= Overview<span style="font-size:x-large;">Strategy #1: <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap; line-height: 1.15; background-color: transparent;">Create collisions amongst entrepreneurial minded students and the general population amongst all disciplines, in order to organically spread innovation, collaboration, creativity, and entrepreneurship.</span><br/span> =
= The University of Pittsburgh is a well-known leader in innovation within the fields of engineering and medical research. Translational research and entrepreneurship exist primarily at the institutional level. Many organizations exist, like the Institute of Entrepreneurial Excellence, to give budding entrepreneurs the needed resources and inspiration to proceed from ideation to market. In the last 20 years alone, such programs have created more than 800 startups and 7,000 jobs in the Pittsburgh area. Between the sheer amount of research conducted and available seed funding (Coulter Program for bioengineering devices, other VC connections through Institute of Entrepreneurial Excellence) Innovation and Entrepreneurship needs only to be catalyzed to take off, since all necessary ingredients are in abundance at the University of Pittsburgh. However, there is a huge gap on campus between these institutions and undergraduate students. Most students are unaware of PantherlabWorks (a commercialization accelerator) and do not know that the university offers patent and IP counseling through the Office of Technology Management/Office of Enterprise Development. At present, these institutions mainly serve graduate students and faculty. Fortunately, administrators are beginning to take a strong interest in university-facilitated patent development and product realization for undergraduate students. Professors from the Industrial Engineering department will soon introduce a product realization certificate to span all majors and the chemical engineering department has recently revamped its sophomore and junior year curriculum to more intently convey design principles. The mechanical engineering department, too, has been steadily increasing the focus on sustainability and marketability in undergraduate design classes, as in ‘MEMS 0024: Intro to Mechanical Engineering Design.’ Still, it is clear that there is more work to be done. In many other disciplines, serious project management/design courses are not mandatory until senior year. Further, freshman students are NEVER formally exposed to the opportunities of product development for engineers. The best opportunities for undergrads to get involved in projects are in extracurricular clubs. Engineers for Sustainable Medical Development (ESMD), Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW), and Engineers Without Borders (EWB) are three of the strongest organizations on campus for completing actual projects with significant impact in local and global communities. We seek to expand upon and merge into a community, the values and practices of these groups. Two gaps we seek to bridge as UI Fellows are as follows: #Inspire and Forge Project Teams (applied/realized value)#*Connect product ideas that have market value with teams capable of producing them. Provide access to funding and guidance for these teams. #Provide an incubator space (applied/realized value)#*Allow such teams to function effectively and provide the necessary inspiration/motivation to get undergraduates interested in I&E.#Increase awareness of I&E on campus#*TEDx Event#*Creativity Wall#*1000 Pitches#*Club of Clubs#Change Curriculum#*First Year Classes#*Provide an interdisciplinary entrepreneurship class#*Give credit to entrepreneurs <br/> {{#Widget:Prezis|id=_sto8qf_0vcs}} = = Calling all Students = = Entrepreneurship and Innovation Academic Year Challenge *Where: Benedum Hall, Room TBD *When: November 19th, 2013*RSVP: TBD =
= Strategy #1: Inspire and Forge Project Teams =
==
Following are an array of strategies that will fully address Gap #1 over a 2-3 year period:
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== Tactic #1: Create Advisory Board/Panel to Promote I&E ==
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• Description: Students in the Pitt Business school are currently looking to launch an entrepreneurship club- one that would connect mixed groups of students to form cohesive teams (engineering, business, law, etc. students) and validate market potential. In partnering with this effort, an advisory board for I&E would seek out possible projects and give them to an able team. It would be the goal of such a board to find the need on campus for different products, looking for possible ideas in extracurricular clubs, professors, and perhaps, industry. These projects would be assigned to a team that applies with a plan to complete them, and they would be guided to the IP resources on campus and eventually to the proper contacts in the Business school for marketing advice.
• Milestones: [A set of bullets that characterize the work that would likely need to be executed, along with mm/yy]
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== Tactic #2: Host Seminars/Grand Challenges to Educate/Inspire ==
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• Description: Professors in the Engineering Education Resource Center (EERC), are in the process of applying for a grant to host seminars and challenge sessions for next semester. As Innovation Fellows, we have been given the opportunity to help plan these events and hope to use them to foster support (especially at the freshman/sophomore level) for the movement. Current seminar ideas include: Dinner with entrepreneurs, microGrant challenge, skill seminars.
