Next Generation of Venture Capitalists Training at UConn School of Medicine

September 19 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Higher Education 0 comments Tags: Canaan Partners, entrepreneurship, higher ed, higher education, UConn, University of Connecticut, venture capital

This story by Lauren Woods, Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine, originally appeared on UConn Today August 21, 2018.

UConn School of Medicine and Canaan Partners, a multi-billion-dollar venture capital healthcare and technology firm of Westport, CT, have launched a new fellowship program for UConn Health’s medical and graduate students.

The UConn-Canaan Fellowship Program, which launched this summer, is now educating select UConn students pursuing M.D., Ph.D., or M.D./Ph.D. degrees with entrepreneurship skills and fostering real-world, hands-on venture capital work project experiences.

Fellows of the program are gaining knowledge of healthcare business concepts while training to think more like venture capitalists. Their teachers are Tim Shannon, M.D., a general partner at Canaan and graduate of UConn School of Medicine’s Class of 1985, and Colleen Cuffaro, Ph.D., a principal of Canaan Partners who is a member of the advisory board for UConn’s cutting-edge Technology Incubation Program (TIP).

“We are very excited for the exceptional hands-on learning experience opportunities Canaan Partners is providing our UConn students,” says Blanka Rogina, Ph.D., committee chair of the UConn-Canaan Fellowship Program at UConn School of Medicine. “The new fellowship program is showing our students how venture capitalism and entrepreneurship can have a big impact bridging across biotech, science, and medicine.”

“We are teaching the UConn students, but they are also teaching us about the latest they are learning at UConn in medicine and bioscience,” says Shannon. “The UConn medical school fellows we have met are all fantastic. They are indeed the next generation of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs in healthcare.”

The fellowship program is helping take the mystery out of the venture capital world for students and enlightening them about future career opportunities whether they stay in academia, medicine or scientific research or decide to move into the business community.

“The new fellowship program covers what I wish I had the opportunity to learn more about when I was pursuing my Ph.D.,” shared Cuffaro. “We are enjoying giving back and helping guide the next generation of healthcare providers and entrepreneurs.”

The program’s inaugural fellows have enjoyed the new exciting, educational experience.

Third-year UConn medical student, Gerard Kerins of Madison, found the fellowship program really valuable. “It has really blended together everything I know about medicine and entrepreneurship. The pace of medicine is picking up so quickly including how bioscience and venture capitalism is facilitating changes in how diseases are now treated.”

“This fellowship experience has been very cool. In medical school you don’t always get exposed to the business side of things. This was a good opportunity that can strengthen me as a physician in the healthcare landscape,” shared Christian Gronbeck, second-year medical student at UConn originally from Simsbury.

Mitali Adlakha, a graduate student at UConn Health shared: “This fellowship is the perfect kind of opportunity. The experience is really valuable and I hope I can apply what I learned in the near future.”

“This fellowship has taught me about venture capital biotech, what’s important, how good your idea may be, and how different firms can help you bring your idea to fruition,” said Scott Adamson, a Ph.D. student in biomedical sciences at UConn Health.

Patrick McMullan, a M.D./Ph.D. student at UConn who worked previously at biotech startup and medical device companies, added: “In this program I learned about the big picture of venture capitalism and how to move full circle your big idea to entrepreneurship. The experience has definitely been valuable and fantastic.”

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CTNext Awards $1.3 Million to Seven CT Higher Education Initiatives

July 25 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Higher Education 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, CT, CTNext, entrepreneurship, higher ed, higher education, innovation, technology

First round awardees create programs designed to spur collaboration, partnership, and knowledge sharing among Connecticut’s higher learning institutions

CTNext awarded seven recipients with grants from the Higher Education Initiative.

Kepeng Wang, assistant professor of immunology (right) works with research associate Kasandra Rodriguez in the lab at CaroGen Corp. in the UConn Technology Incubation Program. (Photo courtesy Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

In total, CTNext will award up to $1.3 million as part of the first round of grant distributions. The programs, which were approved by the CTNext Board of Directors, are designed to foster collaboration among institutions of higher education and strengthen institutional capacity as it relates to innovation and entrepreneurship.

“We are pleased to mark another milestone in our mission to foster entrepreneurship and innovation across Connecticut,” said Glendowlyn Thames, executive director of CTNext. “The grant recipient’s programs are well positioned to bring greater collaboration and partnership among our state’s higher educational institutions.”

