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James Madison University
Promoting Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship
MadX Labs
- MadX Labs is JMU’s first seed stage startup investment accelerator. It aims to serve JMU’s most talented student founders by allowing them to experience a traditional accelerator program; with the mentorship, funding, and office space - while maintaining status as a student.
Society of Entrepreneurs
- The JMU Society of Entrepreneurs brings entrepreneurially minded students together. In the organization members educate each other and the JMU community on topics of interest, support each other with new ventures, and reach out to entrepreneurs in the community to help them and learn from them. The society also hosts speakers and events to educate the JMU community about different topics based around entrepreneurship. The society is application based, and therefore consists of high-caliber entrepreneurs at JMU.
Startup Studio
- Startup Studio is a rapid-pitch event hosted by the Society of Entrepreneurs semi-regularly. In the confines of two hours, students meet, split into groups, recognize a problem related to the given theme, develop a solution, and pitch their idea to the rest of the groups. This exercise helps to illustrate to students how to think with an entrepreneurial, creative problem solving mindset.
Startup Weekend
- A communal event, in Shenandoah Valley, Startup Weekend is for entrepreneurs, designers, programmers, makers, and others who want to pitch a startup idea and receive feedback from their peers. At Startup Weekend, teams organically form around the top ideas (as determined by popular vote), and then it’s a 54-hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing, and market validation. The weekend culminates with presentations in front of local entrepreneurial leaders for another opportunity for critical feedback.
Industrial Design Society of America
- The IDSA at JMU is an interdisciplinary group that meets weekly to organizes workshops, keynote speaker events, collaborative design projects, and trips to conferences. At its core, the IDSA is empowering industrial design students to make an impact on their community with their innovative design skills. Many are active in other groups that are altering campus or have personal pursuits in design and entrepreneurship. With the industrial design concentration now becoming a full major and the number of students increasing, it is becoming a more vital part of the track for industrial designers at JMU.
MadHack
- MadHack was JMU’’s first full scale hackathon,sponsored by Capital One, offering a creative and collaborative software development experience. For 24 hours students built innovative web and mobile apps, as well as hardware.
BizBlitz
- BizBlitz is JMU’s first full scale “Startup Weekend” style event. s for entrepreneurs, designers, programmers, makers, and others who want to pitch a startup idea and receive feedback from their peers. At BizBlitz, teams organically form around the top ideas (as determined by popular vote), and then it’s a 54-hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing, and market validation. The weekend culminates with presentations in front of local entrepreneurial leaders for another opportunity for critical feedback.
I.C.C.E Pitch Competition & Conference
- The I.C.C.E Pitch Competition and Conference is a high energy evening celebrating JMU Entrepreneurs and featuring: JMU Student Pitch Competition, I.C.C.E Talks, networking with alumni, faculty, and students, great food.
Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities (A2RU)
- James Madison University has been accepted as a founding member of the Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities largely for its proven reputation as an institution valuing and supporting interdisciplinary undergraduate research. JMU is one of 28 founders and the only comprehensive institution in the alliance whose aim is "to help equip students and faculty to address the world's most pressing, complex and open-ended challenges with creative confidence as well as disciplinary expertise," according to alliance documents.
ISAT Capstone Projects
- As part of the ISAT experience, every senior completes a capstone project. Working individually or in teams, students work on a problem with a real-world component, sometimes teaming with a local industry or governmental sponsor. Capstone project ideas can come from the students themselves, from faculty advisors, or from sponsors. The capstone project allows students opportunity to use the knowledge and skills they learned in ISAT to address a real-world problem, and receive valuable hands-on experience. Students are required to produce a final project report, both in written form and in the form of an oral presentation to the faculty, their student peers, and the public.
Engineering Capstone Projects
- Students work in teams under the direction of a faculty advisor to tackle an engineering design project. Engineering communication, such as reports and oral presentations are covered. We emphasize practical, hands-on experience, and integrate analytical and design skills acquired in companion senior-level core courses.
Engineers Without Borders
- Engineers Without Borders is an organization established to partner with developing communities worldwide in order to improve their quality of life. JMU EWB is open not only to Engineering majors. Our hope is to recruit students in ISAT, Health and Human Sciences, Business, and Education
Entrepreneurship RLC
- The Entrepreneurship Residential Learning Center is in the process of being developed here at JMU. Students who participate in this Residential Learning Community will have the unique opportunity to live and take classes with a small group of students who share similar interests in Entrepreneurship. The Entrepreneurship RLC is planned to be ready for the incoming class of 2019.
MBA Program in Innovation
- This two year masters program starts with the fundamentals of business before taking a deep dive into creating an invententive environment where students transform into leaders in technology. The program responds to the realization that the business world outside of the university setting is increasingly getting faster so the content of the class aligns with functional topics. While in the curriculum the student is required to take a international trip to one of three countries and gain leaderships skills through workshops. Overall, the Innovation MBA provides the graduate with a competitive advantage for approaching problems in a business setting.
