University Innovation Fellows - User contributions [en]

Fellow:Connor Wolk

2016-02-19T05:31:51Z

Connorwolk:

Connor Wolk is from Chesterfield, MO where he attended Lafayette High School. Upon graduating in 2012, he went on to the Missouri University of Science and Technology where he began working towards a degree in Engineering Management.  Currently in his senior year, he has become a change agent for innovation and entrepreneurship on campus. 

Connor found an interest in entrepreneurship during his freshman year after creating a 3D-printed customizable iPhone case. He co-founded the company, obtained an angel investment, and filed for patent protection on the design. He has since gone on to start two more companies.

On campus, he has been equally involved. Connor founded the Missouri S&T Photo Club during his freshman year. At the same time, he was chosen to participate in the Chancellor’s Leadership Academy, helping him develop leadership and networking skills. He also became actively involved in the Technical Innovators and Entrepreneurs Society (TIES) where he now serves as President. Connor was selected by the Chancellor as the only student representative on the Missouri S&T Innovation Team, granting money to accelerate the development of innovative ideas on campus.

He enjoys photography, adrenaline sports, and improving his fraternity through the role of Recruitment Chairman.

You can contact Connor by email at: [mailto:connorwolk@yahoo.com connorwolk@yahoo.com]

You can also connect with him on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/connorwolk here].

== Related Links ==

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Missouri_University_of_Science_and_Technology Missouri University of Science and Technology ]

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Missouri_University_of_Science_and_Technology_Priorities#Tactic_.234:_Create_I.26E_Opening_Week_Workshop.C2.A0 Missouri University of Science and Technology Priorities]

Fellows

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Tyler_Jenkins Tyler Jenkins]

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Mark_Raymond_Jr.#Related_Links Mark Raymond Jr.]

'''Connor Wolk'''

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Katherine_Ramsay Kathrine Ramsay]

[[Category:Student Contributors|c]]

Fellow:Connor Wolk

2016-02-19T05:29:45Z

Connorwolk:

Priorities:Missouri University of Science and Technology Priorities

2016-02-18T22:06:13Z

Connorwolk:

= Pitch Videos 2015 & 2016 =

{{#Widget:Youtube|id=e9q_lHrbcfM}}

{{#Widget:Youtube|id=FBRzrVwgoFU}}

= Overview =

Missouri S&T's strength in the experiential learning and research activities of its STEM programs gives it huge potential for supporting innovation and entrepreneurship activities. Analysis of S&T's Spring 2015 landscape canvas has demonstrated its strengths in the area of building technical skills for student innovation and excellent support for spinning-out startups thanks to the growing St. Louis entrepreneurship ecosystem.

= Strategy #1: Expose Students to Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Inspire them to Learn More =

The first step to a student's education in innovation and entrepreneurship is to introduce them to these ideas and encourage them to learn more. Programs may facilitate this discovery process.

== Tactic #1: Create an Entrepreneur Speaker Series to Educate and Inspire ==

'''Description:'''

Missouri S&T's campus has the potential to support a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship; however, the lack of student and faculty exposure to such thoughts and attitudes prevents its growth. The creation of a startup speaker series hosting entrepreneurs, investors, founders of social benefit organizations, entrepreneurship support organizations, and others seeks to spark conversations among students and faculty about innovation and entrepreneurship.

 S&T's entrepreneurship club, TIES, will host the "Spark Speaker Series" for the first time in the Spring 2015 semester. At this time eight speakers have been confirmed, with more in the works. This is enough to host a speaker at least every other week, with the ultimate goal being to host one every week. Ultimately, it is desirable to further expand the series into a 1 credit-hour seminar that any student could enroll in.

'''Team Lead:''' Josh Jetter

'''Milestones:'''

Phase 1: Bi-weekly or weekly speaker series hosted by TIES. Run through the Spring 2015 semester. Expand to reach at least 50 students per event.

Phase 2: Transition into a 1 credit-hour seminar available to all students. Enroll at least 100 students in the Fall 2015 offering of the class.

== Tactic #2: Create a 1000 Pitches Style Event to Engage Students ==

'''Description:'''

Expose and engage students of all backgrounds in the creativity and innovation process. Have them craft a simple pitch about their idea and then feed them into more developed innovation and entrepreneurship programs. This would be an instance of [https://1000pitches.com/ this program].

'''Team Lead:'''

None at this time (this is a future program).

'''Milestones:'''

Fall 2015: Introduce program, reach at least 100 students

Spring 2016: Expand program to at least 250 students

Fall 2016: Engage at least 500 students

== Tactic #3: Increase Visibility of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Activities ==

'''Description:'''

An important part of facilitating the growth of any movement is to celebrate its successes. Increasing the visibility of all activities related to innovation and entrepreneurship helps to establish a common mindset and culture.

