Contact: Allison Matthews
Mississippi State's economic impact on the advancement of innovation will be on display later this month in a series of public campus events.
The university's Office of Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer will sponsor Entrepreneurship Week April 21-25. "Accelerating Progress" is this year's theme.
The Investing in Innovation Conference on the 25th at the Hunter Henry Center will conclude the events. As with each of the week's activities, the conference is free and open to all--but registration for the noon luncheon must be completed by Tuesday [the 15th]. To enroll, e-mail to Sheree Bouchillon at shereeb@oett.msstate.edu.
Following the luncheon, final rounds of the weeklong student start-up plan and "elevator pitch" competitions will take place at the Hunter Henry Center, located on the west side of campus adjacent to the University Drive exit.
Among other Friday events are an intellectual property and industry partners' showcase, breakout sessions for inventors and investors and individual advising sessions by MSU's Small Business Development Center.
"Our theme of 'Accelerating Progress' is in full swing, and we've introduced more industry partners to the Thad Cochran Research, Technology, and Economic Development Park including C-Spire and Bomgar in the last few months," said OETT director Joshua Jeanson.
Jeanson said MSU start-up companies "have more resources than ever as they become the industries of tomorrow," adding that "innovators at MSU have much to celebrate as we are on track to have our best licensing year since 2006."
Throughout the week, the six start-up plan and "elevator pitch" competitions will dispense more than $40,000 in prizes. In addition to the colleges of Business and Bagley College of Engineering, this year's competition sponsors include Tellus Operating Group, MSU alumnus and entrepreneur Mark Dumas, Talos Energy LLC, and campus Thad Cochran Endowment for Entrepreneurship.
The week's schedule also includes:
--April 21, 5:30 p.m., McCool Hall's Taylor Auditorium, Conceptual Challenge.
--April 22, 5:30 p.m., Taylor Auditorium, Talos Energy Prototype Innovation Challenge, Part I.
--April 23, 5:30 p.m., McCool Hall's Rodgers Auditorium, Mark Dumas Prototype Innovation Challenge, Part II.
--April 23, 7:15 p.m., Rodgers Auditorium, E-Commerce Competition.
--April 24, 6 p.m., Taylor Auditorium, Early-stage Revenue Challenge.
--April 25, 1:15 p.m., Hunter Henry Center's Parker Ballroom South, Tellus Operating Late-stage Revenue and Final Round.
--April 25, 4:00 p.m., Hunter Henry/Parker Ballroom South, Student Elevator Pitch Competition.
A complete I-3 Day agenda may be viewed at www.oett.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see www.msstate.edu.