Changes

We seek to expand upon and merge into a community, the values and practices of these groups.  Two gaps we seek to bridge as UI Fellows are as follows:

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Entrepreneurship and Innovation Academic Year Challenge

*RSVP: TBD

Following are an array of strategies that will fully address Gap #1 over a 2-3 year period:

•&nbsp;&nbsp; Description: Students in the Pitt Business school are currently looking to launch an entrepreneurship club- one that would connect mixed groups of students to form cohesive teams (engineering, business, law, etc. students) and validate market potential.&nbsp; In partnering with this effort, an advisory board for I&E would seek out possible projects and give them to an able team.&nbsp; It would be the goal of such a board to find the need on campus for different products, looking for possible ideas in extracurricular clubs, professors, and perhaps, industry.&nbsp; These projects would be assigned to a team that applies with a plan to complete them, and they would be guided to the IP resources on campus and eventually to the proper contacts in the Business school for marketing advice. &nbsp; &nbsp;

•&nbsp;&nbsp; Milestones: [A set of bullets that characterize the work that would likely need to be executed, along with mm/yy]

•&nbsp;&nbsp; Description: Professors in the Engineering Education Resource Center (EERC), are in the process of applying for a grant to host seminars and challenge sessions for next semester.&nbsp; As Innovation Fellows, we have been given the opportunity to help plan these events and hope to use them to foster support (especially at the freshman/sophomore level) for the movement.&nbsp; Current seminar ideas include: Dinner with entrepreneurs, microGrant challenge, skill seminars.&nbsp;

•&nbsp;&nbsp; Milestones: [A set of bullets that characterize the work that would likely need to be executed, along with mm/yy]

Following are an array of strategies that will fully address Gap #2 over a 2-3 year period:

•&nbsp;&nbsp; Description:&nbsp; If students are now coming up with ideas or being given projects, they will need a space to work in.&nbsp; Also, a design room provides inspiration and success stories to work with.&nbsp; With UC-Berkeley and other successful UI incubator spaces as a model, this design room would serve as a hub for students interested in getting involved with projects and competitions.&nbsp;

•&nbsp;&nbsp; Team Leader: TBD

•&nbsp;&nbsp; Description: Often, young students need to learn some basic skills before they are ready to take on a design project.&nbsp; One way to do this would be skills seminars in the design room that include 3D CAD drawing, arduinos, etc.&nbsp; Also, it may be conducive to get students to apply for machine room certification so that they can work safely in the shop when their design has reached that stage.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;

•&nbsp;&nbsp; Milestones: [A set of bullets that characterize the work that would likely need to be executed, along with mm/yy]

•&nbsp;&nbsp; Description: Another way to inspire students is to actually host design competitions in the incubator space.&nbsp; This could mean finding a competition through “mindsumo.com” or facilitating the completion of a project for entry in a local competition like the Randall Big Idea Competition.&nbsp; A winner in one of these competitions is very likely to attract many other students to the space.

Milestones: [A set of bullets that characterize the work that would likely need to be executed, along with mm/yy]