School:Boise State University
Contents
Overview
Photo credit: John Kelly of Boise State Photographic
Boise is one of the fastest growing cities in the United States and consistently ranks in Forbes' top 10 cities for careers and families. Boise State University serves about 21,000 undergraduates and 3,000 graduate students. Engineering enrollment has grown by 75%, to 2,847 students, over the past five years. Key partners include Micron Technology, a top 5 semiconductor company with headquarters in Boise, NASA, and Idaho National Laboratories. Recently, Boise became home to the business incubator, Trailhead, as well as annual speaking events including TedX, Ignite Boise, and the Ethos Project. New initiatives at Boise State University include the Venture College, which has launched 17 revenue-generating businesses, the College of Innovation and Design, a MakerLab, and the New Product Development Lab, and a $25M Center for Materials Research.
Student Entrepreneurship
Business launched through the Venture College include: *Vivid Roots sells apparel and water bottles. A portion of each sale provides potable water to people in need. *txtENGAGE provide customer relationship and marketing platforms. *Gratis Huminatarian Aid Network distributes medical supplies to remote regions in Eastern and Central Africa. *Adventure Data provides real-time avalanche data monitoring for outdoor safety. *Whitney Hansen provides financial consulting with a focus on student debt. The Idaho Entrepreneur Challenge awards over $100,000 annually in seed funding to student entrepreneurs. Previous winners include: *MotoTrax designs, manufactures, and sells "snowbikes", a dirtbike/snowmobile crossover *TimeStage provides staining and imaging technology for microscopes that improves diagnosis and research related to infectious diseases. *TriBiz provides a targeted advertising service restaurants. *Vivid Roots sells apparel and water bottles. A portion of each sale provides potable water to people in need.
Faculty Entrepreneurship
- Dr. Peter Mullner specializes in shape-memory alloys. He recently launched a startup to commercialize solid-state electronic devices based on these materials.
- Dr. Yanliang Zhang completed successful prototypes of a thermoelectric device designed to replace alternators in cars. This work, funded by a Department of Energy grant, should improve fuel economy by 10-15%. Hyundai (or Honda?) is currently working to commercialize this device.
- Dr. Kevin Learned co-founded Idaho's first commercial software company and its first angel investment group.
- Ed Zimmer served as the CEO of ECCO Group as it grew from 20 employees to over 500 employees with plants in Boise, England, and Australia.
University-Industry Collaboration
- The Scalable Nanomanufacturing Grant, led by Dr. Will Hughes, partners Boise State University with Harvard University and Micron Technologies. This project investigates applications for DNA nanotechnology in the semiconductor industry.
- A year-long Senior Design course partners senior engineering students with an industry sponsor to gain practical industry experience. Partners include: Micron Technology, Clearwater Analytics, Hewlett Packard, Cradlepoint Technology, and Idaho Power, among others.
- The Boise State Computer Science Department has moved into a new building downtown, which they will share with local tech company Clearwater Analytics, among others. This move positions Boise State Computer Science students and faculty within close proximity to the growing number of tech startups located in downtown Boise.
University Technology Transfer Office
Boise State and the greater Boise area has a number of resources which can help with technology transfer, accessing startup resources such as space and mentorship, venture capital firms, and angel investors. The Office of Technology Transfer at Boise State supports research activities, and manages industry relations, as well as the commercialization of intellectual property. The Venture College is a resource provided by the College of Innovation and Design which offers student led startups space to run their business from, as well as access to an extensive mentor network and help with finding funding, as well as providing help and information with copyright and other intellectual property. A similar program offered by the College of Business and Economics is the Strategic Growth Capital Partnership. The University of Idaho also offers a free service to help students patent their ideas and inventions for free, offering legal advice and help with researching similar and existing patents. Boise State also offers graduate classes in grant writing. Boise Angel Alliance and Loon Creek Capital are both resources to connect startups with angel investors, simplifying the process of getting seed funding.
Local and Regional Development
Boise’s innovation ecosystem is rapidly expanding. JUMP is a new building in Boise meant to facilitate connections and networking in Boise. is an Urban Meeting Space funded by the J.R. Simplot foundation. This building operates as a nonprofit meeting space meant to facilitate curiosity, creativity, and playfulness for people of all ages. JUMP is a recourse for connection building within the Boise community.
Trailhead is a Boise based space for entrepreneurs that offers space to work and a connection to resources. This resource is not free, but Boise State has connection to Trailhead Board of Directors and they can help Boise State Student get connected to resources and mentors in the area.
Boise Angel Alliance’s mission is to advance opportunity, empowerment, and innovation through strategic investment. Entrepreneurs pitch business ideas for a chance to earn investments and funding for their ventures.
Boise Network of Executive Women focuses on empowering young professionals, typically in the hopes of generating healthy working ecosystems for women.
Below are Facts about Boise State University’s Economic Impact
- Employment: BSU employs more than 3,000 Idaho residents directly and another 2,000 indirectly. Wages and salary, in total, are $113M Spending: students spend $195M annually on living expenses in Idaho
- Out-of-state students spend another $17M annually BSU purchasing, construction, and employee spending is ~$325M annually Service: 2,000 students across 30 departments contribute ~52,000 hours to 80 community organizations through the service-learning program Alumni: 70% of Boise State alumni remain in Idaho, working and paying taxes
- Idaho residents with at least a bachelor's degree earn double the wages of those without one. Alumni have an unemployment rate that is about 1/3 of that of the workforce with only a high school diploma Alumni have an estimated $903M economic impact on the state annually Funding: BSU receives 22% of its revenue from state appropriations, and attracts an additional $250M of revenue from private sources Apparel: apparel generates ~$11M in sales for retailers Research: BSU attracts more than $37M in research awards, 80% of which are from federal sources
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Previous Cohorts
Spring 2016
Fall 2016
Spring 2017
Category: Universities
