School:University of Massachusetts Lowell

The University of Massachusetts Lowell (also known as UMass Lowell or UML) is a public doctoral/research university in Lowell, Massachusetts, United States,and part of the University of Massachusetts system. With more than 1,100 faculty members and more than 16,000 students, it is the largest university in the Merrimack Valley and the second-largest public institution in the state behind UMass Amherst.</p> The university offers more than 120 degree choices, internships, bachelor’s to master’s programs and doctoral studies in the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; College of Health Sciences; College of Sciences; the Francis College of Engineering; the Graduate School of Education; and the Manning School of Business.

Overview - A Campus on the Move

UMass Lowell has been evolving in every aspect; upgraded classrooms, libraries and labs; new and renovated student living and activity spaces; and enhanced parking facilities are a few on the list of what has been updated and changed over the past decade of campus improvement.

·       University Crossing: Expected to be fully functional in 2014, this new building will host student services and activities, bookstore, dining, University police, transportation services, and senior administration offices.

·       Pulichino Tong Building: The University’s current construction project, the Tong Building will replace the now-relocated Honor’s Eames Dorm building on UMass Lowell’s North Campus and will house the entirety of the Robert J. Manning School of Business.

·       University Suites: This brand new dorm on UMass Lowell’s East campus provides housing for 472 students in four- and six-bed suites. There is a ground-floor common area with a café - Hawk's Nest - featuring fresh bakery, grab & go items and a late night Asian menu, in addition to delicious Red Mango frozen yogurt & smoothies and "We proudly serve" Starbucks Coffee. A multi-purpose room is open to the UMass Lowell community. Each residential floor has two common kitchen/lounge areas, two quiet study rooms and a group study room.

·       Riverview Suites: The other half of the two-dorm addition to UMass Lowell in 2013, Riverview Suites has either two or three bedroom  suites complete with a live-in kitchen, classroom and meeting rooms inside the building, and a gym inside the facility. The University leases the property from Soho Development, who also built the $42 million facility.

·       New Garages: In the past two years, UMass Lowell has added two large parking garages to each of its largest parking lots, greatly increasing the parking capacity for the strong commuter presence attending the school.

·       Health and Social Sciences Building: In 2013, this new criminal justice and criminology, nursing and psychology building had its grand opening. The construction of this building marked the first new construction in 30 years on the University’s South Campus, including all campuses in the University’s recent wave of evolution.

 

Since 2009, the University has also been heavily updating the existing buildings while acquiring and renovating new ones. UMass Lowell renovated the newly acquired Inn and Conference Center, added Taco Bell and Subway to the University’s dining partners, renovated the newly acquired Tsongas Center, and heavily updated their Dining Hall in the tallest UMass Lowell building, Fox Hall.

Student Entrepreneurship

Grab-A-Bite

Grab A Bite is a Social Food Network that engages users and helps increase restaurants customer traffic through marketing, ease of use and convenience that came to UMass Lowell’s DifferenceMaker program to steer the idea in the right direction. Providing online ordering, online reservations, food deals, online menus and DSC_5122easily retrievable information such as handicap accessibility and hours, Grab-a-Bite is pushing to be the biggest online food service in the market. The team is made up of Aldo Beqiraj, Denis Lemos, Andrew MacRobert and Andrew Webb.

In addition to the funds won through DifferenceMakers’ “First to Market” Idea Challenge, this team has also had a very successful crowd-funding campaign on Indiegogo that can be seen here: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/grab-a-bite

Grab-a-Bite has also been recognized by the Boston Globe and was the people choice at the Mass Innovation Foodie Night.  Most recently Founder and CEO Aldo Beqiraj presented a Grab-a-Bite pitch at UMass Lowell’s new student convocation to over 1,500 new students who texted voted and awarded Grab-a-Bite $1,500 to continue to move their project forward. The team is currently in the process of redesigning their website and mobile applications to launch themselves forward.

 

NonSpec (formerly Developing Nations Prosthetic)

Nonspec participated in the 2013 first annual DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge where they showed dedication and enthusiasm by attending each educational workshop and event throughout the process which aided in their success.  At the Idea Challenge they received the prestigious title of “The Campus Wide DifferenceMaker” and the top award of $5,000. This top prize represents the project most likely to make a significant difference in the community, region and the world.