This is a first step to establishing early engagement with students, faculty, administration, alumni, and industry partners. Execution of this would center around producing PR materials such as blog posts, press releases, news articles, newsletters, etc. covering successes from activities such as the Innovation Fellows programs, the Pathways to Innovation program, research commercialization, I-Corps related activities, student and/or alumni run startups, and others.

Ideally hosting these materials on a website or mobile application. 

'''Team Lead:'''

Tim Buesking

'''Milestones:'''

Step 1: Collect all pertinent and available resources on and available to campus such as scholarships, application deadlines, activities and any other relevant information for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. 

Step 2:  Meet with IT and administration to try convince them to host the website on the university website.

Step 3: Develop mobile application and website containing the information collected in Step 1.

Step 4: Maintain and regularly update the apps.

 

== Tactic #4: Create I&E Opening Week Workshop  ==

'''Description:'''

Research has revealed Missouri S&T has numerous I&E resources, but the engagement of the right students interested in I&E takes longer than it should. The need to quickly connect and inform students about I&E resources at S&T spurred the mission to create an I&E centered workshop.

Missouri S&T supports incoming freshmen through a week-long orientation program called Opening Week before fall semester classes begin. Opening Week is designed to help in the three-pronged attack of orientation, transition, and retention of new students. Each student's Opening Week is structured around an academic workshop like math review or chemistry lab safety, or other non-academic workshops like Leadership or financial literacy. The students pick a workshop from the ~6 options available in the months leading up to Opening Week at their initial Orientation (PRO) Day. The introduction of a new I&E centered workshop will quickly bridge the gap between students and resources for them, inroduce like-minded students to each other, and will build up a pool of I&E champions on campus. 

'''Team Leads:'''

Cori Hatley & Eric Fallon

'''Milestones:'''

Fall 2015 (Completed): Develop general structure & curriculum to be approved by Director of New Student Programs by November, recruit future project stakeholders, create branding efforts to be implemented primarily in the spring

Spring 2016: Refine workshop structure, decide on leaders of workshop who will execute mission in August, recruit incoming freshmen to sign up for workshop through PRO days

Fall 2016: Implement workshop during 2016 Opening Week, collect student feedback, reassess and adjust for future implementation

= Strategy #2: Establish Opportunities to Build Skills in Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Creativity =

Missouri S&T has extensive opportunities to build technology, engineering, and limited business skills through experiential learning programs such as its student design teams. Opportunities dedicated specificially to building the "soft skills" critical to the execution of all real-world ventures are more lacking. Key areas that need to be addressed in the context of innovation and entrepreneurship include communications, marketing, and branding; customer discovery and lean startup methodologies; creative problem solving and innovationg methods; and many others. In addition to be directly applicable to innovation and entrepreneurship, these skills also make students highly desirable employees for existing companies.

== Tactic #1: Creation of a Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Minor ==

'''Description:'''

Students have limited opportunities to build skills important to innovation and entrepreneurship in the academic setting. The creation of a Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship minor would allow students of all degree programs to build these skills. Proposed courses that would count towards the minor (some existing and some new; not all required to obtain minor):

*'''Domain Exploration and Innovation Methods''' - Explore the different methods and concepts of problem definition and ideation. Material will focus on the first step of innovation and encourages students to adopt a mindset that looks for solvable problems. 
*'''Skill Development for Entrepreneurs''' - A little bit of everything - being a founder requires wearing many hats, often at the same time. This course will offer an intensive introduction to many of the key skills you will need to understand including: programming, project management, CAD, machining, Circuit Board Design, asking questions, negotiation, listening, and more.
*'''Advanced Domain Exploration and Innovation Methods''' - Study the second and third steps of innovation: blueprinting and assessing ideas. Students will explore 5-10 disparate domains, look for solvable problems, and create and assess solutions. Entering the class with a 'founding team' of 2-5 other students is recommended.
*'''Interpersonal Dynamics '''- Explore the boundaries of group dynamics, methods of creating lasting relationships, and the dynamics of communication in various situations.
*'''Lean LaunchPad and Agile Methods''' - Study agile methods of business creation through the Lean Launchpad model. Entrance into the class requires a 'founding team' of 2-5 students prepared to tackle a problem and create a company. Work will require intensive customer interviews and "getting out of the classroom" to learn.
*'''Technical Entrepreneur Development''' - Offers an opportunity for students to further engage the Lean Launchpad model and develop their business model.
*'''Mentoring Technical Innovation''' - True understanding comes when you can teach something yourself. Mentor a team through Lean Launchpad & Agile Methods, and perfect your knowledge of agile project management.

'''Team Lead: '''Dr. Bonnie Bachmann and Ian Lee

Milestones:

Students are currently taking these courses and are on target to receive the first minor by 2016.

