Ideaschallenge brochure 2016

IDEAS CHALLENGEC

IDEAS CHALLENGEC

s t u d e n t s t a r t u p c h a l l e n g e

IDEAS CHALLENGEC

f r e s h i d e a s

IDEAS CHALLENGEC

N F S - i n n o v a t i o n c o r p s s i t e

IDEAS CHALLENGEC

c o u r s e s

IDEAS CHALLENGEC

u n i v e r s i t y i n n o v a t i o n f e l l o w s

IDEAS CHALLENGEC

s o c i a l e n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p

IDEAS CHALLENGEC

IDEAS CHALLENGEC

IDEAS CHALLENGE

Get more than a

degree in college!

Kyle Ilenda found that entrepreneurial training gave his engineering degree more possibilities. Today he is co-owner of LEVEL Visuals.

$100,000 SUPPORTING STUDENT VENTURES

300+ STUDENTS PARTICIPATING

21STUDENT/ALUMNI BUSINESSESSTARTED

IDEASPROPOSED200

3 ANNUALCOMPETITIONS

8 IDEAS CHALLENGED

COURSES

INNOVATION

FELLOWS7

STUDENTENTREPRENEURSHIP

AT UWM

On the Cover: Erika Pliner, an athlete on the Panther sw

im team

for four years, invented a product that allow

s swim

mers in the w

ater to receive feedback from

a coach poolside. See more, page 5.

Half of incoming freshmen in U.S. universities want to someday start or run their own businesses, according to the Kaufmann Foundation. At UWM, we’ve got an ecosystem for that.

UWM’s Ideas Challenge offers students unique skills that make them valuable to companies and to the startup economy. Interdisciplinary and multi-faceted, it’s designed to address the entire process, from conception and design to financing and customer discovery. The Ideas Challenge gives you the chance to learn by doing.

TURBO-CHARGEyour degree

"The thought of working in a corporate job didn't excite me.

But once I joined this (entrepreneurial) ecosystem,

that's when I realized - this is exactly what I wanted."

- Kyle Ilenda

Inspiration can come from

participating in research or

course work. UWM offers a

variety of Ideas Challenge

Courses across disciplines

that teach innovation that

can spawn entrepreneurial

ideas. There is even a course

especially for freshmen,

called “Entrepreneurship

Experience.” In addition,

there are designated

entrepreneurial courses

offered in the Lubar School

of Business and the College

of Engineering & Applied

Research.

THINK IT

"I was looking for courses I

could enroll in where I could

apply my ideas. Startup

projects keep you thinking, keep

you active and motivated."

- Alex Francis

While taking a course, Alex Francis was introduced to a faculty-created product that he believed had commercial potential. Francis is now in talks with the Medical College of Wisconsin to test the product, has won funding and has incorporated his company, Isopoint Technologies.

CROWDSOURCE IT

Finding people and services to help you is easy in the Ideas Challenge ecosystem.

Join the UWM Collegiate Entrepreneur Organization, check out the three

competition websites (next page), or hook up with one of seven Innovation Fellows

– UWM students who have gotten special training through a national program to

support entrepreneurship on their campuses.

"I would have not found my

partner, Lu Han, if it hadn't been

for the publicity from the Student

Startup Challenge. With his

connections and the networking

we've gained from participating,

Tech Goggles is moving forward

as a viable product. "

- Erika Pliner

Erika Pliner took an idea she developed for a course and turned it into a product that fills a void in the marketplace. But she didn’t do it alone. Students in an Ideas Challenge course provided customer discovery and a refined business plan for her “Tech Goggles.”

EXPERIENCE IT

"With this funding we are very confident the next level for our

company is just around the corner. It gave us the boost we needed to

cover our web technology costs. We are in talks right now with several

high schools and gyms about potential events."

- Brandon Tschacher

Alumni Jeremy Tiedt, Justin Bohler and Brandon Tschacher teamed up to create an assessment tool for amateur athletes called My Combine. Their first-place finish in the New Ventures Business Plan Competition earned them $8,000.

EXPERIENCE IT

So you have an idea. Now what? UWM hosts three different entrepreneurial

competitions each year under the Ideas Challenge umbrella.