The $5,000 award has allowed Nonspec to move their initiative forward by creating their first batch of prosthetic limbs. With a projected 15% market share in the next five years, Nonspec plans to use this market presence to launch a foundation called “Give a Hand”. The purpose of this foundation would be to spread their mission, goals, charitable cause, and products around the world in order to make a difference in developing nations.

Since Nonspec’s success at the Idea Challenge they have gained great publicity in other arenas.  They were recently named one of the top 10 semi-finalists in Entrepreneur® Magazine’s “College Entrepreneur of 2013 Contest”.  In addition, they were invited to attend The International Association of Plastics Distribution (IAPD) “Plastics Application Design Competition”, which will be held on October 2, 2013 in Miami Florida.  They will have 20 minutes to present their project to a live audience and answer any field questions that may arise. Lastly, the team was utilized as a role model by being featured in a video that was shown at all DifferenceMaker freshman orientation sessions throughout the summer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLwLg4XHrck due to their motivation and high entrepreneurial spirits.

 

Lowell Sprouts 

Lowell Sprouts is an organization focusing on providing gardening spaces on school grounds, senior centers, and the many rooftops of Lowell. Along with pushing the planting of gardens in Lowell, a focus is also put on educating the community about alternative ways gardens can be grown in urban places like Lowell, and to teach the community as a whole that crops can be grown and harvested in an urban environment. 

The team is made up of Mary Beth Burwood (Alumni), Sean Hicks (Junior in Marketing), and Christopher Horne (Junior in Economics), who came together in the DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge to win the $3,500 first place award in the Sustainable Environment category.

Following the Idea Challenge, Lowell Sprouts shifted their focus from elementary and middle school education and rooftop planting to building sustainable green roofs around Lowell. The team gathered more funding throughout the summer, including a spot on a Merrimac Valley Sandbox video. They plan to create a green Lowell presence that will educate the community on urban garden growing and help grow rooftop gardens on various buildings around Greater Lowell.

Coursework

The entrepreneurship concentration prepares students to be an "outside of the box" thinker and innovator in today's complex global economy. Using an interdisciplinary focus, students who complete the concentration will:

• Develop the management skills required to identify and launch new business ventures around innovative products, services and technologies. 
• Develop an understanding of the concepts and activities associated with entrepreneurship and innovation. 
• Understand the financial aspects of an entrepreneurial venture from start-up to "harvest". 
• Discover their individual "entrepreneurial spirit" through experiential learning in interdisciplinary classes and the College's Venture Lab.

The required courses within the Entrepreneurship concentration consist of:

1. Starting a New Venture 
2. Corporate Entrepreneurship 
3. Managing Innovation 
4. Finance for Emerging Business Enterprises

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Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

“ The Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship offers students and faculty of all disciplines the opportunity to work together to develop innovative and entrepreneurial solutions to the major problems facing our community, the region and the world. The Center hosts several programs that encourage social innovation and entrepreneurship among UMass Lowell students as well as the broader community in which we live. The DifferenceMaker program provides training, mentoring and other resources to UMass Lowell students and faculty who wish to address social, environmental and economic problems in our community. “

DifferenceMaker Program Available Resources Include:

 

•       DifferenceMaker Central

•       Large open office collaboration space equipped with Wi-Fi, 3 Mac computers, printer/copier, 2 46” LCD TV monitors with projection capabilities, 6 white boards, 10 tables with chairs all equipped with wheels that can be easily rearranged for optimal use and collaboration, refrigerator, sink, cabinet space, coffee maker and other necessary office supplies.

•       Funding Opportunities

•       Idea Challenge

•       Other competitions:

•       DCU Innovation Contest

•       FAHSS Creative Venture Competition

•       Hawk  Hatch

•       Philanthropic Crowd Funding Source

•       Grants

•       Networking

•       Connection to faculty, staff, and alumni

•       Mentors

•       Faculty Fellows and DifferenceMaker Staff

•       Events

•       Series of Educational Entrepreneurial Workshops including materials

•       Problem, Opportunity, Solution, Resources, Pitch Coaching

•       Team Building Assistance

•       TeamMaker Platform, Team Building Mixer

•       Enterprise co-op positions

Through the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, along with affiliated faculty and other campus programs, the University has introduced a range of activities that help students make a difference in the world.

