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University Innovation Fellows

School:Binghamton University

Contents

Overview

 
Binghamton-university-sign.jpg
Binghamton University, primarily known for being a research-based institution, is a public university located in Vestal, New York. It is home to 13,632  undergraduate and 3,660 graduate students coming from a total of 44 states and 114 different countries. The university consists of 7 different schools including - but not limited to - Harpur College of Arts and Sciences, the Decker School of Nursing, the School of Management, etc. strongly pushing entrepreneurship. After years of development and planning, the infrastructure is in place to allow startups to thrive.  Student engagement with these resources is low, relatively speaking. Pushing more students towards the university’s infrastructure is a cornerstone to not only the office of innovation’s mission but also the office of the president. Being one of the most cost effective educations in the northeast is pushing more qualified students into the school but somehow they are not filtering into the entrepreneurship track as well as they could be.


Promoting Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship

There are myriad efforts to grow innovation and entrepreneurship on campus. As a result of the world-wide shift towards experiential and hands-on learning, Binghamton has also increased their efforts in this regard. In the classroom, dedicated courses such as ENT 280A: Innovation Scholars, ENT 460: Entrepreneurship, ENT 480B: Business Plan Development, as well as UNIV 280F: Introduction to Entrepreneurship, UNIV 280D: Global Entrepreneurship, and UNIV 280G: Social Entrepreneurship give students both the theory and practice needed to bring new ideas to life. Outside the classroom, spaces like the Makers Lab, Computer-Aided Engineering Laboratory, and Innovation Lab provide students with the tools and environments to experiment, prototype, and collaborate.

Student-led organizations such as Entrepreneur Connect further foster peer-to-peer learning, networking, and mentorship. Meanwhile, competitive and experiential programs, including the EC Pitch It Competition, the New York Business Plan Competition, the Inclusive Innovation Internship (I³), and The HATCH Internship Program, challenge students to apply their knowledge in real-world contexts, preparing them to lead and innovate beyond campus. Binghamton has continued their partnerships with the The Koffman Incubator to invigorate students and provide resources and assistance for various ventures.

Despite the presence of increasing resources on campus, many students do not take part in them; this is probably the result of poor advertising and lack of easy ways to find such resources.

Encouraging Faculty Innovation and Entrepreneurship

The faculty at Binghamton will often engage with their students in conversation about innovation and entrepreneurship, however, they typically will not initiate the conversation. Rather, they will follow students and engage when students want to further their own ideas or learn more on the subject. Moreover, despite Binghamton's status as a research university, much of the research is allocated in the social and technological sciences as showcased during the annual Research Days.From a student perspective, the presence of innovation and entrepreneurship is low on campus. Through conversations with students and a lack of course offerings, many students do not feel proactive or thoroughly interested in starting their own ventures or start-ups. They also worry about not having the support or guidance to succeed in their startup ventures. This is something that fellows hope to change.

Actively Supporting the University Tech Transfer Function

As a young university, there have not been long-standing efforts or funding to provide the services of tech transfer, however, the university has made changes in recent years.

The presence of incubators, venture accelerators, and bootcamps have become more popular, as a result of recent economic efforts in our part of New York state. Within the university, there have been efforts to make this change, with hope of inspiring change that exceeds the campus. Such efforts involve programs like New Energy New York, Small Business Development Center, EXCEED Internship Program, Digital Platform Accelerator, and ChargeUp Accelerator spearheaded by the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Partnerships Department which provide external mentorship and seed funding opportunities for economic and technological change.

Facilitating University-Industry Collaboration

In the most recent years, the university has made great strides to collaborate with the surrounding areas, particularly in various industries. Their greatest effort has been in the creation of their Innovative Technology Center, an extremely advanced building, which serves as a home and incubator for technological, scientific, and entrepreneurial partnership. The center is a smart-building, with self-sustaining technologies. Additionally, all students have access to the expansive building. The ITC provides a home to research for scientific disciplines and is the new home to the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Partnerships Office. In 2017, The Koffman Incubator was created in Downtown Binghamton, with offices, high-tech wet labs, dry labs, and co-working areas to further support collaboration. Since large industries like IBM left the Southern Tier area, economic production and income has been low. This new pursuit seeks to join together various forces and connect them, allowing for greater partnership. The university has done a fantastic job in the last couple of years in providing open spaces for industry-university dialogue and cooperation. Further, there have been captial partnerships with the university, including Start-Up NY, the Binghamton Incubator, as well as the New York Business Plan Competition. All of these organizations seek to inspire local inhabitants to make real change in our area.

Engaging With Regional and Local Economic Development Efforts

Most students on campus are not heavily involved with the surrounding community, as entreprenurship resources are underutilized. Additionally, there exists a "bubble" around the university; most students are unaware of the food desert and detriments of gentrification. Most citizens of Binghamton are driven out of their housing as a result of spiking rental rates, because students can afford to pay more. Despite these negative circumstances, there are gradual changes being made.

Many students are unaware of the economic situation of the surrounding area; additionally, they do not know how to engage with the surrounding community. Despite having several resources in which the community can be engaged, they are underutilized. Our [1]Entrepreneurship and Innovation Partnerships and Center for Civic Engagement seek to connect the university to the surrounding area. Recently, the first year program, Emerging Leaders Program also brings students together to form Knowledge Communities, such as Business and Entrepreneurship, to create service-learning projects and interact with the local community, too. Our economic programs have grown substantially in the past few years with the Koffman Incubator creating over 68 startups, 818 in jobs, and $663M in economic impact.

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