• Milestones: [A set of bullets that characterize the work that would likely need to be executed, along with mm/yy]
==
= Strategy #2: Provide an Incubator Space =
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Following are an array of strategies that will fully address Gap #2 over a 2-3 year period:
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= <span style="font-size: large;">Tactic #1: Find and Create a Space</span> =
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• Description: If students are now coming up with ideas or being given projects, they will need a space to work in. Also, a design room provides inspiration and success stories to work with. With UC-Berkeley and other successful UI incubator spaces as a model, this design room would serve as a hub for students interested in getting involved with projects and competitions.
• Milestones: [A set of bullets that characterize the work that would likely need to be executed, along with mm/yy]
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== <span style="font-size: large;">Tactic #2: Technical Skills Sessions</span> ==
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• Description: Often, young students need to learn some basic skills before they are ready to take on a design project. One way to do this would be skills seminars in the design room that include 3D CAD drawing, arduinos, etc. Also, it may be conducive to get students to apply for machine room certification so that they can work safely in the shop when their design has reached that stage.
• Milestones: [A set of bullets that characterize the work that would likely need to be executed, along with mm/yy]
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== Tactic #3: Host Design Competitions ==
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• Description: Another way to inspire students is to actually host design competitions in the incubator space. This could mean finding a competition through “mindsumo.com” or facilitating the completion of a project for entry in a local competition like the Randall Big Idea Competition. A winner in one of these competitions is very likely to attract many other students to the space.
Milestones: [A set of bullets that characterize the work that would likely need to be executed, along with mm/yy]
==
= Strategy #3: Increase awareness of I&E on campus =
== Tactic #1: TEDx Event ==
==
• Description: University of Pittsburgh currently has lectures about various subjects with key speakers through Pitt Program Council. Most of these events are sold out and students have to line up to get tickets. Adding a TEDx events will connect students to interdisciplinary opportunities and start them in design thinking. • Team Leader: TBD
Milestones: Apply for TEDx event license, Invite speakers, Reserve event space, Advertise the event on campus, and Hold the TEDx event
==
== Tactic #2: Creativity Wall ==
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• Description: In the engineering building, there are already many white boards on the wall to increase innovation, talk about upcoming events, and have challenges or problems presented. If they could use one of the walls that gets the most traffic and pose an open ended question, students could add to the ideas and come up with new ways to solve it. This could also be put on the outside of classrooms so that students write on it before entering a class. If they also added more whiteboards in the Business and Arts and Sciences buildings, they could pose the same question that week that was posed in the Engineering building and see how other students approach this. Team Leader: Student TBD
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== Tactic #3: 1000 Pitches ==
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• Description: Currently, Pitt students are starting 1000 pitches on campus. They are using this platform to encourage innovation and design thinking, and allowing everyone to feel creative and innovative. This should continue on campus to add to awareness on campus.
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= Strategy #4: Change Curriculum =
== Tactic #1: First Year Classes ==
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• Description: Students at each of the schools at University of Pittsburgh are required to take an introductory class their freshman year. We could incorporate design thinking or innovation and entrepreneurship into the curriculum.
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== Tactic #2: Provide an Interdisciplinary Entrepreneurship Class ==
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• Description: Currently, Pitt has entrepreneurship and design thinking classes in all three schools. However, each class is only allowed to be taken by students from their respective schools. Pitt should add a course that allows students to take a class about innovation, design thinking and entrepreneurship that is open to all disciplines. That would allow students to see how to approach these problems from various viewpoints and will lead them to more creative thinking due to the interdisciplinary collaboration.
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== Tactic #3: Give credit to entrepreneurs ==
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• Description: Pitt offers credit to students with internships and research on campus. Pitt could apply the same thing to entrepreneurial ventures which would allow students to manage their time more effectively because their projects would go back to school credit.