About DifferenceMakers:

 

The DifferenceMaker Program sponsors specific events and activities that support students in solving big problems through innovation and entrepreneurship. The Program is highly experiential by offering students a series of workshops that they can engage in to better understand innovation, entrepreneurship and launching a start-up of their interest.

Students of all majors and disciplines are welcome to join this Program and make a difference at UMass Lowell, in the community or in the world through innovative and entrepreneurial action. These DifferenceMaker projects include interdisciplinary student teams from all majors and skill sets. 

 

Goals of DifferenceMakers:

 

·      Introduce all UMass students to creative problem solving, innovation and entrepreneurship

·      Accelerate purpose in each students education

·      Connect current students to alumni experience

·      Encourage a social responsibility ethos

DifferenceMaker Available Activities Include:

·       DifferenceMaker Central-DifferenceMaker Central was opened in May 2013.  This space is a dedicated entrepreneurial area with a vibrant start-up community atmosphere.  The space was made for all entrepreneurial teams to come together to work, brainstorm, and network. Student teams have access to flexible workstations, televisions, computers, mentors, and a dynamic meeting space to develop their ideas and collaborate amongst their teammates and fellow students.

·       DifferenceMaker Enterprise Co-op' in the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship'-Throughout each year, DifferenceMakers will hire several students from various majors to participate in paid co-op experiences. Student co-ops assist in conducting and summarizing entrepreneurial research, developing and distributing marketing materials for various center initiatives, and provide center support for faculty and innovation fellows affiliate with the center.  

·       Freshman Make A Difference Orientation – During the summer sessions, DifferenceMaker has a large presence in the Freshman Orientation days. Through the Office of Orientation, Student Activities and Leadership, and ResLife, DifferenceMaker was able to present to every attending freshman and gain exposure to all of the new students at UMass Lowell. 

·       Freshman DifferenceMaker Convocation- At the beginning of each academic year, we present DifferenceMakers to every incoming freshman at Convocation. Each year we perform a fun activity to engage students in our program.

·       Introduction to DifferenceMaker-Freshman Seminars-A series of in-class discussions in collaboration with the Manning School of Business, The Francis College of Engineering, The College of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, and The College of Health Sciences in order to introduce the DifferenceMaker Program to students of all disciplines and to inspire them to explore their passions through creative problem solving.

·       Introduction to the DifferenceMaker Program-A series of events were held on both the north and south campuses to introduce students to DifferenceMaker Program concepts, allow them to share their ideas and interests, explore possible projects and solution, and to connected with each other to form teams. These events included the DifferenceMaker Convocation Pitch, the Climate Change Teach-in, a DifferenceMaker Team Building Dinner, and others.

·       DifferenceMaker LLC – Having a presence in the student residence halls as well as the classroom is important to motivate students and discover new ideas waiting to happen. The DifferenceMaker Living/Learning Community brings new students together in the ResLife environment for innovation and brainstorming outside of the classroom.

 

·       Honors DifferenceMaker Program – In collaboration with UMass Lowell Honors Program, this concerted effort to embed elements of social entrepreneurship in our Honors Program includes coursework and community-based student efforts that have specific focus on innovation and entrepreneurial practices.

 

·       Introduction to Engineering-Extra Credit Project-This activity was a collaboration effort between the DifferenceMaker Program and The Francis College of Engineering to introduce freshman engineering majors to the DifferenceMaker Program, innovation, and entrepreneurship. In this introductory activity, the students’ innovative ideas were explored and presented in a format which would enable their projects to be candidates for both the DifferenceMaker Program Idea Challenge and Campus Catalyst program.

·       Creative Venture Competition - This contest held in October of 2013 hosted by DifferenceMaker focused on innovation from Arts, Humanities, and Social Science students. $2500 was awarded to the best entrepreneurial business a proposal, and $250 to each finalist team was also awarded.