== Tactic #2: Encourage Participation in StartUp Weekends, Hackathons, and Similar Activities ==

Description:

Team Lead:

Milestones:

= Strategy #3: Provide Students with Opportunities to Experiment and Test New Ideas =

Once students have an interest in innovation and have built the necessary skills, it is important to allow them experiment with and test out their new ideas. Programs and resources should facilitate their creative problem solving processes, customer discover, and prototype development.

== Tactic #1: Create a Student Creativity/Ideation/Maker Space == '''Description:''' Once students have built skills and interest in innovation and entrepreneurship, it is necessary to facilitate the growth of their ideas, and assist them in establishing product-market fit. A creativity, ideation, and maker space provides students with a location to work with one another to identify, develop, and prototype innovative solutions to real-world problems. This is an important prerequisite before the formation and execution of a formal commercial or not-for-profit venture. At this point, the following requirements have been identified for the space: *Student accessible 24/7 *In a central, highly visible location on campus *Infrastructure in place for facilitating creative problem solving and group conversation **Whiteboards and/or Flipcharts **Multimedia equipment (sound, projector/TV, etc.) **Adaptable furniture (rearrangeable seating and tables) *Infrastructure in place for basic prototyping **3D printer **3D scanner *Presence of an "idea wall" for engaging public in creativity and innovation *TV screen with calendar of upcoming I&E events '''Team Lead:''' Josh Jetter, Ian Lee, Cori Hatley, Mary Paleo, John Schoeberle, Spencer Vogel

'''Milestones:''' Phase 1: Create a space immediately by renovating an existing space

*'''End of October 2015''': Identify a viable location for space

*'''End of December 2015''': Finish raising funds and have complete design/definition of this iteration of the space Phase 2: Create a permanent space

== Tactic #2: Provide Access to Prototyping Resources through the Creation of the SDELC Student Innovation Team ==

'''Description:'''

The Student Design and Experiential Learning Center (SDELC) provides students with 24/7 access to a machine shop, welding lab, electronics lab, composites lab, general fabrication space, and a computer lab. These facilities have traditionally been reserved for the use of teams competing in design competitions, however, it is a resource that could easily be made accessible to students building prototypes for their innovations as well.

'''Team Lead:'''

Josh Jetter, Chris Ramsey, Eric Anderson

'''Milestones:'''

March 2015: Finish Proposal for "Student Innovation Team"

May 2015: Have "Student Innovation Team" Accepted into SDELC

= Strategy #4: Facilitate Student Pursuit of Startup Activities within the University Context =

Once students have validated their ideas through experimentation, it is necessary to provide them with the resources to pursue commercialization and execution.

== Tactic #1: Grow Business Incubator and Accelerator Resources ==

'''Description:'''

Expand Student Business Incubator (SBI) offering to include more mentorship, opportunities for networking, opportunities for seed funding, and additional training and specialized resources.

'''Team Lead:'''

None at this time

'''Milestones:'''

To be determined.

= Startegy #5: Encourage Research Commercialization =

== Tactic #1: Obtain I-Corps Site Designation ==

'''Description:'''

An NSF I-Corps Site designation would provide additional opportunities for research commercialization by Missouri S&T.

'''Team Lead:'''

Dr. Bonnie Bachmann

'''Milestones:'''

June 2015: I-Corps Site Proposal Submitted

== Tactic #2: Foster a Culture of Entrepreneurship among Gradudate Students and Faculty ==

'''Description:''' TBD

'''Team Lead:''' TBD

'''Milestones:''' TBD

= Strategy #6: Establish Program Continuity =

== Tactic #1: Establish a Champion for Development of Entrepreneurship Programs ==

'''Description:'''

A central point of contact for the development of entrepreneurship programs at S&T would assist in provide clear long-term direction. One possible solution is the creation of a dean or provost of entrepreneurship or a similar position.

'''Team Lead:''' TBD

'''Milestones:''' TBD

== Tactic #2: Establish Entrepreneur in Residence Positions ==

'''Description:'''

Create Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) position(s) in each college of academic department. This will facilitate the development of an entrepreneurial culture among students and faculty as well as build industry connections necessary for research commercialization.

'''Team Lead:''' TBD

'''Milestones:''' TBD

== Tactic #3: Identify and Train Future Change-Makers ==

'''Description:'''

Develop future entrepreneurship champions (faculty, EIRs, administrators, and students (esp. for the UIF program)) to continue the development of these programs.