The Higher Education Initiative programs with which CTNext has finalized grant agreements include:

Connecticut Consortium for Entrepreneurship Educators
Developing a systematic and ongoing set of activities that enable college students to create and validate their entrepreneurial ideas, culminating in a summer startup camp. The goal is to increase the number of Connecticut students launching businesses or being able to contribute to the high-growth innovative industries in the state.

University of Bridgeport
Creating a consortium of small, medium, and large institutions to develop an interdisciplinary and inter-institutional network for improving innovation and entrepreneurship collaboration amongst partner institutions to accelerate the growth of new business and technical ventures in Connecticut.

Partnership for Innovation and Education (“P.I.E.”)
A seven-institution partnership, led by UConn, whose goal is to foster education and innovation in bioscience and retain STEM graduates in Connecticut by engaging students in mentored bioscience research experiences in academia or industry, and promoting learning and engagement in bioscience innovation at student, faculty, and institutional levels.

University of Connecticut Technology Commercialization Services
Leveraging current innovation infrastructures at UConn to create a multi-institution partnership between Central Connecticut State University, Southern Connecticut State University, the University of Bridgeport, and the CT Intercollegiate Partnership for Technology Transfer (CIPTT), that will share knowledge, commercialize inventions, promote entrepreneurship, support startups, and retain entrepreneurial minded and STEM graduates in Connecticut.

University of Saint Joseph
Creating a 10-week interdisciplinary Integrated Solutions Laboratory Experience (ISLE) that will bring students together for a collaborative learning experience focused on targeted product development and entrepreneurship.

Business Council of Fairfield County
Piloting a Summer Faculty Applied Practitioner Fellowship program where six to eight higher education faculty members will embed with local employers for six to eight weeks to work on joint initiatives, build long-term relationships, and spark innovation with the intent to grow into an annual summer program.

University of New Haven
Working in partnership with UConn and The District to develop entrepreneurial talent in Connecticut through a combination of formal curriculum to introduce entrepreneurial concepts, practical experience in applying concepts that are learned, and engagement in activities that develop entrepreneurial skills.

Learn more about CTNext, a wholly owned subsidiary of Connecticut Innovations

VISIT: ctnext.com
FOLLOW: Facebook | Twitter
READ: Connecticut Innovations: Contributing to Growth in CT
IDH interview with Connecticut Innovations CEO Matt McCooe and Lauren Carmody, Director of Marketing and Communications

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Startup Advances Carbon-Zero Fuels Through UConn Partnership

May 18 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Higher Education 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, CT, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, higher education, innovation, startup, technology, UConn, UConn Technology Incubation Program, University of Connecticut

This article by Jessica Mcbride, University of Connecticut, originally appeared in Phys.org April 25, 2018.

Mattershift CEO Rob McGinnis (front) and UConn associate professor of chemical and biomedical engineering, Jeff McCutcheon. (Photo courtesy: Sean Flynn/UConn)

When Rob McGinnis needed a well-equipped lab for his startup company, his graduate school friend, Jeff McCutcheon, associate professor of chemical and biomedical engineering, suggested he apply for UConn’s Technology Incubation Program (TIP) at the Storrs campus.

The lab gave McGinnis the research facilities and access to other University resources that he needed to launch his business. He developed carbon nanotube technology that will have multiple, far-reaching business applications.

“UConn is far ahead of other institutions,” says McGinnis, who met McCutcheon when they were both at Yale University working on their doctorates. “It’s not just the physical space that provides value. I am pleased to be treated as a member of the University community.”

McGinnis joined TIP when he formed Mattershift, a company that designs and manufactures nanotube membranes for carbon-zero fuels, optimized air and water, and precision medicine. The company seeks to convert carbon dioxide from the air into fuels, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, and construction materials without using fossil fuels as inputs.

McGinnis sought to find a way to make carbon nanotube membranes—which he calls a “wonder material”— in a way so they could be mass produced. The technology had been around for about a decade when he started his company.

“This technology gives us a level of control over the material world that we’ve never had before,” McGinnis says. “We can choose which molecules can pass through our membranes and what happens to them when they do.”

Currently, the company is working to remove carbon dioxide from the air and turn it into fuels, a task that has been done using conventional technology, but is too expensive to be practical.

