October 17, 2007 by Bob Monsour (permalink)
Eleven high-tech entrepreneurs gave of themselves for more than two hours Oct. 16 at Princeton's Friend Center for Engineering Education, sharing stories and answering questions about how they founded and grew their organizations into successful enterprises with dozens of students, faculty and community members.
The Meet the Entrepreneurs event, co-sponsored by the Center for Innovation in Engineering Education and the Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials, was inspired by Greg Olsen, Princeton's Entrepreneur-in-Residence.
"I think it's a great way for students, faculty, and other aspiring entrepreneurs to learn from people who have built and grown successful organizations from scratch," said Olsen.
Princeton's student entrepreneurship club was well represented at the event, meeting entrepreneurs and getting ideas for the business plan competition they are planning for later this year.
"I met some really wonderful people who gave me some great ideas for making the club more effective and for making our upcoming competition a success," said Bethani Massey, a member of the Princeton class of 2010.
The Center for Innovation in Engineering Education, as one aspect of its mission, is working to expose students to entrepreneurship in a variety of ways.
"Building on the popular 'High-Tech Entrepreneurship' course taught by professor Ed Zschau, and with Greg Olsen's presence as Entrepreneur-in-Residence, events like this allow students to engage directly with successful entrepreneurs and learn from their experiences," said Sharad Malik, director of the center.
In addition to this event, the center is sponsoring a series of five workshops, titled "Harnessing the Power of Entrepreneurship." The theme of the series is the application of entrepreneurial approaches to areas other than starting companies: government, higher education, non-profit organizations, large corporations and regional economic development. The next event in the series will be held Oct. 18 in Bowen Hall Auditorium. The workshops are free and open to the public.