Priorities:Texas A & M University Student Priorities
Contents
Overview
Texas A&M has a large innovative and entrepreneurial ecosystem. We have a variety of resources aimed at reaching both graduate and undergraduate students, as well as faculty. However, many of the more developed programs are limited to graduate students due to the fact that funds are easier spent on students that are very serious about their pursuits. Undergraduate programs are not non-existent, but simply younger and less robust. Student body awareness is an issue that plauges these newer events as well as an uncertainty of what our campus wants to develop in order to increase the I&E mentality. Knowing what students would want to attend is somewhat of a shot in the dark, hampering the development of new programs.
That being said, programs are being developed with modest success by the engineering faculty. The ultimate pathway to growth in student auidience sizes can be found in student-aided promotion and program development ( i.e. University Innovation Fellows). The Texas A&M University UIF's are devoted to allowing these new and immensly important programs to flourish. We intend to be the bridge between the faculty that have the ability to appropriate the neccessary funding and the students that have aspirations for the campus environment.
Project: Second-Tier Idea-to-Startup Support Structure
UIF Involved: Brendan Cooper
This project is aimed at developing an additional undergraduate program that helps to increase the conversion rate between ideation and startup businesses.
There exists a program within Texas A&M called Aggies Invent in which students participate in an all-inclusive innovation weekend. They are tasked with deciding on a need that requires a solution, and are then expected to diagnose the issue and develop an early stage solution. Through this avenue of creative incitement, groups and ideas are created that have genuine business potential, and could be taken to further stages of development.
Currently it is very difficult to gather the neccessary momentum to proceed into a business venture. This is because of several issues:
1) Students are unmotivated
2) School is demanding
3) Students become doubtful of their products' or their own potential
4) The group has bad chemistry/ not all members wish to continue
These are issues that need to be solved in order to effectively promote the ideas that have true merit.
Our plan is to develop a secondary event or program that comes in to re-inspire students and provided much needed guidance right before most groups face an utter demize. There are several ways to achieve this, and a multitude of events that could be hosted to make the entrepreneurial process smoother on campus.