“Using our tech, I think we’ll be able to produce carbon-zero gasoline, diesel, and jet fuels that are cheaper than fossil fuels,” says McGinnis.

McGinnis didn’t share intellectual property with McCutcheon or explain how he cracked the code. But McCutcheon tested the technology and confirmed its accuracy. McCutcheon, who owns less than a 1% stake in Mattershift, says his credibility as a scientist is paramount because he has a reputation to maintain.

“I enjoy serving as a consultant and as a member of their Scientific Advisory Board,” says McCutcheon. “But as with any new tech that comes into the membrane field, I am going to be extremely critical. Mattershift needs someone like me to be impartial evaluating their technology. I can be that person since I don’t work with competing forms of technology.”

In today’s environment, a good idea is not enough to garner research and development funding from some sources, McCutcheon says. Entrepreneurs need this type of unbiased review to prove that their theory works. They also need partners to publish this work in the scientific literature and seek grants.

McGinnis says he benefits from proximity to researchers like McCutcheon and highly trained student talent. McGinnis, who says he “lives in a sea of risk,” says he appreciates the resources offered through TIP. Universities typically offer startups some desks with laptops, he says.

“Very few places provide material science space for a startup,” says McGinnis. Unlike some universities, UConn provided the lab space and assistance with no strings attached. His inventions and intellectual property belong to him exclusively, the entrepreneur says, adding, “There’s no attempt to try to own it.”

McCutcheon and his students benefit as well.

“I was glad to be part of it. I was excited to see a startup from the inside, and I learned a lot about not only the business aspects, but how technology is vetted by different members of the finance community,” McCutcheon says. “Having Rob around gave me a sounding board for my ideas and I learned how the two groups, academics and entrepreneurs, with divergent incentives, could work together for mutual benefit.”

There are more tangible benefits as well. The group published a paper March 9 in Science Advances. And, one of McCutcheon’s graduate students, Kevin Reimund, from East Haven, Connecticut, worked or McGinnis as an assistant for two years, gaining real-world experience before pursuing his Ph.D. with another one of Mattershift’s advisors, Benny Freeman, professor of chemical engineering at the University of Texas, Austin.

Mattershift has completed development of its programmable molecular gateway technology, and the company has already booked its first sales to Trevi Systems of Petaluma, California. It will ship products later this year for use in a seawater desalination process.

“Academics should seek to work with someone like Rob,” says McCutcheon. “He’s a pure entrepreneur. He offers me a window into a world I know little about.”

Interested in learning more?

READ: Startup scales up carbon nanotube membranes to make carbon-zero fuels for less than fossil fuels
VISIT: www.mattershift.com
FOLLOW: Instagram | Twitter

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Trinity College President Discusses Entrepreneurship and Innovation

May 01 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Higher Education 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, CT, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, Hartford, higher education, innovation, Trinity College

Joanne Berger-Sweeney, Trinity College President and Professor of Neuroscience.

Innovation Destination Hartford spoke with Joanne Berger-Sweeney, Trinity College President and Professor of Neuroscience to learn about the many ways the college supports and encourages entrepreneurship and innovative activity at the school and throughout Connecticut.

INNOVATION DESTINATION HARTFORD: What types of entrepreneurial and innovative initiatives are happening at Trinity?

JOANNE BERGER-SWEENEY: We are in the midst of implementing our bicentennial strategic plan, Summit, and for us, much of what we’re doing at this moment is entrepreneurial and innovative, in the broadest sense of the terms.

As Trinity is a liberal arts college located in a city and with an accredited engineering program, entrepreneurship and innovation are part of our DNA. The success of our alumni certainly attests to this.

As one recent example, we’ve partnered with Capital Community College to open the Liberal Arts Action Lab at 10 Constitution Plaza. This is an innovative program that matches real-world community challenges with interdisciplinary teams of students and faculty to offer concrete solutions.

As we design our new space in One Constitution Plaza, we’re looking forward to the possibilities that will open for even greater promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship, including strengthening our graduate-level offerings.

IDH: Trinity College received a portion of a $30 million CTNext Innovation Places grant. What does the college plan to do with the funding?

BERGER-SWEENEY: Yes, Trinity is a key partner in the Hartford/East Hartford Innovation Places Planning Team selected to receive a share of $30 million in statewide funding to spark economic development and investment in innovation.

