Project Pitch Video

Overview

Washington State University is a college that focuses on programs and opportunities in innovation for the student body. All the programs offered on the campus are focused around specific disciplines and give each student the opportunity to network within their field of interest. Even though Washington State University has limited connections due to its location, there is a strong alumni base that offers various opportunities to students.

Strategic Plan #1: Increasing Awarness in Inovation and Entrepreneurship

These opportunities already exist on campus and have the potential to shift the way WSU teaches I&E in the classroom.

Resource Nights:

Resource Nights are part of a 6-week program that offers students the chance to talk to alumni who have created start-ups. They are held in the Spring and run the first 6 weeks into the Spring semester. The speakers' backgrounds are varied and they offer valuable insight on various topics. This program is limited to students who are taking specific courses at WSU. The goal would be to open this up to all disciplines on the campus and give students within STEM programs the opportunities to gain the same knowledge.

Plan of action:

Work with the College of Business and Engineering to gain speakers and to network
Find local businesses that will support the events

Harold Frank Entreprenuership Program:

The Harold Frank Engineering Entrepreneurship Institute is made up of junior-level engineering and business students who are interested in technological entrepreneurship. The program aims to give students the tools and experiences they need to pursue their ideas. This program also promotes students to be involved on-campus and apply for the business competition offered in the spring. It focuses on creating cohesion between the college of engineering and the college of business. This program gives the students a real experience of the process of working with others with different backgrounds while getting the experience of starting a business from scratch. To be a part of this particular program, there is an application process; however, a majority of the classes in this program are offered to all students. The goal is to make students more aware of the courses within this program that available to them.

Frank Innovtion Zone:

The Frank Innovation Zone (FIZ) is the first WSU maker space intended for multidisciplinary groups. Existing in the WSU engineering building, the FIZ has several tools to help bring student ideass to life:

Collaberative tables with TV monitors
- The walls of the FIZ have large TV screens on them which allows students to hook up their labtops for group projects. This makes doing homework and other projects easier as all memebers can view what is being worked on.
Laser cutter
- The laser cutter can take CAD models and use the specified dimensions to cut out either plastic or wood to help bring student ideas to life.
Wood/Metal fabrication shop
- The wood and metal fabrication shop has many wood working tools to help shape or cut designs of various materials.
3D printing shop
- The 3D printing lab has several variations of 3D printers for plastic design
Electrical circuits shop
- The electrical circuits shop has various tools to help bring electronic designs to life. Soldering machines is one of the tools they have avaliable

Strategic Plan #2: Becoming more innovated

These plans focus on what can happen within the next year at WSU.

Pitch Workshop and Resource Awareness:

Many students at WSU have great ideas for engineering designs, potential bussineses, or interesting projects to work on. The problem, however, is that many of these students do not know how to refine their ideas or access some of the resource's we have on capmus. Our plan is to create the first WSU pitch workshop where students will have the ability to work with like minded individuals on an idea while also getting coaching fom experts in various fields. At the ptich work shops, there will be a special focus on promoting awarness for WSU resources.

TEDx:

WSU has now hosted two consecutvie TEDx's, and plan's for a third is being discussed.TEDx offers WSU the opportunity to create a community on our campus and share thoughts on innovation to inspire the next generation. The hardest part of planning a TEDx at our campus is finding speakers and sponsors, due to our campus's location. The WSU TEDx has been very successful in recruiting professors on campus to give talks about their research or ideas. However, it has lacked in bringing outside talent to talk about projects they have been working on. As the WSU TEDx moves forward, we plan to bring in people from other regions to give an additional prespective to our campus.

Priorities:Washington State University Student Priorities

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