School:Villanova University

Student Entrepreneurship

Students are active inside and outside of the classroom when it comes to advancing their sense of entrepreneurship. Formally, Villanova offers two minor programs, and a certificate program for sophomores in entrepreneurship. A common minor for engineers is Engineering Entrepreneuship. This minor incorporates technology into a curriculum which gives students the basic tools they need to create and develop a marketable product. Students in this course start with the basics of product ideation and follow a sequence that brings them through the final steps of marketing their product and securing their intellectual property.

For business and arts students, Entrepreneurship is available as a minor and geared towards teaching students the business fundamentals involved in a starting your own venture. This minor pays special tribute to the significance employers place on intrapreneurial ability regardless of position in the company. These classes encourage Villanovans to think creatively and hone in on entrepreneurial skills such as creativity and innovation even within any organization. Another popular option amongst business and arts students is the ICE CaPS certificate program for sophomores. This programs lets students meet with mentors, chat with CFOs of start-ups, and collaborate with other students, creating a very hands-on curriculum that enhances their entrepreneurial abilities.

Beyond these for-credit opportunities, there are a number of on extra-curricular displays of student entrepreneurship. Villanova held its second annual TEDx in the fall of 2013 and it was a great success. A number of short speeches given by students, graduates and faculty members revolving around the theme of “Create, Innovate, Inspire” were astoundingly thought-and-conversation provoking. Between conferences, as is customary with TED events, the inspired audience was able to network and connect.

The Villanova Student Entrepreneurship Competition provides a more hands-on approach to entrepreneurial education. This student-only competition focused on making the world a better place was founded in 2009 by graduate engineering students Ronald Warzoha and Timothy Montalbano, and it operates with the Beyond Ideas: The Art of Entrepreneurship group (See Faculty Entrepreneurship). The competition allows students to showcase ideas by pitching them initially on the IdeaBounce page. This publicizes their idea and shares it with the Villanova network, helping them hunt down any resources necessary to further their idea (and can be done by anyone at any time even outside of the VSEC competition). For further stages of the competition the students pitch their idea, create a video, executive summaries, posters and financial tables to persuade a panel of judges. The top teams walk away with $10,000 total in prizes.

Another prevalent competition is the Villanova Innovation Chase. For this competition three teams of engineering students go through a preliminary round at Villanova in which they come up with a solution to a problem- last year it was an on-campus transportation problem. The students work through the process of researching, designing, prototyping and presenting their solutions to a panel of judges. The top two teams that survive this qualifier travel to the annual Chicago Innovation Chase intercollegiate-student entrepreneurship competition.

A number of these small-team oriented competitions exist on Villanova’s campus (multiple others are mentioned in the University-Industry Collaboration section). Though they allow an incredible, immersive experience for their participants, the quantity of students who can be active in them is limited. To mitigate this problem Villanova developed Imagination Quest. This is an on-campus competition that is open to all students and takes place over 24 hours. Students enter as individuals then form teams. As the name suggests, they are then sent on a “quest” to discover opportunities, develop ideas, designs, and produce a business pitch, all within the 24 hour time limit. Throughout the process, students can present to a judging panel and receive feedback from mentors. This competition lets students explore, imagine, and be creative in a very fast-paced, high energy level environment.

Beyond available courses and competitions, Villanova is also home to student-run clubs such as the Villanova Entrepreneurial Society. The Entrepreneurial Society works with existing entrepreneurship programs and tries to spread as much information as possible across campus concerning events, opportunities, speakers, etc. A large project they have taken on is the creation of a directory of Villanova community members who are involved in entrepreneurial ventures.

For students who have innovative attitudes but are interested less in the business side of entrepreneurship and more in social entrepreneurship, there are opportunities for this as well. Namely, Engineers Without Borders and Business Without Borders exist primarily as philanthropic organizations which improve the world through innovative and creative action. The Business Without Borders group was created in 2009 and has been working in Nicaragua, Kenya and the Philippines on international development projects. More locally in the Philadelphia area, the students have united with the IRS and nonprofits to help low income people with tax returns. The group is largely inspired by entrepreneur Blake Mycoskie- the founder of the for-profit company TOM’s Shoes that is famous for its non-profit subsidiary and philanthropic initiative. In the past, the group has brought him to campus to speak to students about the potential for uniting profit and social benefit.

Engineers Without Borders has a similar, global initiative. This group travels to various locations and countries to implement sustainable engineering projects. Currently, they are working with the native Embera people in Panama. The Embera village is only accessible by dugout canoe, and the villagers struggle to communicate with others because of unsophisticated electrical systems. Villanovans in the group are working on innovative solutions to bring power to the tribe and improve their communication systems.

Another group with a similar initiative is Water for Waslala. This organization is a non-profit that works to solve crises concerning accessing clean water in Waslala, Nicaragua. Not only does the student group work to find funding for solutions, but they also utilize innovative thought to create technical solutions themselves.

As a final note, a number of students are in the process of or have already brought their ideas to life using aforementioned resources combined with resources at the ICE Center. This Center for Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship at Villanova works to accelerate opportunities for students across disciplines and colleges so they can develop their entrepreneurial ability and learn from each other to become more innovative thinkers. For example, the ICE Center typically has an Entrepreneur in Residence. This is an alum (currently Eric Adams) or a member of the community, who has experience with Entrepreneurship and comes in to educate Villanovans about effective ways to engage startups.

 

Faculty Entrepreneurship

Villanova Faculty members are active participants in an entrepreneurial lifestyle, and their lasting careers as entrepreneurs inspire the students. This year Professor Edmond Dougherty, assistant professor of engineering and director of the Engineering Entrepreneurship program, was honored with the faculty Meyer ICE award. This award was created and endowed by Patrick Meyer, a 1974 graduate of the Villanova School of Business. The award is meant to recognize those who embrace an innovative, creative, and entrepreneurial spirit. Professor Dougherty embodies these traits and showed this by helping to create the Engineering Entrepreneurship minor. On campus, Dougherty is a VSEC committee member, he manages ECE Senior Capstone Projects and ECE Day, and he is a founder of the Beyond Ideas program which has let him lead student entrepreneurship teams in competitions like the Ford Contest and Innovation Chase. Outside of Villanova, Dougherty has over a dozen patents in his name, and is the president of Ablaze Development Corp, founder of Wavecam Media, and founder of August Design, LLC.

 A number of professors and faculty members, including Edmond Dougherty, collect to form the Beyond Ideas Committee. As aforementioned this committee works in tandem with the Villanova Student Entrepreneurship competition. The committee is dedicated to uniting all five of Villanova’s individual colleges through entrepreneurship related events that they hold. This allows graduate law students, engineering students, arts and sciences students, nursing students and business students to unite and use their unique talents to teach each other and collaborate. 

University Technology Transfer Functions

Villanova currently has an Office of Sponsored Research Program (OSRP) that has potential for expansion. This program helps students who are looking to patent an idea or license a product. They facilitate the process in accordance with the University policies for intellectual property, and assist in the student’s search for external resources and sponsors.

Other resources where students can connect and collaborate include the Multidisciplinary Design Lab, which has a 3D printer available, and the Machine Shop, which offers a number of machines and materials available for the development of prototypes. Also, the law school library has a meeting environment for students. Villanova plans to use KEEN Foundation grants to create an idea accelerator and a tinkerer’s lab in the future.