Our team will receive up to $2 million in implementation grant funds in fiscal year 2018, which is the first of up to three years of renewable funding through the state-funded program administered by CTNext.

During the first year, a lot of organizational and planning work among the team members has taken place to lay the groundwork and to contribute to a growing community of innovators, entrepreneurs, and tech-based business growth. One of our primary goals is identifying partners to invest in the areas around Trinity and Hartford Hospital, to establish a thriving live/learn/work destination through investments in placemaking and small-business development.

Pop-up food festivals in the Broad Street and Washington Street corridors are being planned for May and June. The first pop-up festival took place on April 23 at Trinfo.Café on Broad Street. The festivals are a partnership between the college, Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, International Hartford, and Hartford Hospital, and their goal is to use food as a medium for building community and a sense of place. The support from CTNext has been key to spurring the collaboration and ideation that is moving Hartford and our neighborhood forward.

IDH: Can you provide some insight into the growing medical technology innovation (MedTech) district?

Trinity College President Joanne Berger-Sweeney delivers a neuroscience presentation at Trinity College.

BERGER-SWEENEY: The MedTech Innovation District initiative will create a healthcare incubator/accelerator to attract and support entrepreneurs by connecting them with various stakeholders who will support the development of medical devices, digital health technologies, and health care analytics. Stakeholder groups include clinical providers, academics, government and other regulatory bodies, and corporate and risk capital sources.

The incubator/accelerator isn’t just a physical location. It’s a density of resources attractive to startup companies and entrepreneurs. Trinity and University of Connecticut faculty, staff, and students will work directly with teams at Hartford Hospital and its Center for Simulation, Education and Innovation (CESI) to connect emerging entrepreneurs who have developed the most promising new technologies with the technical and patient care expertise needed to determine the degree to which product concepts or prototypes will be successful.

IDH: In the fall 2017 Trinity Reporter you were quoted as saying, “We want to create opportunities and the relative conditions that encourage students to stay in Connecticut, in general, and Hartford, in particular.” How is Trinity providing these opportunities?

BERGER-SWEENEY: As I mentioned earlier, at 10 Constitution Plaza, our Liberal Arts Action Lab collaboration with Capital Community College is providing a unique opportunity for college students to engage with Hartford organizations and to learn the value of collaborative problem solving. When students work with local organizations on research projects, just as when they hold internships with local companies, those experiences often lead to students accepting their first job after graduation right here in Hartford.

Another way we’re encouraging students to stay in Connecticut is by connecting them from the moment they arrive on campus to opportunities in the city of Hartford. We have a first-year system called the Bantam Network and integrating students into the life of the city is part of that program’s mission.

Trinity College also has a long and rich history of community learning and urban engagement, and the terrific work of our Center for Urban and Global Studies and our Community Learning Initiative contribute to creating the conditions for students staying in the state. Our Center for Student Success and Career Development also does a phenomenal job of connecting students with local internships and experiential opportunities in Hartford and throughout the state.

But certainly, as an institution with a national and international profile, as well as deep roots in the state of Connecticut, we’re always looking to see how we can retain more students. Given the strength of our liberal arts graduates and career opportunities in the state, I expect Trinity to become even more successful in shaping Connecticut’s workforce.

IDH: Tell us about your involvement with the Connecticut Higher Education Innovation & Entrepreneurship Working Group, which you co-chaired.

BERGER-SWEENEY: It was a real honor to co-chair the Higher Education Innovation & Entrepreneurship Working Group with Mark Ojakian. Especially exciting was the fact that it represented the first time college and university presidents in the state met as a group, bringing together 35 vastly different institutions into the same space to focus on the future.

Over the course of six months, and after four meetings and 18 site visits, there was a great deal of energy and consensus in the group about a plan for supporting innovation and entrepreneurship in the state. In particular, we all affirmed the potential of Connecticut’s ecosystem and the invaluable role of institutions of higher education, especially as we partner in new ways and leverage our collective power.

The Connecticut Higher Education Innovation & Entrepreneurship Working Group’s final report, “Entrepreneurship & Innovation in Connecticut’s Higher Education System” is available from the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges (CCIC).

IDH: Where do you see the landscape for entrepreneurial and innovative activity in Greater Hartford?

BERGER-SWEENEY: At the core of innovation are ideas, and higher education is really about ideas. It’s about taking those ideas and turning them into something that’s useful for society, part of the societal good. So, to me, innovation and entrepreneurship dovetail with higher education incredibly well.

