Priorities:UMass Lowell Student Priorities

= Overview- A Campus on the Move
= The University of Massachusetts Lowell is a top-tier research university with a full plate of offerings for innovation and entrepreneurship. The faculty and administration are eager to connect with the movement of promoting an innovative culture at the university level. Being a national research university, UMass Lowell has been evolving quite a bit in the past few years: new buildings have sprouted everywhere, classrooms are being upgraded to support a culture of learning, and centers for innovation are being built to involve as many students as possible in I&E. As well, programs and offerings have been refined over the years to adapt to our changing society. UMass Lowell's entrepenurial culture has been active since around 2011, with the DifferenceMaker Program kicking off in 2012. Since then, a wealth of programs have been started to connect students with more opportunies for entrepreneurship. The university has taken many steps to work with the City of Lowell and local companies for the greater benefit and economic development of the area. There are many programs in place that have given us a great head start, but there is more to come yet. Our strategic plan will incorporate the promotion and growth of what has already begun to grow a reputation on campus (DifferenceMaker, Hawk Hatch, and other opportunities), the development of new space, and the organization and funding for a design challenge to give students innovative and entrepreneurial experience as well as help our university's surrounding community. = 2013 Innovation Fellows = = Pitch Videos = == Kevin Desjardins == {{#Widget:Youtube|id=SkuXc0MAlsQ}} == Ana Gouveia == {{#Widget:Youtube|id=atgA6BH-4_s}} == James Abdallah == {{#Widget:Youtube|id=bOq_qfJ3AuM}} == Jacob Hulme == {{#Widget:Youtube|id=yS-M9faYKjs}} = Strategy #1: Enhance & Synergize the University I&E Ecosystem = == Club Inspire  == Club Inspire seeks to introduce students to innovation and entrepreneurship as well as connect them to campus and community resources such as ‘DifferenceMakers”, “M2D2”, “E For All”, etc. Weekly meetings will be held to expose students to an assortment of enriching experiences from innovative business model development tools and rapid prototyping exercises to guest panels and networking events. Students will be encouraged to develop ideas and solutions on an individual basis as well as to form teams in which they will combine, re-create, refine, and expand on them. We believe that this approach will engender high levels of student leadership and foster teamwork. Inspire will become an integral part of the student I&E pathway leading students from simple ideas to sustainable venture ready models. The skills learned will reflect the lean and iterative nature of the evolving economy and not only be valuable for start-ups but also in a traditional corporate environment where forward thinking, collaboration, and creativity are rapidly being adopted.

 Goals of Inspire:  *      Introduce creative problem-solving, innovation and entrepreneurship *      Identify purpose in each student's education *      Connect students to I&E resources *      Encourage student leadership *      Push for development of a Maker Space  *      Help develop new experiential activities  *      Motivate & Capture new audiences = Strategy #2: "The Mill" & Design Challenge
= The following are some ideas for plans that we want to begin out this summer & beyond ==  The Mill == *The history of Lowell has provided us with a storyline that is completely engulfed in disruptive and innovative thinking. *The Industrial Revolution began in Lowell, and the history and mills that are here remind us that they should be used as a way to inspire innovative thinking.
The concept would provide maker space: *The history of Lowell has provided us with a storyline that is completely engulfed in disruptive and innovative thinking. *The Industrial Revolution began in Lowell, and the history and mills that are here remind us that they should be used as a way to inspire innovative thinking.  *We could transform a room within a mill into a design center, with whiteboards and new tools as well as old machinery from the mill's era, to generate creativity. *We would need to find funding and space to renovate. *This would allow students to see their surrounding environment and things that they could improve and change, because it is slightly off-campus. *The goal would be to give students a more open space, where they can go to brainstorm and break things so they can potentially create more. == Design Challenge == *Description: The Design Challenge would be developed to help UMass Lowell students recognize current inefficiencies within Lowell's infrastructure.  This will not only help our current economic development of Lowell, but it will give students real-world experience moving forward. We would hopefully gain a grant to help fund this, and run multiple challenges per year. *Milestones: **Reach out to current graduate students- Fall 2013 through Spring 2014 **Formulate a list of interested graduate students- Fall 2013 through Spring 2014 **Create a forum and central space for these graduate students- Summer 2014 **Host webinar sessions on goals of the program- Summer 2014 **Re-evaluate interested graduate students- Fall 2014 **Afford benefits and rewards to committed graduate students- Fall 2014 **Generate awareness of program to other current students- Spring 2015 **Market resources- Spring 2015 **Connect undergraduate students with graduate students- Fall 2015 =
= = Strategy #3: Promote and Support Current Entrepreneurial Programs 
= The following are already on campus but need further promoting to improve our entrepreneurial mindset culture == DifferenceMaker™  Program == About DifferenceMaker™:  The DifferenceMaker™ Program sponsors specific events and activities that support students in solving big problems through innovation and entrepreneurship. The Program is highly experiential and offers students a series of workshops that they can engage in to better understand innovation, entrepreneurship and launching a startup of their interest. Their mission is as follows:

"Our goal is simple: engage students in developing sustainable solutions to real world problems. Tackling “big problems” like climate change, poverty, pollution, and hunger can prove challenging for one person, or even one organization, so DifferenceMaker works with partners to leverage experience, reach, and resources."

Students of all majors and disciplines are welcome to join this Program and make a difference at UMass Lowell, in the community, or in the world through innovative and entrepreneurial action. These DifferenceMaker™ Projects include interdisciplinary student teams from all majors and skill sets.   Goals of DifferenceMaker™:  ·      Introduce all UMass Lowell students to creative problem-solving, innovation and entrepreneurship ·      Accelerate purpose in each student's education ·      Connect current students to alumni who have experience ·      Encourage a social responsibility ethos = Related Links = [[University of Massachusetts Lowell]] University Innovation Fellows: [[Ana Gouveia]] [[James Abdallah]] [[Kevin Desjardins]] [[Jacob Hulme]] [[Category:Student Priorities|Student_Priorities]]