==
= Strategy #5: Startup Pitt =
== <div>Innovation cannot thrive in a bubble. Entrepreneurship is up-and-coming in Pittsburgh, and it’s important that undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Pittsburgh are exposed to this awesome movement. Ian is experiencing the entrepreneurial drive first-hand. Regardless of the value of his bioengineering degree, Ian pondered dropping out of school after his startup was admitted into the Alphalab Gear Accelerator program. Ian has feet in both realms: one in the University, one in the community. At the University, Ian is watching groups of students practicing design thinking, innovation, and entrepreneurship, all which are valuable skills for those involved in startups. These students are driven and searching to use what they learn in the classroom on real-world projects. On the other side, Ian is (somewhat firsthand) witnessing the need for startups to hire interns with engineering, design, and business experience. In fact, Ian worked as an intern with his project to further the technological and business development before the thought of commercialization occurred. Why can’t other interns help young startups succeed?</div><div><br/></div><div>Startup Pitt is a smaller-scale model of Venture for America, a program that places recent college graduates in startups throughout the country. VFA Fellows have been instrumental in building businesses and helping startups succeed. Likewise, Startup Pitt interns will help Pittsburgh startups become successful while earning salary and a valuable internship experience. Of course, Startup Pitt keeps to it’s title: starting-up Pittsburgh as a center of entrepreneurship.</div><div><br/></div> ==
== Program Specifics ==
== <div>The Startup Pitt process may be compared to an engineering cooperative-education (co-op) program, an educational program that places engineering students in an established company or engineering firm. A co-op student works for three semesters -- one full year -- with a schedule negotiated between the employer and student. A student may alternate between work and school semesters; work in the fall, assume classes in the spring, work in the summer, assume classes in the fall, etc. On the other hand, a company may want a student to work for a year through, during which time the student would not return to classes. There are subjective benefits and disadvantages to each schedule setup that vary with students and courses of studies. However, a co-op trumps a traditional internship in that a student maintains full-time student status during the co-op semesters. Full-time student status permits a student to reside in on-campus dormitories and receive all the stipulations of being a student. A co-op student does not pay tuition unless she enrolls in night classes.</div><div><br/></div><div>Startup Pitt provides a flexible hiring duration for startups and for students who are looking for an internship. While a co-op is expected to work for three semesters, the Startup Pitt program adapts to the needs of the intern and the startup to satisfy both parties. For example, if a startup can only hire a student for one semester, Startup Pitt may provide an intern who appreciates the short-term work experience that will not delay graduation. Furthermore, Startup Pitt provides internships to not only engineering students, but also business students, students of design, and students who possess skillsets desired by a Pittsburgh startup. Startup Pitt allows a more flexible internship duration.</div><div><br/></div><div>Finances hinder a startup’s ability to hire appropriate help. The Startup Pitt program acknowledges that startups may want to hire an intern but may not be able to afford an intern. Startup Pitt works with departments and organizations at the University of Pittsburgh as well as the supporters of Pittsburgh incubators to subsidize the pay for an intern. In this manner, a startup receives extra help to grow a business without the concern of paying an intern, and an intern receives pay while gaining valuable work experience.</div><div><br/></div> ==
== Timeline ==
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All objectives and tasks in the timeline are subject to change.
==
=== Customer discovery (March 2015) ===
== <div>Identify the needs of students at the University of Pittsburgh. Student groups include engineering students, business students, and those involved in I&E activities. Channels to reach students include department and program coordinators, seminars, and student / faculty organizations. Survey questions include</div>
*Would you (students) be interested in working for a startup?
*How important is maintaining your full-time student status?
*If at all, how much could you afford to pay a Startup Pitt intern?
*If the Startup Pitt inter’s pay was subsidized through the University of Pittsburgh and/or your accelerator/incubator, would you be more likely to hire a Startup Pitt intern?