I see this landscape as only growing, with higher education playing a core role. My hope is that the work we do collectively will be a national model of what’s possible when we’re willing to engage in creative partnerships. As a region that has inspired so many inventions and creativity over the centuries, Greater Hartford’s ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship is poised to surprise us all.

Learn more about Trinity College

VISIT: www.trincoll.edu
FOLLOW: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter

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UHart, UConn Collaborate on InsurTech Courses

March 16 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Higher Education 0 comments Tags: college, Connecticut, higher ed, higher education, insurance, InsurTech, Startupbootcamp, StartupBootcamp accelerator, technology, UConn, UHart, University of Connecticut, University of Hartford

This piece by News Editor Matt Pilon originally appeared in HartfordBusiness.com March 9, 2018

Hartford has recently upped its efforts at becoming a hub for insurance technology, and now two of the city’s colleges are working together to craft undergraduate and graduate InsurTech curricula.

The University of Hartford’s Barney School of Business and the University of Connecticut say they recently won a $50,000 grant from the Spencer Educational Foundation to develop an MBA-level InsurTech course that will debut at UConn in August. UHart students will be able to take the class at UConn’s downtown Hartford business school campus.

In 2019, both schools plan to launch their own undergraduate “InsurTech concepts and applications” course. The University of Hartford said the course would be a part of its insurance and risk management major and minor programs within the business school.

In drafting curriculum, the two schools said they are working with Hartford’s recently launched StartupBootcamp accelerator.

Interested in learning more about InsurTech efforts in Hartford?

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CTNext Higher Education Entrepreneurship and Innovation Fund

March 05 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Higher Education 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, CT, CTNext, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, higher ed, higher education, innovation

CTNext recently opened the Request for Information application process for the second round of its Higher Education Entrepreneurship and Innovation Fund program.

Administered by CTNext, the program seeks to fund initiatives that foster collaboration among higher education institutions and strengthen institutional capacity as it relates to innovation and entrepreneurship.

“The first phase of the Higher Education program resulted in the funding of a number of promising new programs across the state that, we are confident, will foster innovation through improved collaboration and cooperation among our higher education institutions,” said Glendowlyn Thames, executive director of CTNext. “As we begin the second round, we are eager to maintain the momentum and welcome new proposals and ideas that further expand the role higher education plays in Connecticut’s economic growth.”

Applicants can submit proposals that fit within one (or more) of the following strategic priority areas and themes:

Mentor Network: Programs that build alumni volunteer networks with appropriate business skills capable of assisting faculty and students in developing new ventures, building business and vetting deals
Industry Verticals: Programs that focus on technology, talent and services that fall into one or more of Connecticut’s main industry verticals, including financial services, insurance, bioscience, advanced manufacturing, digital media, aerospace, green technology, information technology and software
Proof of Concept: Programs that fund customer discovery, market viability and idea vetting before going to market
Talent: Programs designed to identify and retain high-caliber talent in Connecticut

The deadline for RFI submissions is Friday, March 23.

For more information and to submit an RFI, visit ctnext.com/higher-education.

About CTNext
CTNext is a resource for for entrepreneurial support in Connecticut. The goal of the program is to build a more robust community of entrepreneurs and to accelerate startup growth by providing access to talent, space, industry expertise, services, skill development, and capital to foster innovation and create jobs for people in Connecticut. CTNext launched in 2012 and has more than 2,000 members in its network. To learn more, visit www.ctnext.com.

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Businesses, Engineering Schools Tap Overlooked Workforce: Women

February 15 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Higher Education 0 comments Tags: business, CT, engineering, higher ed, higher education, UConn, University of Connecticut, University of Hartford

This piece by Business Reporter Stephen Singer originally appeared in The Hartford Courant February 5, 2018.

Daniel Burkey, associate dean for undergraduate education and diversity and a professor in UConn's School of Engineering, works with freshman engineering students. (Photo courtesy Mark Mirko, Hartford Courant)

As Connecticut looks to hire more engineers for the state’s booming aerospace and defense industries, universities and employers are tapping an overlooked segment of the workforce: women.

Engineering schools and businesses are increasingly graduating and hiring more women in what traditionally is a male-dominated field. That means greater opportunities not only for women with math and science skills, but also for companies in Connecticut scrambling to hire workers to build commercial and military jet engines, helicopters and submarines.

