government entities looking to collaborate with RIT. It’s housed in Student Innovation Hall.
According to Ryne Raffaelle, Vice President for Research and Associate Provost, the vision is bold: to foster a culture where innovation becomes integral to Rochester Institute of Technology life, creating lasting economic impact both within the university and beyond.
From George Mason University:
The Accelerate Investor Conference, organized by George Mason University, spurs the region’s innovation and start-up ecosystem engagement to a new level while also showcasing the Virginia, Maryland, and Metropolitan Washington, DC region as a destination for business development, venture investment, and job creation.
Each year the event grows in size and stature. This year the Mason Enterprise Center, which plans the event, reports there were 480 registered attendees, 19 speakers, 48 company pitches, 72 investors judged and participated, and 14 student teams that pitched.
The competition targeted entrepreneurs with early to mid-seed stage, high-growth businesses with the potential to have an immediate and positive impact on our local economy, as well as student concepts with longer-term business viability.
From the University of Colorado Boulder:
The Sustainability Hackathon started as a way for University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) students to learn design thinking and gain agile development experience and has grown into a much-anticipated annual event. Over the past two years, participation and event attendance more than doubled, with team members coming from multiple disciplines.
Members of the CU Boulder community participate too, helping support the Sustainability Hackathon through financial and in-kind sponsorships and offering time and talent as workshop leaders, mentors, or competition judges.
“It is exciting to see the continued growth of the Sustainability Hackathon,” said Stan Hickory, Director of CU Boulder’s Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative. “We have students coming together from across the campus and multiple universities to develop solutions to real sustainability problems. And none of this would be possible without the support of our sponsors, mentors, and community partners.”
The Sustainability Hackathon is a stepping stone to the New Venture Challenge (NVC). Ranked #15 among U.S. collegiate entrepreneurship competitions, NVC is the heart of CU Boulder’s entrepreneurship engine. NVC startup teams pitch for hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding and attend year-round events – such as the Sustainability Hackathon – while networking and collaborating with mentors to refine ideas.
From the Pennsylvania State University Behrend:
A $6.5 million state grant has positioned Pennsylvania State University Behrend to begin construction of the Center for Manufacturing Competitiveness, an industry-facing research facility and the centerpiece of the college’s Project RESOLVE. The grant was awarded through the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP), which is designed to advance regional projects that are likely to increase employment, tax revenues, and other measures of economic activity.
The Center for Manufacturing Competitiveness is a focal point of Project RESOLVE, a 10-year regional effort to shift the region’s manufacturing companies to a circular economic model. The center will support companies as they invest in their own operations and transition to sustainable technologies that ultimately will reduce pollution in and near the region’s freshwater resources, including Lake Erie.
Workforce training in the metal-casting sector already has begun. Those programs, funded through a $4.4 million grant from the Knoxville-based Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation, complement the college’s longstanding plastics training initiatives.
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