THIS MONTH'S MEETING
Tuesday,
December 13, 2005
WPI, WorcesterCampus Center Odeum
Registration: 6:00 pm
Meeting: 6:30 - 9:00pm
$10.00 members
$20.00 non-members
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The Company You Keep
Did you know that, through the WPI Venture Forum, you are involved with a top-10 entrepreneurship program? Late last spring Entrepreneur.com published its rankings of collegiate entrepreneurship programs. WPI was in the top 10 in the entrepreneurship emphasis category.
WPI's very strong extra-curricular and outreach program stands at the center of our ranking. Each year, the Collaborative for Entrepreneurship & Innovation hosts two or three conferences, more than 40 workshops, five or six "Dinner with Entrepreneurs" events, course-based invention contests, an innovation contest, and a business plan contest. This is in addition to the Department of Management's minor in Entrepreneurship for engineering and science majors, four undergraduate courses, three graduate courses, plus the events that are part of the WPI Venture Forum. This year we expect to register more than 1,150 students and 2,100 non-students across all of our various activities. For a university that has only 3,700 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled, those are amazing numbers.
More important than sheer numbers is the impact of our programs. We can point to at least six businesses that have launched out of courses or contests in the past four years, and many more student entrepreneurs who launched without our assistance. Our MBA students have worked with a number of inventors inside and outside WPI to screen market opportunities and help determine market feasibility of their inventions. These experts often recommend additional development - something our students understand because most of them were educated as engineers and scientists.
In the pipeline, we have proposed a new undergraduate major in Entrepreneurship & Innovation, and a new MS in Technological Innovation & Entrepreneurship, through which we expect to have an even greater impact on the region's licensing and startup activity. Ultimately that will benefit all of you, by attracting more investors, generating more ideas and opportunities, and solidifying the region's economic base.
Stay tuned, and stay involved!
Sincerely,
Mac Banks
Director, WPI Collaborative for Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Head, WPI Department of Management (the business school at WPI)