<div><br/></div> ==
=== Prototype financial infrastructure (April 2015) ===
== <div>Coordinate with the University of Pittsburgh Innovation Institute, the Swanson School of Engineering, the College of Business Administration, and the investor networks who support Pittsburgh incubators/accelerators to assess the potential of subsidizing a Startup Pitt’s hourly pay. Establish the value of Startup Pitt with each supporter, and evaluate how much each supporter is willing to contribute to a Startup Pitt intern. </div><div><br/></div> ==
=== Future tasks ===
==
*Discuss program with University of Pittsburgh administration. Investigate potential of maintaining full-time student status during employment (May 2015)
*Formulate a faculty and student committee to evaluate student applications (June 2015)
<div><br/></div> ==
= Impact =
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= Related Links =
==
[http://universityinnovation.org/University%20of%20Pittsburgh University of Pittsburgh]
[[Category:Student Priorities|Student_Priorities]]
== = <span style="font-size:x-large;">Strategy #2: <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap; line-height: 1.15; background-color: transparent;">Establish an entity on campus where any student with a creative idea can get all the resources needed to become the entrepreneur they want to be, and test, launch, and grow their business.</span></span> = *<span style="font-size:medium;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-da252547-3e51-fe16-5a47-3e298a047409"><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"><u>Tactic 1</u>: </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Test, iterate, and scale</span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">MadX Labs, JMU’s first seed stage startup accelerator.</span></span></span><ul style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><li><span style="font-size:medium;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-da252547-3e51-fe16-5a47-3e298a047409"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">MadX Labs aims to serve JMU’s most talented student founders, giving them the best of both worlds by leveraging the resources of an entire University and its network. We give young entrepreneurs at JMU the opportunity to experience a traditional accelerator program; with the mentorship, training, office space, and funding they need in order to test, launch, and grow their business – while maintaining a status as a student.</span></span></span><ul style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><li><span style="font-size:medium;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-da252547-3e51-fe16-5a47-3e298a047409"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">University-wide, students are encourage to apply to MadX Labs startup accelerator two times a year in the beginning of each semester during “The Madison Challenge”, and if selected as winners they enter into the 12-week program and receive the mentorship, office space, and funding. After the 12 weeks, the program culminates in a Demo Day, where they will have the opportunity to pitch an invite only audience of JMU investors</span></span></span> **<span id="docs-internal-guid-da252547-3e54-00c5-b2f3-11357e140163"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">January 2015 - Launch</span></span> **<span id="docs-internal-guid-da252547-3e54-00c5-b2f3-11357e140163"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">April 2015 - Close of Program - Demo Day</span></span> **<span id="docs-internal-guid-da252547-3e54-00c5-b2f3-11357e140163"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">September 2015 - University Wide Launch</span></span> **<span id="docs-internal-guid-da252547-3e54-00c5-b2f3-11357e140163"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">December 2015 - Close of Program</span></span></li></li> <div><br/></div>= <span style="font-size:x-large;">Strategy #3: <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap; line-height: 1.15; background-color: transparent;">Provide opportunities for students to become introduced to entrepreneurship and recognize their potential to become entrepreneurs at an early point in their collegiate careers.</span></span> = *<span id="docs-internal-guid-da252547-3e56-1cb1-09e4-6120e97e78bf"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u>Tactic 1</u>: </span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Establish several “test courses” that can provide administration with an example of how a pattern of entrepreneurial and innovative courses in the General Education Program can lead to escalating forms of venture creation.</span></span> **<span id="docs-internal-guid-da252547-3e57-513a-f93e-3777b2a3b41e"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">February 2015: Initial interviews with students and General Education Council members.</span></span> *<span id="docs-internal-guid-da252547-3e57-513a-f93e-3777b2a3b41e"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">April 2015: Discovery and ideation. Explore what other schools are doing to introduce I&E earlier in their curriculum. Develop a series of courses in several clusters that could be implemented.</span></span> *<span id="docs-internal-guid-da252547-3e57-513a-f93e-3777b2a3b41e"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May 2015: Proposal of I&E beta courses to the General Education Council.</span></span> *<span id="docs-internal-guid-da252547-3e57-513a-f93e-3777b2a3b41e"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">August 2015: Organization and strategic planning for kick-start of program courses in spring.</span></span> *<span id="docs-internal-guid-da252547-3e57-513a-f93e-3777b2a3b41e"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">January 2015: Implementation of courses into the curriculum.