INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP WORKING GROUP
STRATEGIC COORDINATION ACROSS CAMPUS
T
he Innovation & Entrepreneurship Working Group consists of members tasked by the chancellor with establishing the University of Massachusetts Amherst as a higher education destination of choice for faculty, students, and greater community members who are looking to engage in innovation and entrepreneurship. The team works in small groups to strategize the best ways to provide undergraduate and graduate students—including those from underrepresented backgrounds—with opportunities to develop interdisciplinary innovation and entrepreneurial skills and to foster more productive collaborations with industry. The working group’s scope includes:
• Document the current I&E activities on campus. • Develop proposals to increase support for and engagement of undergraduates across the campus in curricular and co-curricular I&E activities. • Engage more graduate students in I&E activities that link to the research enterprise, including I-Corps. • Provide support and coordination for faculty to advance activities in the I&E area. • Increase the participation of alumni and friends in providing expertise to increase the success of new ventures, e.g., mentors, entrepreneurs-in-residence; incorporate and utilize our Newton campus. • Vigorously and visibly engage with off-campus groups of investors, e.g., angel and seed funds and support organizations such as Mass Challenge, Valley Venture Mentors, and Greentown Labs. • Define goals and success metrics for I&E activities for the next three to five years.
Members of the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Working Group Mike Malone, vice chancellor for research and engagement, serves as sponsor for the group, which is led by chancellor-appointed co-chairs Gregory Thomas, executive director of the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship and a lecturer at the Isenberg School of Management, and Kathryn Ellis, director of the UMass Innovation Institute. The other members include: Brant Cheikes, executive director of the Center for Data Science, Manning College of Information & Computer Sciences James Flynn, assistant dean of Research Business Development, Manning College of Information & Computer Sciences Karen Giuliano, associate professor, Applied Life Sciences and Elaine Marieb College of Nursing Burnley Jaklevic, director and senior licensing officer for the Technology Transfer Office Charles Johnson, associate director of the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship, clinical associate professor of management, and managing director of the Maroon Venture Partners Fund Allison Jameson Koss, communications manager for Research and Engagement Sundar Krishnamurty, Isenberg Distinguished Professor in engineering and director of the Center for e-Design in the College of Engineering Peter Reinhart, founding director of the Institute for Applied Life Sciences Mark Tuominen, associate dean for Research & Innovation and professor of physics in the College of Natural Sciences Karen Utgoff, director of IALS Venture Development Programs and site director for I-Corps @ UMass Amherst
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STATE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