 

·       Digital Federal Credit Union Innovation Contest – In November of 2013, DifferenceMaker along with DCU hosted an Innovation Contest focusing on banking and financial innovation in the industry. With a grand prize of $500 per team member and peripheral prizes of $100 per team member, the contest gave thousands to innovative teams and cutting edge ideas.

 

·       DifferenceMaker Reverse Pitch – This pitch event was debuted on November 19, 2013. This event was a spin off of “normal” idea challenges and hackathons. Instead of students pitching their ideas to funding sources or judges, businesses and community partners actually pitched their existing problems to a student audience in the hopes that they can develop a solution. The pitches included Merrimack Valley Housing Partnership, Lowell Telecommunications Corporation, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Lowell, Catie’s Closet and the Natick Soldier Research Development and Engineering Center. Students will be able to solve these problems and present them at the Annual IdeaChallenge for funding opportunities.

 

·       Freshman Business Class-Lego Problem Solving-This Lego activity was a collaboration effort between the DifferenceMaker Program and the Manning School of Business to introduce students to the ideation development process and problem solving method, as well as helping them strengthen their ability to work in a team. Sessions were conducted in 9 classes with over 400 students participating. Prof. Deborah Finch of the Manning School of Business led this effort.

 

·       DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge– DifferenceMaker is hosting its second annual Idea Challenge; this challenge is for student entrepreneurial teams to come up with sustainable ideas that will make some sort of impact on the world or their community. Help in the form of various workshops in the months leading up to the Idea Challenge is available, teaching students how to properly pitch their ideas and how to flesh out their business plans. There are various subcategories for each team to have a chance at winning spread out across over many different disciplines, encouraging all students to participate and welcoming all ideas.

 

·       DifferenceMaker Workshops-In preparation for the annual DifferenceMaker IdeaChallenge, we offer our students a series of educational entrepreneurial workshops throughout the spring semester.

o   Team Building Mixer

o   Identifying Problems and Opportunities

o   Developing Solutions

o   Identifying Resources

o   Rocket Pitch Coaching 

 

·       Promoting the Campus Catalyst Program-The DifferenceMaker Program works closely with the Merrimack Valley Sandbox, a community business accelerator funded by the Deshpande Foundation, in order to encourage students to generate and develop their entrepreneurial ideas. The Sandbox Campus Catalyst program provided seed funding for student social and business solutions with potential. Catalyst information was provided to students at all DifferenceMaker events. Students also received consultation when applying to the Campus Catalyst Program.  The DifferenceMaker application and Campus Catalyst application were similar in content so that unity between these programs would be maximized. CURRENT

 

·       DifferenceMaker Program Promotion-In order to promote awareness of, and participation in, DifferenceMaker activities among faculty, staff, and students, a variety of outreach materials were developed and distributed across the University. These activities included program launch events, a DifferenceMaker website, a Facebook site, a Twitter feed (UML_Difference), various posters, postcards, presentations to classrooms, workshops, office hours, email blasts, and information tables. CURRENT

 

·       TeamMaker Platform - Allows students to build their project teams by posting their project ideas and information online where they can then search for “seekers” (students interested in becoming part of a team). On the other hand, “seekers” can utilize the TeamMaker Platform by posting their project interests and skills, and seeking projects/teams to work with. This platform facilitates team formation. CURRENT

 

 

DifferenceMaker Inaugural Year Statistics

·       72 DifferenceMaker events held in inaugural year

·       3,500  students who participates in a DifferenceMaker event this past year

·       $25,000  of funds awarded to 10 IdeaChallenge finalist teams

·       1,265  freshman participating in summer rapid ideation workshops

·       112  students who participated in the First Annual IdeaChallenge

·       22  cross discipline relationships notes between students among IdeaChallenge teams

·       24  academic disciplines represented by students in the IdeaChallenge teams

 

 

First Annual DifferenceMaker IdeaChallenge Finalists

 

Campus-Wide DifferenceMaker

$5,000

Developing Nation Prosthetic
Low cost high functionality replacement limb with an acceptable amount of customization for children in other nations.