</span></span>*<span id="docs-internal-guid-da252547-3e56-1cb1-09e4-6120e97e78bf"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tactic 2:</span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Start a four to five week ideation and entrepreneurship summer program for incoming freshmen and rising sophomores. This apply-for and optional course would not only fuel the entrepreneur mindset for these underclassmen early in their college career but it would also help mix students and provide infrastructure for a network of collaborators. The program would be open to all majors.</span></span> *<span id="docs-internal-guid-da252547-3e56-1cb1-09e4-6120e97e78bf"><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tactic 3:</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pamphlets and brief informational speech about I&E opportunities/resources at freshmen year orientation.</span></span> *<span id="docs-internal-guid-da252547-3e56-1cb1-09e4-6120e97e78bf"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tactic 4: </span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Establish a Residential Learning Community for Entrepreneurshi</span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">p. Students who participate in a Residential Learning Community get the unique opportunity to live and take classes with a small group of students who share similar interests. This helps students to be fully immersed in the topic of the RLC. 9 of these already exist on campus, and the Entrepreneurship RLC is already in the works through some members of Society of Entrepreneurs.</span></span><div><br/></div> = Strategy #4: Integrate Entrepreneurial Courses into Curriculum<br/> = Currently the BME Department requres undergraduate engineeing to complete 19 credits of General Education. None of the Entreprenurial courses offered by the business school are listed as allowed electives. Giving student the opportunity to take these courese without delaying graduation to do so will greatly increase engineering participation. (Project Lead - Ana Hertz) *Meet with Department Chair to discuss current Elective Options (2-28-15)*Review ABET, University, or any other accretidation requirements (3-31-15)*Propose specific courses to be added to list of accepted BME general electives (4-15-15)**May include ENTR 2000,3100,3200,4400*Target Implementation Fall 2015 = Strategy #5: Impementation to the other Engineering Colleges<br/> = If Strategies 1, 3, or 4 prove to be successfull in the Biomedical Engineering Department, Extend these changes to the other engineering departments *Long term - Target Fall 2016 or beyond as needed = Strategy #6 (legacy): Potential Stage - Expand Student Organization: I-Envision <br/> = == Tactic #1: Add New Board Members From Other Departments.<br/> == Description: Currently, I-Envision is the largest student organization of entrepreneurship in JPEC. However, I-Envision are mostly run by students from College of Business. A cross functional team will be able to promote entrepreneurship to further to other departments. Also, representatives from multiple departments will facilitate the organization of events across campus. Team leader: Steven Hensley and Chen Cui Milestones: One board member from each of STEM majors, medicine, and liberal arts, who is in charge of arranging all entrepreneurial events at his/her department. Feb., 2014 == Tactic #2: Organize Speaker Events/Workshops at each Department. == Description: A viable way of increasing non business majors’ engagement is to bring the event to specific departments. Meanwhile, it is effective to invite alumni or previous student entrepreneurs from those departments. Team leader: All new board members Milestones: Hold at least one event at each of STEM, medicine and liberal art buildings. Recruit 5-10 new members to I-Envision each semester. Time: Speaker events at STEM departments Feb 2014 = Strategy #7 (legacy): Applied Stage - Restructure Current Courses <br/> = == Tactic #1: Add Entrepreneurial Session to Courses, such as Senior Project Design and Software Development. == Description: It is very important to equip students who are currently involved in innovative projects with basic entrepreneurial knowledge. Many project results are left cold once the course is over, while many of them are a good start for entrepreneurship. A possible solution is to add a few sessions during the project meetings that inform students the options they have regarding their project results. Also provide them with necessary channels for startup resources. Team leader: Engineering faculty Milestone: *Added entrepreneurial sessions Spring 2014 *More design projects can be turned into viable business plan. Summer 2014 = Strategy #8 (legacy): Applied Stage - Add New Activities Targeting STEM Students<span style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4444446563721px; line-height: 22.2222232818604px;"> </span><br/> = == Tactic #1: Add a New Chapter of Google Developer Group at University of Iowa == Description: To provide a platform for STEM students to exchange ideas of and participate the latest technology innovation. Team Leader: Chen Cui Milestone: 1. Hold a GDG DevFest, including keynote speaker, hack-a-thon, code labs and more. March 2014 <span style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4444446563721px; line-height: 22.2222232818604px;">2. Assist student team successfully to be accepted by Google Summer Code Program. </span> Summer 2014<div><br/></div>Google Summer Code: [https://developers.google.com/open-source/soc/ https://developers.google.com/open-source/soc/] Google Developer Group: [https://developers.google.com/ https://developers.google.com/] = Impact = {{#widget:Google Spreadsheet|key=0AgHBY23xvE2CdDh3M1EtTFI3RDNDX2M3azlQLWpFeEE|width=800|height=250}} {{#widget:Google Form|key=1HLOST9buMax5SMty9JvY24nwZn1GkW56LXXO2tdMSjQ|width=1400|height=1400}} = Related Links = [http://universityinnovation.org/Chen%20Cui Chen Cui] [http://universityinnovation.org/University%20of%20Iowa University of Iowa] [[Category:Student Priorities|Student_Priorities]]