• The New Ventures Business Competition, hosted by the Lubar School of Business but open to students in any discipline, awards $13,000 in winnings each year since 2008.

• Lubar also sponsors the James D. Scheinfeld Entrepreneurial Awards, which launched in 2013, is open to teams of students that include at least one business major.

• The Student Startup Challenge takes a completely different approach than the business plan contests, but with the same results. In its fourth year, it has provided seed funding to a total of 21 teams.

"Submitting a plan and

getting funding to get it out

into the community has been

an awesome help to us."

- Sylvia Wilson

Sylvia and Thomas Wilson are using their professional training and resources from winning the Student Startup Challenge to develop a youth-focused career development website called MKE Grind.

Before you can make it happen, you have to make it. Help is available on campus

with 3D printing and rapid prototyping resources, courses in which other students

can work on prototypes for a grade, and the App Brewery, a unique group of

students who work on mobile applications for nonprofits and other students.

"The talented engineers and artists in the

Product Realization course uncovered design

flaws, reinvented the concept and added features

that I never even thought about including."

- Adam Wickersham

DESIGN & BUILD IT

While earning his MBA in 2013, Adam Wickersham worked on a business plan for a Student Startup Challenge winner. The next year, he submitted his own winning idea and tapped the know-how of students in an Ideas Challenge course. Today he’s fielding interest in his “race torch” and it’s not even on the market yet.

Campus competitions can

be enough to cover the cost

of creating a prototype. But

winning one of these events

can also open doors to

other funding opportunities.

Winners have gone on

to find additional support

from regional programs,

like BizStarts, VETransfer,

and Ideadvance. Tapping

academic research grants

can be another source for

support.

DESIGN & BUILD IT FUND IT FURTHER

"The Ideadvance award has

allowed our team to host a

booth at the world's largest

immunology conference. Now

we are working on securing

pre-orders and already

have one from St. Jude's

Children's Hospital."

- David Gallegos

David Gallegos, found a better way to accomplish a chore needed in nearly every life sciences lab. Students in an Ideas Challenge course helped him improve a prototype. In less than a year, his device and business proposal won additional funding through the state-sponsored Ideadvance competition.

The social entrepreneur creates

solutions to social problems

in the same way that business

entrepreneurs change whole

industries – through innovation.

While they are as concerned

with benefiting society as

with profits, they still draw on

entrepreneurial skills to address

issues like sustainable funding.

The Student Startup Challenge is

also open to UWM students with

social entrepreneurial ideas.

DIVERSIFY IT: SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

"I've had this dream

opportunity of creating an

idea that fit my passions

exactly. Without any prior

business knowledge, I was given

incredible resources and in-

depth mentorship to transform

my dream into a business."

- Samantha Goodrich

Samantha Goodrich has seen firsthand the positive results of using interactive theater to enrich the lives of older adults, many with symptoms of memory loss. Goodrich became the first student to win the Student Startup Challenge for a social entrepreneurial endeavor, Stage Right Theatre.

Now it’s your turn. UWM’s Ideas Challenge is backed by all UWM schools and

colleges and the UWM Research Foundation. It’s never too early to jump in.

Here’s how to find:

JOIN IT!

The Student Org

The Collegiate Entrepreneur Organization (CEO)

[email protected]

The Mentors

Innovation Fellows

[email protected]

uwm.edu/ideaschallenge

Contact:

Brian Thompson,President, UWM Research Foundation

414-906-4653 [email protected]

Ilya Avdeev Associate Professor

414-229-6949 [email protected]

facebook.com/UWMStudentStartupChallenge

@UWMinnovates

FOR MORE INFORMATION

IDEAS CHALLENGEC

IDEAS CHALLENGEC

s t u d e n t s t a r t u p c h a l l e n g e

IDEAS CHALLENGEC

f r e s h i d e a s

IDEAS CHALLENGEC

N F S - i n n o v a t i o n c o r p s s i t e

IDEAS CHALLENGEC

c o u r s e s

IDEAS CHALLENGEC

u n i v e r s i t y i n n o v a t i o n f e l l o w s

IDEAS CHALLENGEC

s o c i a l e n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p

IDEAS CHALLENGEC

IDEAS CHALLENGEC

IDEAS CHALLENGE

uwm.edu/ideaschallenge