= Related Links =

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Missouri_University_of_Science_and_Technology Missouri University of Science and Technology]

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Josh_Jetter Josh Jetter]
<div>[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Cori_Hatley Cori Hatley]</div><div> </div><div>
[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Eric_Fallon Eric Fallon]

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/John_Schoeberle John Schoebrle]

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Spencer_Vogel Spencer Vogel]

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Tim_Buesking Tim Buesking]

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Tyler_Jenkins#Related_Links Tyler Jenkins]
</div> 
[[Category:Pages with broken file links|Pages_with_broken_file_links]] [[Category:Student Priorities|m]]

Resource:How to Establish Relations With Faculty to Promote Innovation On Your Campus

2016-02-18T21:12:55Z

Connorwolk:

= Introduction =

Creating, maintaining, and acting on relationships with faculty at your school are all essential elements to building an innovative campus. This article builds on an interview conducted with Howard University student Attiyah Lanier, and her experience with developing long lasting and constructive relationships with faculty that have helped her make her campus more receptive to innovation in many ways. Below you will find tips and tricks on how to establish these types of connections with professors and mentors in a university setting.

''Note: It’s really helpful to have an idea of what you want to do on campus when you reach out to faculty. Nothing is more exciting that working with a woman/man on a mission - that’s you!''

= Why a Prof? =

Reaching out to faculty - often professors - is a great initial step to start implementing innovation related efforts on your campus. Say you want to start a business incubator, create a pop-up class, or create a mentorship program, in all of these cases, working with a professor can make the process of starting something on your campus more efficient and noteworthy. The reasons for this might not be obvious, and maybe you’re thinking that starting something on campus might be easier by simply gathering some motivated friends. Through talking with Attiyah, we realized that working with faculty is often a great - even better - first step than diving in with a few buddies. The reasons for this are many:

<ol style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">
<li>You see many professors regularly!</li>
<li>Professors are waiting to hear from students like you - it’s their job.</li>
<li>Your professors may be able to connect you with other motivated, like minded students.</li>
<li>Your professors can also connect you with campus resources and administration that you may not be aware of.</li>
</ol>

= Step 1: Choose Wisely =

If you are interested in promoting innovation on your campus, it’s important that you pick someone who is receptive to your ideas. This may seem obvious, but often it helps to dig a little further into a professor’s background to understand if they can be the most effective partner to promote innovation on your campus. Often times, professors may be willing to help, but may not have a depth of knowledge in the areas of entrepreneurship, innovation, and design, so their help may only be able to get so far. You are in it for a relationship - the long haul. So do some snooping, or, even better, ask the professor themselves! From our discussion with Attiyah, professors with the potential for great relationship building in the innovation sector often:

<ul style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">
<li>Have professional experience in design, entrepreneurship, and/or innovation. Did they have a startup? Did they work for a design firm? If so, they might be a great connection!</li>
<li>Understand how to work with diverse teams and people from all walks of life. Chances are, to get special things like business incubators and curricula built, you will all be working with special people.</li>
<li>Have a track record of good interaction with students. Ask your friends. And your friends’ friends.</li>
<li>Can make some time for another side project. Some innovative profs are awesome, but simply have too little time to effectively help you.</li>
<li>Understand that failure is a very real option. If you fail at whatever it is you are trying to do, this person should stick with you as you try again.</li>
</ul>

= Step 2: Initiate Contact =

This is the easy part… say hello! It’s easy to forget that professors and administrators are just normal human beings like you. Granted, they have different jobs, and access to resources that you intend to use, but a simple friendly conversation never killed anyone. Moreover, the reason why many of these people are in lecture halls and on campuses is because they enjoy helping people just like you - students. Here are some tricks for starting a conversation with a faculty member that you want to get to know:

<ul style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">
<li>Talk to them after class! The lecture hall, or classroom, is a neutral space, plus they’re probably expecting someone to come to them with some question. So brighten their day by talking about innovation and being genuinely interested in what they think.</li>
<li>Send a quick email. You need to do three things: introduce yourself, introduce your idea, and ask for follow up. These should be short and sweet, and ideally an email perfectly sets up an in person meeting or a phone call. Be courteous, but also be yourself.</li>
<li>Find them at an on-campus resource center. Maybe the prof you want to talk to hangs at the writing center all the time, maybe they hang at the maker space, either way, it’s fun to catch a professor outside the classroom where they are actually being themselves.</li>
<li>Walk into their office. Office hours are usually posted online, and a quick knock on the door and a request for a few minutes is usually not denied. Make it succinct and ask for follow up though - they might have other things to get to.</li>
</ul>

= Step 3: Stay In Touch =

This is the not so easy part. It’s easy to meet once, but how about two or three times? How about regularly? If you have found a faculty member that you connect with, even a great first meeting may not be enough to keep you on their radar. Here are a few tactics for staying in touch to really solidify a faculty relationship:

