School:University of California Merced
Contents
Overview
The University of California, Merced is the United States’ first research university of the twenty-first century and is located in the heart of the Central Valley. Only recently founded in 2005, it’s still an adolescent campus with room for growth and new ideas as the campus grows in size. UC Merced has the innovative outlook necessary for to put into practice ambitious, forward-thinking ideas as its faculty and administration are constantly looking for new opportunities to explore to create a strong infrastructure for entrepreneurship. Innovation stems from our research labs, student run projects and organizations. As it realizes its potential, UC Merced will solve real world problems and produce innovative technologies to advance society.
Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Coursework
E&J Gallo Management Program
There is no formal emphasis, major, or minor available at UC Merced in the field of entrepreneurship. UC Merced offers a course in Entrepreneurship (MGMT 180) under the E&J Gallo Management Program which encourages students to have experience creating products, crafting business plans, and delivering pitches. Starting in Spring semester 2014, management and economics students from this program have begun collaborating with engineering students in the Capstone program. They will help Capstone groups to find ways to market their products.
Innovation and Design Clinic - Capstone
Capstone Design / Innovation Design Clinic (ME 170) is a course in which engineering students form teams and compete against each other as part of a competition.The Innovation Design Clinic, aka Capstone, is somewhat similar to the Engineering Service Learning program except the program is more structured--engineering students are placed into teams that are tasked with creating specific projects. Together they create a solution to a problem that has been designated to them by either industry or by the course. Teams are cross disciplinary in the sense that they have students from management and business backgrounds integrated into their respective team. Their work is then presented to the general public and investors at the annual Innovation to Grow Day event.