“We need the talent. We need the numbers. We need more engineers,” said Louis Manzione, dean of the College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture at the University of Hartford.

Kevin McLaughlin, director of engineering diversity programs at the University of Connecticut’s School of Engineering, said hiring more women not only expands the workforce but also the potential to solve problems.

“To only have some minds at the table doesn’t make sense,” he said.

The change is being driven by engineering schools reaching out to students with different backgrounds, manufacturers broadening the field of recruits and businesses seeking engineers who understand how other women use certain products.

Karen Panetta, dean of graduate engineering at Tufts University, said impediments to women in engineering began in a persistent myth: that women are less qualified than men in math and science.

Assigned gender roles in childhood also are blamed, with boys pointed to careers in architecture and engineering and girls to grade-school teaching and home economics.

Women have made gains in law and medicine and within management ranks, according to a study by the American Association of University Women. But it quoted an academic study that said engineering is seen as the “most sex-segregated nonmilitary profession in the world.”

The number of women in engineering schools depends on the branch of engineering—mechanical, civil, electrical—and other factors. Generally, it ranges from about one-fifth of all students to one-half.

Daniel Burkey, associate dean for undergraduate education at UConn’s Engineering School, attributed a doubling of women at the university to about 26 percent in 15 years, to “a lot of targeted outreach.”

He and others say women who enter the field often choose biomedical and environmental engineering because the work offers the chance to improve human health and the environment.

“There’s a more obvious connection to the social good,” he said.

Undermining efforts to recruit women is an exodus by many who grow frustrated at workplace teamwork dominated by men, according to a 2016 academic study. Men also are paid more than women, said Susan Silbey, a sociology and anthropology professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a co-author of the study.

Companies are increasingly turning to women to design and build products primarily used by women, such as minivans, cosmetics and even diapers with indicator stripes sporting different colors that indicate changing time, said Panetta, a fellow at the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.

Danielle DelPiano, a freshman studying chemical engineering at the School of Engineering at UConn, said she intends to become a cosmetic engineer. “Science and makeup: my two favorite things,” she said.

DelPiano and three other UConn students were working as a team among a few dozen others designing water filters, wind turbines and space suits in a recent engineering class at the Storrs campus.

William Day, a freshman from Tolland studying chemical engineering, was the only man in the four-student team. “I’m cool with that,” he said.

In Connecticut, hiring more engineers is driven by the need to fill jobs at the state’s three defense conglomerates, which are benefiting from a manufacturing boom, and the state’s thousands of small machine shops and family-owned businesses that are suppliers to larger manufacturers.

Jet engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp., is working through a backlog of 8,000 commercial jet engines and also is building engines for the Joint Strike Fighter. Sikorsky, the Lockheed Martin Corp. helicopter manufacturer, is preparing to build 200 U.S. Navy helicopters in Connecticut until at least 2032.

And Electric Boat, a unit of General Dynamics Corp., expects to build 55 submarines over the next 20 years in response to shifting U.S. military strategy.

“There’s a very aggressive push to hire more women for engineering as well as the whole manufacturing system,” said Frank Gulluni, director of advanced manufacturing technology at Asnuntuck Community College in Enfield.

Recruiting more women is a struggle. Only about 30 of Asnuntuck’s 300 students in machining, welding and similar courses are women, he said. “We are pushing and pushing parents and educators,” Gulluni said.

Tara St-Pierre, senior director of human resources for talent at Pratt & Whitney, said the East Hartford manufacturer relies on an early career recruiting program, career fairs and trade organizations.

The UConn School of Engineering is “typically a place where we go to recruit,” though Pratt & Whitney also works with Penn State, Virginia Tech, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Georgia Tech, she said.

“We’re doing a lot of hiring so we have to cast the widest net obviously,” St-Pierre said.

She said Pratt & Whitney employs nearly 100 engineers identifying themselves as UConn graduates, but the number is probably higher.

Silbey, of MIT, offered a simple reason why universities and employers are doing more to recruit women as engineers.

“What’s driving it is the embarrassment that it has the lowest proportion of women in all the professions,” she said.