<ul style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">
<li>Email them regularly with content that you are producing, or that is relevant to your relationship. People love to hear about cool stuff, and email is a low impact way to keep the fire burning.</li>
<li>Schedule recurring meetings. This is true in the business world, and holds when working with faculty - recurring meetings are often the way to go! Once it’s on both of your calendars at an agreed upon time, a simple reminder email the day before is all it takes to keep the relationship up. Don’t worry if the meetings are far apart, as long as they’re happening.</li>
<li>Hang out in the same place as your faculty. Take it from Attiyah - she hung around her profs so much that they started giving her work to do!</li>
</ul>

= Step 4: Get Things Done =

So you’ve spent all this time getting to know a really awesome faculty member, maybe they started their own company and sold it… and decided to teach, or maybe they have crazy special connections at your school that you didn’t know of. You two should hopefully be friends by now. And friends help friends out. Maybe you came to them with a crazy pie-in the sky idea, and you think that you can finally start talking about making it a reality. Maybe the two of you have schemed up a way to change your school after all of your regularly-scheduled meetings. In any case, here are a few things that you can ask a faculty member to help you with in actually implementing a change at your school. The kind of support you will need can take many forms.

<ul style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">
<li>Feedback:Your faculty member and you are now more than acquaintances, so ask them for hardball feedback on your concepts for making your campus more innovative. Good feedback is not “I like it” - hopefully you will get ideas about where to improve, and how to do it. If you both agree that the idea is ready to go, perhaps your faculty member can help you validate it by looking at a prototype, or by getting their colleagues to look at your work.</li>
<li>Contacts:You’ve pitched your idea a bajillion times to Prof. X, and now you want to pitch it to the school. Ask your faculty member if they can give you some warm email introductions to people that you think can make your project a reality. Even better than warm email introductions are great in person meetings - ask for them!</li>
<li>Funding:Unless your professor is independently wealthy (if they are, awesome, and pitch your idea to them as if they were a VC and you were a broke college student), ask them where they think you can find sources of funding. Many professors regularly write grant requests and can help demystify the mulah side of things.</li>
</ul>

= Conclusion =

And that’s it! You should now be able to go and make your campus more innovative by acquiring as many faculty besties as you can. In all seriousness, however, the faculty at your school are one of the three key resources for changing your academic environment, along with other students like you, and administrators - so reach out to them and get them on board with the UIF mindset!

Many thanks to [[Attiyah Lanier|Attiyah Lanier]] for her insight.

Written + Researched by [[Marc Bouchet|Marc Bouchet]], [http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Ben_Ferguson Ben Ferguson], Quintcey Parrish, and [[Connor_Wolk|Connor Wolk]]

[[Category:Learn]]

Fellow:Tyler Jenkins

2016-02-18T21:07:51Z

Connorwolk:

Tyler Jenkins is from Ozark, Missouri where he attenend the local high school, Ozark High. After graduating from Ozark High School, he went on to study at the Missouri University of Science and Technology were he is currently a junior working on attaining his Bachelor's Degree in Information Systems and Technology. He is currently the Public Division Lead Officer, is working on organizing a Bowling Club for the school, and spent 3 semesters on a local Residence Hall committee. His interests include innnovation, helping others have fun, and bowling. 

If you wish to conntact Tyler, you can do so by emailing him at: jenkins.tyler.r@gmail.com

or connecting with him on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-jenkins-0b3370106 here]
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</ul>

== Related Links ==

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Missouri_University_of_Science_and_Technology Missouri University of Science and Technology ]

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Missouri_University_of_Science_and_Technology_Priorities#Tactic_.234:_Create_I.26E_Opening_Week_Workshop.C2.A0 Missouri University of Science and Technology Priorities]

Fellows

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Tyler_Jenkins Tyler Jenkins]

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/User:Mark_Raymond_Jr. Mark Raymond]

[[Connor Wolk|Connor Wolk]]

Kathrine Ramsay

Fellow:Connor Wolk

2016-02-18T21:07:15Z

Connorwolk:

Connor Wolk is from Chesterfield, MO where he attended Lafayette High School. Upon graduating in 2012, he went on to the Missouri University of Science and Technology where he began working towards a degree in Engineering Management.  Currently in his senior year, he has become a change agent for innovation and entrepreneurship on campus. 

Connor found an interest in entrepreneurship during his freshman year after creating a 3D-printed customizable iPhone case. He co-founded the company, obtained an angel investment, and filed for patent protection on the design. He has since gone on to start two more companies.

On campus, he has been equally involved. Connor founded the Missouri S&T Photo Club during his freshman year. At the same time, he was chosen to participate in the Chancellor’s Leadership Academy, helping him develop leadership and networking skills. He also became actively involved in the Technical Innovators and Entrepreneurs Society (TIES) where he now serves as President. Connor was selected by the Chancellor as the only student representative on the Missouri S&T Innovation Team, granting money to accelerate the development of innovative ideas on campus.

He enjoys photography, adrenaline sports, and improving his fraternity through the role of Recruitment Chairman.

