Rutgers University, 2009 - $10,000

This team seeks to meet the demand for more entrepreneurship-focused education at Rutgers by creating educational and training materials for the Rutgers Entrepreneurship Lab (REL). The REL will become part of the Business, Engineering, Science, and Technology Institute (BEST) at RU, a new interdisciplinary institute created by the Business school. Benefits of BEST include windows for hands-on, real-life study through projects and case studies; internship and employment opportunity; generation of actual business plans based on real IP. Activities of the Rutgers Startup Fund, a donation-funded program that identifies, funds, and advises promising Rutgers IP, will be integrated with this new educational program. The Rutgers Entrepreneurship Society, a student-run organization, and the Next-Phase Workshops, a continuing education program that focuses on business intelligence for startups and small companies, will also serve as outreach and extension activities for REL. In accordance with the supply-chain of innovation commercialization, the proposed REL will be divided into “innovation stations,” stations that concentrate on a different element of the innovation/entrepreneurship process. Students will be able to progress in an organized and efficient manner in order to meet their goals. Stations include a brainstorming area, a technical area, and a mentoring area.