Undergraduate Academic Programs in Entrepreneurship
- SCOM 480 (Rethinking, Re-envisioning, & Redesigning Environments)
- ISAT 410 (Sustainable Energy Development)
- INDU 492 (Special Topics in Industrial Design)
- MGMT 420 (Management of Technology and Innovation)
- MGMT 450 (Creativity and Innovation)
- PHYS 397 (Topics in Physics - UAV Design)
- ENGR 221 (Management of Technology I: Product Development and Entrepreneurial Engineering)
- ENGR 322 (Engineering Management II: Engineering Project Management)
- MGT 372 (Entrepreneurship)
- MGT 420 (Management of Technology and Innovation)
- MUI 440 (Entrepreneurship in the Music Industry)
- COB 300 (College of Business)
- MGT 472 (Venture Creation)
- PHYS 397 (Topics in Physics: UAV Design)
- NSG 490/ BIO 426/ ENGR 498 (Medical Innovations)
- IARC/INDU 220 (Computer Design Modeling)
- IARC 330 (Materials and Methods)
- ENGR 332 & ENGR 431 (Engineering Design)
- IARC 402 (Studio)
Encouraging Faculty Innovation and Entrepreneurship
4-Virginia
- 4-VA is a collaborative partnership between four Virginia universities. Its mission is to promote inter-university collaborations that leverage the strengths of each partner university in order to accomplish much more than any individual university could achieve alone. A large focus of 4-VA is in training professors and other faculty to implement innovative instructional technologies into their courses. Additionally, 4-VA encourages and funds multiple interdisciplinary courses that deal with innovation in the medical and engineering fields.
Engineering Advisory Board
Actively Supporting the University Technology Transfer Function
The Office of Technology Transfer
- The Office of Technology Transfer aims to promote innovation, enhance research by connecting inventors and industry, and foster economic development through protecting and commercializing intellectual property in an efficient and effective manner to benefit the University, the Shenandoah Valley, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and society as a whole.
Center for Instructional Technology
- The mission of CIT is to lead, support and advocate for the meaningful integration of appropriate technologies into the academic experience. Itsgoals are to; the faculty and the administration of emerging technologies and related issues, develop the instructional faculty's skills in the mechanics and pedagogically-sound methods of using technology in instruction, provide resources, people, equipment, money and space to help faculty create and integrate digital content into their course materials and scholarly work, engage in research and development to create new instructional technologies, and manage and support or coordinate the management and support of instructional technology delivery systems.
Society of Entrepreneurs
- The JMU Society of Entrepreneurs brings James Madison University entrepreneurially minded students together. In the organization we educate each other and the JMU community on topics of interest, support each other with new ventures, and reach out to entrepreneurs in the community to help them and learn from them. The society also hosts speakers and events to educate the JMU community about different topics based around entrepreneurship.
James Madison Innovations
- JMI is the non-profit organization that is affiliated with JMU Technology Innovation to commercialize technologies. Together, the JMI Startup Fund, a philanthropic effort to move prototypes forward and launch companies, and the Innovation Network of professionals provide dollars and managerial expertise to prove products and markets.
Facilitating University-Industry Collaboration
College Works Internship
- College Works provides undergraduate students with an opportunity to run their own painting business for a summer, with no risk to the student. They help interns develop and demonstrate a strong skillset encompassing business ethics, communication, organizational management and sales, along with a firm understanding of the mechanics of leadership in regards to running a small business.
Innovation Exchange
- This four week crash course in entrepreneurship, design thinking, and product design takes a multidisciplinary group of students to the Silicon Valley to gain inspiration and expert advice on making a start-up. With the students having a chance to talk to real world entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, they come back to Harrisonburg, VA to test out their new knowledge of forming a product idea into a full on startup. The course is taught by professors of engineering and industrial design but guest professors make a huge impact daily which help give students the feedback needed to be more successful.
Madison Business Network
- The Madison Business Network was created as the result of increasing interest in new company formation, innovation, and peer-to-peer connections throughout James Madison University and its alumni base. The nationwide network connects individuals who have innovative ideas, technologies, and strategies with people who can be of assistance. The network targets JMU faculty, staff, students, alums, and professionals in the region. The goal of the network is to encourage and promote innovation, business development, job creation, entrepreneurship, and career mentoring.
Engaging with Regional and Local Development Efforts
Small Business Development Center
- Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) provide a vast array of technical assistance to small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs. By supporting business growth, sustainability and enhancing the creation of new businesses entities, SBDCs foster local and regional economic development through job creation and retention. As a result of the no cost, extensive, one-on-one, long-term professional business advising, low-cost training and other specialized services SBDC clients receive, the program remains one of the nation’s largest small business assistance programs in the federal government.
Engaged Mentors and Entrepreneurs in Residence
- Seasoned entrepreneurs and business professionals provide expert advice to students and faculty to explore entrepreneurial career paths and develop viable businesses. Mentors speak to classes, work alongside venture teams in the Venture Creation class, regularly visit campus, and offer support long after JMU students graduate and move into their professional careers. A valuable network is emerging to connect students to startup resources and funding, job opportunities, and nationwide networks.
Landscape Canvas