You can contact Connor by email at: [mailto:connorwolk@yahoo.com connorwolk@yahoo.com]

You can also connect with him on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/connorwolk here].

== Related Links ==

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Missouri_University_of_Science_and_Technology Missouri University of Science and Technology ]

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Missouri_University_of_Science_and_Technology_Priorities#Tactic_.234:_Create_I.26E_Opening_Week_Workshop.C2.A0 Missouri University of Science and Technology Priorities]

Fellows

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Tyler_Jenkins Tyler Jenkins]

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/User:Mark_Raymond_Jr. Mark Raymond]

'''Connor Wolk'''

Kathrine Ramsay

[[Category:Student Contributors|Student_Contributors]]

Fellow:Connor Wolk

2016-02-18T21:06:42Z

Connorwolk:

Connor Wolk is from Chesterfield, MO where he attended Lafayette High School. Upon graduating in 2012, he went on to the Missouri University of Science and Technology where he began working towards a degree in Engineering Management.  Currently in his senior year, he has become a change agent for innovation and entrepreneurship on campus. 

Connor found an interest in entrepreneurship during his freshman year after creating a 3D-printed customizable iPhone case. He co-founded the company, obtained an angel investment, and filed for patent protection on the design. He has since gone on to start two more companies.

On campus, he has been equally involved. Connor founded the Missouri S&T Photo Club during his freshman year. At the same time, he was chosen to participate in the Chancellor’s Leadership Academy, helping him develop leadership and networking skills. He also became actively involved in the Technical Innovators and Entrepreneurs Society (TIES) where he now serves as President. Connor was selected by the Chancellor as the only student representative on the Missouri S&T Innovation Team, granting money to accelerate the development of innovative ideas on campus.

He enjoys photography, adrenaline sports, and improving his fraternity through the role of Recruitment Chairman.

You can contact Connor by email at: [mailto:connorwolk@yahoo.com connorwolk@yahoo.com]

You can also connect with him on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/connorwolk here].

== Related Links ==

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Missouri_University_of_Science_and_Technology Missouri University of Sceince and Technology ]

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Missouri_University_of_Science_and_Technology_Priorities#Tactic_.234:_Create_I.26E_Opening_Week_Workshop.C2.A0 Missouri University of Sceince and Technology Priorities]

Fellows

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Tyler_Jenkins Tyler Jenkins]

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/User:Mark_Raymond_Jr. Mark Raymond]

'''Connor Wolk'''

Kathrine Ramsay

[[Category:Student Contributors|Student_Contributors]]

Fellow:Tyler Jenkins

2016-02-18T21:04:58Z

Connorwolk:

Tyler Jenkins is from Ozark, Missouri where he attenend the local high school, Ozark High. After graduating from Ozark High School, he went on to study at the Missouri University of Science and Technology were he is currently a junior working on attaining his Bachelor's Degree in Information Systems and Technology. He is currently the Public Division Lead Officer, is working on organizing a Bowling Club for the school, and spent 3 semesters on a local Residence Hall committee. His interests include innnovation, helping others have fun, and bowling. 

If you wish to conntact Tyler, you can do so by emailing him at: jenkins.tyler.r@gmail.com

or connecting with him on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-jenkins-0b3370106 here]
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</ul>

== Related Links ==

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Missouri_University_of_Science_and_Technology Missouri University of Sceince and Technology ]

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Missouri_University_of_Science_and_Technology_Priorities#Tactic_.234:_Create_I.26E_Opening_Week_Workshop.C2.A0 Missouri University of Sceince and Technology Priorities]

Fellows

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Tyler_Jenkins Tyler Jenkins]

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/User:Mark_Raymond_Jr. Mark Raymond]

[[Connor_Wolk|Connor Wolk]]

Kathrine Ramsay

School:Missouri University of Science and Technology

2016-02-18T21:02:21Z

Connorwolk:

= Overview =

Missouri University of Science and Technology (also known as Missouri S&T, and formerly University of Missouri - Rolla (UMR), and originally Missouri School of Mines and Metalurgy (MSM)) is a mid-sized public university in Rolla, Missouri specializing in engineering and the sciences. The school host over 6000 undergraduates and over 2000 graduate students.

Chancellor Schrader has identified four key themes within her strategic plan for the university:
<ol style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">
<li>Inspire creative thinkers</li>
<li>Raise visibility</li>
<li>Ensure return on investment</li>
<li>Increase meaningful interaction</li>
</ol>

Each of these four themes has a variety of actionable "levers" for accomplishing the goals set out in the plan. The growth of programs in creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship will support many of these levers.