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$5M STEM Grant Awarded to CT Colleges

February 07 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Higher Education 0 comments Tags: CCSU, Central Connecticut State University, college, Connecticut, Farmingtin, higher ed, higher education, Manchester, Manchester Community College, MCC, New Britain, science technology engineering and math, STEM, Tunxis Community College

This piece by Web Editor Patricia Daddona originally appeared in HartfordBusiness.com January 30, 2018.

The National Science Foundation has awarded a $5 million grant for three colleges in central Connecticut to boost the diversity of students who pursue careers in computer science, mathematics, and physics.

Over the next five years, the new scholarship program will provide financial and academic support to approximately 90 under-represented, low-income students enrolled at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) in New Britain, Manchester Community College (MCC), or Tunxis Community College in Farmington.

Scholarship recipients will be in line for financial aid of up to $10,000 a year, as well as programming that helps support these students in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, said Zulma R. Toro, president of CCSU.

“Our scholarship recipients will form a cohort and, together, they will receive intensive enrichment and interventions designed to help them succeed academically,” said Kurkovsky. “It’s a distinguishing feature of our program and likely set our application apart from the nearly 500 NSF grant competitors.”

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Entrepreneurship in College

December 27 2017 Innovation Destination: Hartford Higher Education 0 comments Tags: college resources, entrepreneurs, higher ed, higher education, startup resources, startups, student entrepreneurship

From Planning to Startup Funding: Resources and Tools for Women, Minority, & Other Students Who Want to Ignite Business Ideas Before Graduation

Google. Apple. Microsoft. Facebook. Wal-Mart. Wondering what all these companies have in common? Aside from being some of America’s most successful brands, their founders were all between the ages of 20 and 26 when they were launched.

College-aged entrepreneurs enjoy unprecedented benefits and support, making it the perfect time to test the waters of business ownership. Whether taking advantage of campus-based incubators or seeking advice from alumni entrepreneurs in residence, there will never be a time where more assistance or encouragement is so readily available.

Affordable Colleges Online contributor Megan Tsui provides ideas for college businesses, offers tips for success, shares her experience being a young entrepreneur.

Read the full article “Entrepreneurship in College”

About the Author
Megan Tsui is the founder of UnleaSHEd, a women-focused business consulting company. Megan completed an undergraduate degree in Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship, during which time she started a consignment retail store. Created as a senior project, Megan created a business plan, produced financial projections, and moved her learning from theory to practice. Since her first venture, Megan has owned numerous businesses. She also helps students turn their ideas into startups as the Entrepreneur in Residence at St. Olaf College and organizes a business plan competition to help students finance their businesses.

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CTNext Program Manager Will Support Innovation Places and Higher Ed Initiatives

December 12 2017 Innovation Destination: Hartford Higher Education 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, CT, entrepreneurial ecosystem, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, higher education, innovation, Innovation Places, support

CTNext announced the addition of Ali Berman to the CTNext team as program manager. In her role, she will primarily oversee the Innovation Places program and the Higher Education Entrepreneurship and Innovation Fund.

Berman is a graduate of Skidmore College with a Bachelor of Arts in business, Spanish and international affairs. Most recently, Berman worked for Techstars in Boulder, CO, a global ecosystem that empowers entrepreneurs to bring new technologies to the market. At Techstars, Berman served in several capacities, including as interim director of the Techstars Foundation.

“We are delighted to welcome Ali to the CTNext team,” said Glendowlyn Thames, Executive Director of CTNext.

“She joins at a critical time, as the Innovation Places program is gaining momentum and the Higher Education Entrepreneurship and Innovation Fund begins the award process for the first group of grant recipients,” she added. “Her experience working directly with CEOs and founders in a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem will be a great addition to the team as we move forward in accomplishing the mission of CTNext.”

The Innovation Places program seeks to support entrepreneurs and leaders developing places that will attract the talent high-growth enterprises need. The goal of the Higher Education Entrepreneurship and Innovation Fund is to support programs that establish sustainable relationships and lasting partnerships among the state’s higher education institutions while also creating lasting value through increased students’ attraction and retention, strong alumni connections and expanded roles as economic and community anchors.

About CTNext
CTNext is a Connecticut-based resource for entrepreneurial support. The program’s goal is to build more robust community of entrepreneurs and accelerate startup growth by providing access to talent, space, industry expertise, services, skill development, and capital to foster innovation and create jobs for people in Connecticut. Learn more at ctnext.com.

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Next Generation of Venture Capitalists Training at UConn School of Medicine