You’re smart, you’re aware of the challenges in global health, and you might even have an idea for a new technology that could address a need. Take a look at these six tips for global health innovators—they may help you plan out your next steps with greater clarity. 1. Know your innovation pathway This is […]
Steve Blank’s Lean Startup approach to entrepreneurship is based on a simple idea: quickly find out what works and discard the rest. That way you’ll discover if your idea is worth pursuing before putting a lot of time and effort into it. One of the key ways entrepreneurs find out what works is through conducting […]
the best part of teaching? seeing students discover the person they want to be This week we continue our series on educators within the VentureWell network that are having an impact on innovation & entrepreneurship ecosystems—both the national one and their own. These educators are challenging norms in higher education and inspiring students to have an impact on […]
A recent New York Times article, ‘The Innovation Campus: Building Better Ideas: Can architecture spur creativity?’ discussed how schools have gone from building high-end dining commons and luxe workout facilities to innovative, multimillion dollar learning spaces. These spaces often mirror high-tech workplaces, with open work areas and pass-through spaces to foster creative collisions. Here’s the […]
At VentureWell, we firmly believe the best is yet to come in entrepreneurship education, both as a field of study in higher ed and the impact future innovators will have in creating a more prosperous world. But what are the next steps in innovation & entrepreneurship (I&E) education? What are the areas of focus that […]
Inventors and entrepreneurs working on hardware solutions aimed at those living in poverty—hardware pioneers—need early and sustained philanthropic support in order to bring their ideas to fruition. This is Part II of a series highlighting the particular challenges faced by hardware pioneers. Part I featured milk-chilling company Promethean Power. — A new Lemelson Foundation-funded report from […]
We fund some of the nation’s earliest and brightest innovators and entrepreneurs—university students dedicating their time to inventing something new and bringing it to market in order to effect worthwhile social change. This is not an easy proposition. Being an entrepreneur is hard enough in and of itself, let alone doing it as a student […]
What makes for a great teacher? Humility This week we continue our series on educators within the VentureWell network that are having an impact on the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. These educators are both challenging norms in higher education and challenging the nation’s future innovators to think differently about how to create social and global change. […]
Dave Tilley, Tim Williamson, and Piotr Kulczakowicz of Living Umbrella created a comic that shows just how the NSF I-Corps™ Program helped them create a successful business: by making the team get out of the building, conduct 101 customer interviews and find out what customers really needed. Follow the team as they use the […]
Three years ago we challenged ourselves to build upon the success of our Faculty Grants program and develop a program that would maximize the outcomes of faculty work. We endeavored to create a community of faculty dedicated to transforming their institutions through innovation and entrepreneurship education. Created in 2014, the Pathways to Innovation program launched […]
We awarded 21 student teams over $200k in our summer 2016 cycle of the E-Team Student Grant Program. This summer’s awardees have products ranging from a device that degrades pesticides to a new diagnostic tool that will help save lives affected by sepsis to a device that uses magnetic technology to clean up oceanic oil spills. Teams […]
Minneapolis College of Art and Design educator Cindy Gilbert There are many entrepreneurship educators within the VentureWell network that are creating a positive impact in the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. These educators challenge the nation’s future innovators to think differently in order to create a social and global change. These faculty are featured in our […]
The National Science Foundation with support from VentureWell convened the third annual NIN meeting this May in Arlington, VA. Over 150 people attended the meeting. Since its inception, the NIN meeting has strived to build ties and foster innovation among institutions by gathering people together to discuss best practices and plan the next chapter of the network’s […]
VentureWell President Phil Weilerstein received the Deshpande Symposium’s Outstanding Contributions to Advancing Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education Award at a ceremony held last week in Lowell, Mass. According to the Deshpande Symposium’s awards committee, Phil “is known for leadership activities, service, and contributions to advancing the field of entrepreneurship in higher education.” The Deshpande […]
The 2016 BMEidea Competition winners were announced yesterday at the MD&M Medical Device Trade Show & Competition in New York City. The following teams are recognized for their inventions that will make a social impact on today’s world. Congratulations to the winning teams! Read more about the winners.
Over the last 20 years, innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) courses, competitions and other experiential opportunities have gone from unusual to widespread, with over 400,000 students now taking college classes on them each year. But it isn’t easy to found a new course or program, let alone change an entire campus culture. That’s why we joined […]
Big changes are underway in the investing and crowdfunding world. 2013 saw the introduction of Title II of the JOBS Act, which allowed startups to publicly fundraise for the first time. Prior to the inclusion of Title II, an entrepreneur had to have a “substantial and pre-existing relationship” with a prospective investor in order to […]
University of Michigan Educator Aileen Huang-Saad Today, we debut a new series of conversations with entrepreneurship educators. Each month we will feature an individual within the VentureWell network who is creating positive impact in the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem and talk about what drives their work. This month’s faculty spotlight is Aileen Huang-Saad, Associate Professor of […]
There I was at the VentureWell conference, a bastion of innovation and entrepreneurship, discussing ABET (www.abet.org), the four-letter word that seems to deflate any conversation among engineering educators. We were discussing the proposed changes to ABET that have recently caused quite a stir. The conversation began with widespread discontent with the changes. Many of the […]
Inventors and entrepreneurs working on hardware solutions aimed at those living in poverty—hardware pioneers—need early and sustained philanthropic support in order to bring their ideas to fruition. This is Part One in a two-part series that highlights the particular challenges faced by hardware pioneers and the ways they can be overcome. … Founding any new […]