= Promoting Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship =

Missouri S&T's student entrepreneurship excels in the areas of skills building (due in large part to its extensive opportunities for skills-building). Significant improvement is possible in the areas of student discovery of innovation and entrepreneurship, the facilitation of creative thinking and experimenting with potential entrepreneurial endeavors, and the pursuit and actuallization of a real endeavor. Existing and proposed programs for support these areas for students are presented below.

== Student Design Teams ==

In recent years Missouri S&T has emphasized the concept of experiential learning among its students. Lever 1.1 of the university's strategic plan states that the university shall "require all undergraduate students to participate in some significant experiential learning activity before they graduate". These experiential learning activities have played a critical role in developing innovation and entrepreneurship skills in students (the second step, "Learn", in the landscape canvas presented below).

Traditionally experiential learning opportunities have centered around S&T's student design teams. Of the university's over 6000 undergraduates, over 800 students participated in at least one of the Student Design and Experiential Learning Center's (SDELC) fourteen student design teams in the last year. Student design teams have provided undergraduate students with opportunity to apply skills to solve real-world problems in a competitive environment. The teams are independently managed by the students, who conduct the majority of the adminstrative, business, PR, fundraising, engineering, manufacturing, and management activities of the team. The SDELC provides students with extensive 24/7 access to a machine shop, design studio, electronics lab, composites lab, welding equipment, and general fabrication space, all for design team activities. The challenging and independent nature of the design teams has foster a culture of creativity and innovation among the participating students (whether or not they realize it). Currently, the SDELC supports the following 14 teams:
<ul style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">
<li>Advanced Aero Vehicle Group (AAVG)</li>
<li>Baja SAE</li>
<li>Concrete Canoe</li>
<li>Engineers without Borders</li>
<li>Formula SAE</li>
<li>Formula SAE Electric</li>
<li>Human-Powered Vehicle</li>
<li>Hydrogen Design Solutions</li>
<li>International Genetically-Engineered Machines (iGEM)</li>
<li>Mars Rover</li>
<li>Robotics</li>
<li>Solar Car</li>
<li>Solar House</li>
<li>Steel Bridge</li>
</ul>

Missouri S&T's strength in experiential learning activities has fostered the growth of student skills in the areas of creativity and innovation; and with additional programming these skills could be translated into the development of solutions for entrepreneurial endeavors. Furthermore the pursuit of entrepreneurial activities opens up the numerous new pathways for experiential learning, critical to supporting the growth in activities mandated in Lever 1.1 of the strategic plan.

== Technical Innovators and Entrepreneurs Society ==

While Missouri S&T's strength has been building the practical skils of its students through the above activities, some programming does exist for directly supporting entrepreneurial activities. The Technical Innovators and Entrepreneurs Society (TIES) is Missouri S&T's student entrepreneurship club. TIES seeks to build a community of student entrepreneurs, support them through networking and physical resources, and introduce new students to the concepts of innovation and entrepreneurship. Traditionally this has been accomplished by hosting events such as hackathons and pitch competitions open to the general student population. Additionally, TIES members have access to resources such as 3D printers for prototyping their ideas.

In order to further support S&T's need to facilitate students' "discovery" of the concepts of innovation and entrepreneurship, TIES is launching a weekly speaker series in the Spring semester of 2015. The events will be open to the public and host a variety of successful entrepreneurs, VCs, NGOs and non-profits, and other startup founders, many of whom are S&T alumni. The event seeks to both introduce innovation and entrepreneurship to students, and inspire them to pursue their desire to learn more.

== Student Business Incubator ==

Missouri S&T's Student Business Incubator (SBI) support students in the execution of startup companies. The SBI provides them with free office space and some advisory resources. The program is managed by the university's Technology Transfer and Economic Development Office.

== Innovation @ S&T ==

Missouri S&T in recent years has started this program with the ultimate goal of fostering innovation and entrepreneurship on campus by providing funding to proposed ventures. A grand total of $300,000 has been set aside for this specific program. Groups interested in making a difference on campus are encouraged to apply and sumbit a proposal. Some prior submitted proposals which have also been approved include Maker Spaces for students, orientation week workshops focused on innovation and entrepreneurial skills, and even funding for UIF canidates from S&T. More information can be found [http://innovate.mst.edu/ here].

== IDE MakerSpace ==

In an effort to augment facilities already on campus, 2015 and 2016 UIF canidates have successfully campaigned for the creation of a campus makerspace. The makerspace will house design and mechanical tools for testing and validating prototypes. Students can "collide" or socialize ideas, build prototypes, with facultly and staff. Sophisticated 3D fabrication utilities will also be housed here, along with more common tools for sawing, sanding, etc. The space can be linked to curriculum and programs for knowledege creation ultimately translating to technical skill building.