·      Katherine Cain                        Mechanical Engineering                               2013        

·      Jonathan De Alderete            Mechanical Engineering                               2013        

·      Brendan Donoghue               Mechanical Engineering, History                2013

·      Sean Gibson                           Mechanical Engineering, Business           2013

·      Olivia Keane                            Mechanical Engineering                               2013

·      Erin Keaney                             Plastics Engineering                                     2013

 

Significant Social Impact

1st Place - $3,500

Healthy Habits 
Inspire children to achieve healthier lifestyles by eating nutritious foods, exercising and being active to prevent sedentary lifestyles.

·      Jacqueline Bradley                Nursing                                                            2013

·      Meghan Hathaway                 Nursing                                                            2013

·      Katerina Kafkas                      Nursing                                                            2013

·      Nicole Leblance                     Nursing                                                            2013

·      Haley Mayne                            Nursing                                                            2013

·      Michelle Racioppi                   Nursing                                                            2013

 

2nd Place - $1,500

Bright Future Generation 
Non-Profit Organization: Mental health services addressing the needs of Rwandan youth.

·      Vanessa Colomba                 Peace and Conflict Studies                          2013

·      Steve DiPerna                         Psychology

·      Isaie Mihigo                             University of Rwanda

·      Yousef Theeb                          Business                                                         2016

 

Sustainable Environment

1st Place - $3,500

Lowell Sprouts/Lets Grow Lowell 
Uses school gardens as a way to educate middle school children about the importance of sustainable, organic agriculture.

·      Mary Beth Burwood                Psychology                                                      2012        

·      Sean Hicks                              Marketing                                                         2014

·      Christopher Horne                 Economics                                                      2014

 

2nd Place - $1,500

Hybrid Power Tricycle 
Assistive tricycle for handicap kids that utilizes pedaling power and a motor together. It also has a full support system and wireless shutoff. 

·      Anthony Capone                     Electrical Engineering                                   Masters

·      Derek Dempsey                     Electrical Engineering                                   Masters

 

Innovative Technology

1st Place - $3,500

Robotic Feeding Arm 
Produces robotic arms to assist people where debilitating circumstances inhibit them from performing daily living activities. 

·      Philip Colangelo                     Computer Engineering                                 Masters

 

2nd Place - $1,500

Notoja 
School enrichment collaboration application. It provides modules for student note-taking, book trading, as well as discussion groups.

·      Avery DeCesare                      Mathematics                                                    2016

·      Rohit Krishnan                        Electrical Engineering                                   2016

·      Eric Marcoux                            Computer Science                                         2016

·      Tanjil Mustafa                          Mechanical Engineering                               2016

·      Brian Tran                                Electrical Engineering                                   2016

 

First to Market

1st Place - $3,500 

Grab a Bite 
Social food network that engages users and helps increase restaurants customer traffic through marketing, ease of use and convenience.

·      Aldo Beqiraj                             Electrical Engineering                                   2014

·      Denis Lemos                          Computer Engineering                                 2013

·      Andrew MacRobert                 Computer Science                                         2013        

·      Andrew Webb                          Computer Science                                         2013

 

2nd Place - $1,500

III-Point Stik 
A product that gives tactile/kinesthetic feedback for both correct spinal alignment and correct breathing mechanics to demand quality movement. 

·      Ramez Antoun                        Physical Therapy                                            2013

·      Nick Bleil                                  Graphic Design                                              2012

·      Ryan Connor                           Physical Therapy                                            2013        

·      Michael Tadros                       Northeastern University Finance and Accounting

·      Robert Roufail                         Northeastern University Mechanical Engineering

 

 

 

 

Honorable Mention DifferenceMaker

$500

 U.R. Corp
Recognizes the importance of small businesses and what they do for the economies of local and national marketplaces and helps them compete with larger companies by expanding their market reach.

·      Robert Fisher                          Mechanical Engineering                               2015

 

 

DifferenceMaker Future Efforts:

 

The DifferenceMaker Program plans to continue many of the activities and events initiated in the first year of the program.  Some of these programs will be revised and they intend to launch several new initiatives, including a DifferenceMaker Passport Program, a DifferenceMaker Mentor Program and a seed grant program to encourage faculty participation in the DifferenceMaker program. They also plan to expand our collaboration with several University colleges.

