Getting Down to Business

WPI’s Collaborative for Entrepreneurship & Innovation

Nationally, colleges and universities are experiencing an influx of students across the disciplines who are interested in taking entrepreneurship classes, says McRae Banks, director of the Collaborative for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (CEI).

And WPI is no different.

“At CEI, we find it challenging, and stimulating, to try to keep up with the demand for our programs,” Banks says. CEI has worked feverishly to respond to this demand—a commitment that recently won WPI placement among the nation’s top 10 entrepreneurship programs for 2005 by Entrepreneur.com.

CEI, housed in the university’s Department of Management, offers a variety of programs for the WPI community and beyond:

WPI Venture Forum—provides monthly lectures, weekly radio programs, and networking events, in addition to other opportunities. For more information, go to www.wpiventureforum.org.
Dinner with Entrepreneurs—offers students the opportunity to meet and speak with entrepreneurs and investors to learn from their successes and mistakes.
Invention to Venture—a one-day workshop that brings in seasoned entrepreneurs who share their knowledge on how to assess the market validity and technical viability of business ideas. Speakers also offer their hard-earned knowledge on IP licensing, finding the money, and other critical issues for new businesses.
Competitions—the Strage Innovation Awards, the Robert H. Grant Invention Awards, and the CEI @ WPI ALL-OUT Business Plan Challenge nurture the spirit of innovation at WPI and help young and aspiring entrepreneurs fulfill their inventive dreams.
The Writing Project—WPI alumni entrepreneurs are interviewed to produce inspirational stories for others trying to launch businesses.

transformations@wpi.edu
Maintained by: webmaster@wpi.edu
Last modified: Dec 20, 2005, 17:32 EST