== Innovation and Entrepreneurship Minor ==
<div> </div>

= Encouraging Faculty Innovation and Entrepreneurship =

The growth of programs supporting faculty engagement in the areas of innovation and entrepreneurship would support multiple areas of the strategic plan, most notably "1.2 Foster innovation and creativity for faculty, staff, students, and administration." The majority of existing faculty activities in innovation and entrepeneurship have focused on the licensing of research technology to third-party industry collaborators. This activity has been encouraged and facilitated by the university's Technology Transfer Office.

A recent push for faculty participation in the NSF I-Corps program has identified the unversity's latent potential for direct research commercialization. The pursuit of an I-Corps Site designation would open numerous new avenues for faculty engagement in innovation and entrepreneurship programs.

In general, additional programs educating faculty in the areas of innovation and entrepreneurship and those fostering the growth of an entrepreneurial culture are essential to the development of the university's latent research potential.

= University Technology Transfer =

As mentioned in the previous section, technology transfer at the university has typically taken the form of the licensing of research technology to third-party industry partners. Faculty-run startups, though supported by the Technology Transfer Office (often through STTR and SBIR programs), are quite rare in comparison to third-party licensing.

= Facilitating University-Industry Collaboration =

University-industry collaboration is perhaps another one of S&T's greatest strengths. The majority of the university's advancement efforts are supported by industry collaborators who assist the university in identifying the real-world needs of its students and faculty. Extensive collaboration exists in the university's numerous research centers and labs, student design and research activities, and student career development activities. These extensive university-industry collaborations support the extensive technology licensing activities described in the previous section.

= Engaging with Regional and Local Economic Development Efforts =

St. Louis is the nearest major metropolitan center to Rolla, and in recent years has seen the development of a rapdily growing entrepreneurship community. The creation of numerous business incubators and accelerators (T-REX, CIC, Cortex, etc.), funding sources (Arch Grants, Capital Innovators, Cultivation Capital, etc.), mentoring groups (ITEN, etc.), and other resources has lead to the growth of hundreds of new startups in the past few years.

These extensive regional resources provide the best opportunities for the spinning-out of commercial entities from university activities. The connections between university innovation and entrepreneurship programs and these regional organizations need to be matured to sustain successful, scalable commercialization activities.

= The Landscape Canvas =

The landscape canvas presented below summarizes Missouri S&T's existing and proposed programs and resources for supporting entrepreneurship and innovation. These entities are organized into five phases of the pursuit of these activities: ''Discovery, Learning, Experiment, Pursue, and Spin-Out''. It is clear that S&T's experiential learning activities along with an array of I&E themed courses have led to a mature learning phase, and St. Louis's expanding ecosystem has created strong opportunities for spinning-out new startups. All five categories can be improved and refined in their options, but S&T could stand to improve the most in the areas of discovering innovation and entrepreneurship, facilitating the experimentation of potential startup problem domains and solutions, and the active pursuit and execution of startup activities in the university context.

[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Dyn6f6gm8tQjFOffg_LHwwlqXSFbWk72DXdLTdsmZvk/edit#gid=0 Fall 2015 Landscape Canvas]

[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VDdMxBhf1BB_Kef-wGjhB5WuQk_HWXzpmZqtwtKd2oM/edit#gid=0 Spring 2015 Landscape Canvas]

[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fPzF3RecDsKW0mGsfub1az881LIWMoLZIhV1Wdk-6rE/edit#gid=0 Spring 2016 Landscape Canvas]

= Related Links =

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Josh_Jetter Josh Jetter]- Spring 2015 UIF

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Cori_Hatley Cori Hatley]- Fall 2015 UIF Candidate

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Eric_Fallon Eric Fallon]- Fall 2015 UIF Candidate

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/John_Schoeberle John Schoebrle]- Fall 2015 UIF Candidate

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Spencer_Vogel Spencer Vogel]- Fall 2015 UIF Candidate

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Tim_Buesking Tim Buesking]- Fall 2015 UIF Candidate

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/User:Mark_Raymond_Jr. Mark Raymond Jr.]- Spring 2016 UIF Candidate

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Tyler_Jenkins Tyler Jenkins]- Spring 2016 UIF Candidate

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Connor_Wolk Connor Wolk]- Spring 2016 UIF Candidate

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Missouri_University_of_Science_and_Technology_Priorities Missouri S&T Student Priorities ]

[[Category:Universities]]

File:Connor Wolk.jpg

2016-02-18T20:57:45Z

Connorwolk:

Fellow:Connor Wolk

2016-02-18T20:54:56Z

Connorwolk:

Fellow:Connor Wolk

2016-02-18T20:54:25Z

Connorwolk:

Fellow:Connor Wolk

2016-02-18T20:47:47Z

Connorwolk: Created page with "Connor Wolk is from Chesterfield, MO where he attended Lafayette High School. Upon graduating in 2012, he went on to the Missouri University of Science and Technology where he..."