 

This year they plan to increase the role of DifferenceMaker Living Learning Community students in the DifferenceMaker program by training the members to become DifferenceMaker ambassadors once they transition into their sophomore year  through weekly meetings and monthly events. The training will allow LLC members to learn more about entrepreneurship and the DifferenceMaker Program so they can promote it to student clubs and campus classes.  Once the LLC students become sophomores they will transition into a DifferenceMaker Ambassador role, and hopefully will form the nucleus of a yet-to-be-formed DifferenceMaker student club. 

 

In order to assist students to both record and encourage their participation in DifferenceMaker events, they are planning the development and implementation of a DifferenceMaker Passport Program. Consistent with the goals of the UMass Lowell DifferenceMaker Program, the Passport Program will assist students to identify, record and collect experiences meant to:

 

·      Develop individual entrepreneurial identity

·      Develop entrepreneurial skills and self-confidence

·      Develop creative and sustainable solutions to complex problems

·      Connect with the University, MV Sandbox and community entrepreneurial ecosystems

 

They anticipate that the number of students engaged in the DifferenceMaker Program and related activities will increase each year. As they encourage and reward the formation of various types of student ventures and projects, the need for mentors who can consult with student teams will increase. They plan to guide these students and track their progress through a professional Mentor Program. The UMass Lowell Mentor Program will provide a committed network of mentors with a broad set of skills and professional experiences, who can assist UMass Lowell entrepreneurs in developing the knowledge and skills, needed to grow an idea into a successful, new venture.

 

The DM UMass Lowell Mentor Program will seek to connect DifferenceMaker students with successful experienced entrepreneurs and alumnus, as well as faculty and staff.  The Mentor Program will focus on assisting students to further develop solutions as part of the DifferenceMaker Program. Mentors will provide guidance in further refining student team objectives and help them in building their entrepreneurial skillsets.

 

They are planning to offer DifferenceMaker Faculty Workshops to help faculty consider how they might engage their own students in DifferenceMaker activities through course related activities and through co-curricular activities. Our hope is that by engaging more faculty, they in turn will serve as both mentors and catalysts for students, encouraging and guiding student project selection and development. They have also observed that student teams often need support and guidance from faculty from different disciplines, these workshops and an accompanying seed grant program are meant as catalysts to encourage interdisciplinary engagement among faculty,

 

While the overarching goal of the DifferenceMaker program is to encourage UMass Lowell students to develop sustainable and entrepreneurial solutions to the challenges and opportunities they will confront in this world, they anticipate another, potentially significant impact on the University community itself. Our students will only be successful if they have the support of faculty, alumni, business and community members. During our first year of program activities, they have found these constituents to be most supportive and willing to mentor and work with our students.  Alumni are mentoring and investing in student ventures.  Faculty are working across disciplines to ensure their student teams make progress. Local profit and non-profit businesses are eager to work with student teams, providing real-world problems and opportunities for student projects. In one short year, the DifferenceMaker program has been embraced by the greater University community. Our hope and plan is to anchor this program in the curriculum and culture of the University, so all UMass Lowell students have an opportunity to make a difference in this world.

 

DifferenceMaker Contact:

 

differencemaker@uml.edu

facebook.com/differenceUML

twitter: @difference_UML

 

Commercial Venture and Intellectual Property Office (CVIP):

 

Commercial Ventures and Intellectual Property (CVIP) is responsible for the protection and commercialization of intellectual property at UMass Lowell. 

 

CVIP Mission:  

The mission of UMass Lowell’s Office of Commercial Ventures and Intellectual Property (CVIP) is to facilitate the transfer of technology arising from government, foundation and industrial sponsored university research to the private sector. They facilitate development of inventions toward commercial relevance and utility, nurture mutually beneficial and sustainable relationships between the University and industry, promote an innovative and entrepreneurial culture at the University and contribute to the economic vibrancy and well-being of the Commonwealth. CVIP’s activities enable the successful transfer of commercially viable technology from the laboratory to the marketplace for public use and benefit. 

