= '''Student Entrepreneurship''' =
Coming soon'''Grab-A-Bite''' Grab A Bite is a Social Food Network that engages users and helps increase restaurants customer traffic through marketing, ease of use and convenience that came to UMass Lowell’s DifferenceMaker program to steer the idea in the right direction. Providing online ordering, online reservations, food deals, online menus and DSC_5122easily retrievable information such as handicap accessibility and hours, Grab-a-Bite is pushing to be the biggest online food service in the market. The team is made up of Aldo Beqiraj, Denis Lemos, Andrew MacRobert and Andrew Webb. In addition to the funds won through DifferenceMakers’ “First to Market” Idea Challenge, this team has also had a very successful crowd-funding campaign on Indiegogo that can be seen here: [http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/grab-a-bite http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/grab-a-bite]<br/><br/>Grab-a-Bite has also been recognized by the Boston Globe and was the people choice at the Mass Innovation Foodie Night. Most recently Founder and CEO Aldo Beqiraj presented a Grab-a-Bite pitch at UMass Lowell’s new student convocation to over 1,500 new students who texted voted and awarded Grab-a-Bite $1,500 to continue to move their project forward. The team is currently in the process of redesigning their website and mobile applications to launch themselves forward. '''NonSpec (formerly Developing Nations Prosthetic)''' Nonspec participated in the 2013 first annual DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge where they showed dedication and enthusiasm by attending each educational workshop and event throughout the process which aided in their success. At the Idea Challenge they received the prestigious title of “The Campus Wide DifferenceMaker” and the top award of $5,000. This top prize represents the project most likely to make a significant difference in the community, region and the world. The $5,000 award has allowed Nonspec to move their initiative forward by creating their first batch of prosthetic limbs. With a projected 15% market share in the next five years, Nonspec plans to use this market presence to launch a foundation called “Give a Hand”. The purpose of this foundation would be to spread their mission, goals, charitable cause, and products around the world in order to make a difference in developing nations. Since Nonspec’s success at the Idea Challenge they have gained great publicity in other arenas. They were recently named one of the top 10 semi-finalists in Entrepreneur® Magazine’s “College Entrepreneur of 2013 Contest”. In addition, they were invited to attend The International Association of Plastics Distribution (IAPD) “Plastics Application Design Competition”, which will be held on October 2, 2013 in Miami Florida. They will have 20 minutes to present their project to a live audience and answer any field questions that may arise. Lastly, the team was utilized as a role model by being featured in a video that was shown at all DifferenceMaker freshman orientation sessions throughout the summer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLwLg4XHrck due to their motivation and high entrepreneurial spirits. '''Lowell Sprouts''' Lowell Sprouts is an organization focusing on providing gardening spaces on school grounds, senior centers, and the many rooftops of Lowell. Along with pushing the planting of gardens in Lowell, a focus is also put on educating the community about alternative ways gardens can be grown in urban places like Lowell, and to teach the community as a whole that crops can be grown and harvested in an urban environment. The team is made up of Mary Beth Burwood (Alumni), Sean Hicks (Junior in Marketing), and Christopher Horne (Junior in Economics), who came together in the DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge to win the $3,500 first place award in the Sustainable Environment category. Following the Idea Challenge, Lowell Sprouts shifted their focus from elementary and middle school education and rooftop planting to building sustainable green roofs around Lowell. The team gathered more funding throughout the summer, including a spot on a Merrimac Valley Sandbox video. They plan to create a green Lowell presence that will educate the community on urban garden growing and help grow rooftop gardens on various buildings around Greater Lowell.
=== Coursework ===