 

 

CVIP Functions:

 
The main objectives of CVIP are:

 

·       to license patents and other protections to industry in order to promote the development of inventions toward practical application;

·       to foster a culture of innovation, facilitate commercially promising endeavors, and positively contribute to the University’s entrepreneurial ecosystem;

·       to seek new business opportunities and form productive collaborations with industry in an effort to increase research and licensing revenue to the University;

·       to generate income for inventors and the University as a whole for use in supporting further research, technology development and transfer;

·       to advocate for the research community and seek to create incentives, provide rewards and obtain resources to advance commercialization of the technologies they generate.

 

CVIP--Contact:

 

·       Jill S. Murthi, Director of CVIP by email: Jill_Murthi@uml.edu or phone: 978-934-4722

·       Rajnish Kaushik, Licensing & Business Development Manager of CVIP by email: Rajnish_Kaushik@uml.edu or phone: 978-934-4708

New Venture Initiative:

 

New Venture Initiative (NVI) is a mix of university resources and equity investment designed to provide a path to and facilitate more start-up activity at UMass Lowell.  As part of the larger Commercial Venture and Intellectual Property Office (CVIP), the NVI fund focuses on inventions, discoveries, products and services that have been developed in whole or in part at UMass Lowell, have achieved proof of concept (or an early prototype) and are ready for commercial product development, rather than those requiring further basic research.  For more information please contact Nancy Saucier, Director of New Venture Development at Nancy_Saucier@uml.edu or 978-934-3212.

 

Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2):

 

The Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2) is a lifeline for the state’s smaller medical device companies, offering inventors and executives easy, affordable, and coordinated access to world-class researchers and resources at the Lowell and Worcester campuses of the University of Massachusetts.

 

M2D2 Available Resources:

 

•9000 square feet of space on second floor including:

•       6 wet laboratory suites

•       Two office suites

•       Large open office collaboration area

•       Board room

•       Reception area

•       Break Room equipped with a table and chairs, full size refrigerator, microwave, sink, dishwasher, and coffee maker

•5000 square feet of space on first floor including:

•       Six individual offices 

•       Bright shared kitchen space equipped with a table and chairs, full size refrigerator and sink

•       One large state of the art conference room with full pull down screen, computer with web access and a projector  

•       All conference rooms contain a 46" Aquos LCD screen, as well as computer with web access and a projector

•Business and medical feasibility assessments

•Product development

•Medical and clinical pathway assistance

•Connection to additional services such as laboratory use, incubator space for start-ups and clinical trial support through the product life cycle

•SBIR and STTR research

•Access to capital

•Networking events

•New Venture Competitions

 

M2D2--Contact Us

 

Stephen McCarthy, Co-Director of M2D2 by email: Stephen_McCarthy@uml.edu or by phone: 978-934-3417

 

Merrimack Valley Sandbox (MV Sandbox)

 

The Merrimack Valley Sandbox is a project of the Deshpande Foundation, which has encouraged the use of entrepreneurship and innovation as catalysts for sustainable change in the United States, India and Canada since 1996. Deshpande supported centers including the MIT Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation, the Deshpande Center for Social Innovation in Hubli, India, the Pond-Deshpande Centre at the University of New Brunswick, and our own Merrimack Valley Sandbox at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. The MV Sandbox includes higher education partners (Middlesex Community College, Merrimack College and Northern Essex Community College) and a host of regional community and business partners.

 

MV Sandbox Mission

The mission of the MV Sandbox is to connect and strengthen the ecosystem in Lowell and Lawrence, Massachusetts, around entrepreneurship and leadership. This mission is supported by the following three principle MV Sandbox programs:

·       Catalysts-The Catalyst program provides seed funding and mentoring support to foster initiative around new ideas and programs among local high school and college students.

·       Entrepreneurship-The Entrepreneur Program is a community-wide initiative supporting entrepreneurship. More than 30 partner organizations and institutions are participating in this initiative, which gives entrepreneurs a greater chance at success through pitch contests, workshops and intensive programs. 

·       Leadership-The Sandbox Leadership Institute (SLI) offers leadership development for individuals that live, work or are interested in the communities of Lawrence and Lowell. 

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Other Organizations

Honors Ambassador Program

www.umlhonors.com

Faculty Entrepreneurship

Coming soon

Deep-Dive Questions

Coming soon

Future Efforts

Coming soon

Conclusion

Coming soon