April 24, 2007

Students pitch startup business ideas, and technology transfer class reports on new research lab inventions

(Columbia, MD) - The public in invited to join investors, business leaders, research scientists and others for Howard Community College's (HCC) increasingly popular "Entrepreneurial Celebration" where students showcase business ideas and innovations in bloom this spring semester.  The event is Wednesday, May 9, 2007, in The Rouse Company Foundation Student Services Hall 4th floor (RCF-400) with networking at 4:30 p.m. and student presentations beginning 6 p.m.

Part of the program features entrepreneurial students from HCC individually pitching their new business ideas and plans to a juried panel.  The other part features student teams from the HCC course, "Technology Transfer from Innovation to the Marketplace," report on marketplace potential for several new inventions from government-supported research labs such as Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab and NASA Goddard.   

Several businesses have launched and inventions commercialized since HCC first began incorporating entrepreneurship into the curriculum, including credit and noncredit learning opportunities, credentials, and resources.  In addition to offering an innovative Entrepreneurship Studies program, HCC's Business & Computer Systems Division is the home of the Center for Entrepreneurial & Business Excellence (CEBE).  The Center supports students and community members with their small business dreams and development by offering a strategic blend of applied coursework, work experience, and ongoing coaching.  HCC is also the lead institutional partner in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Technology Assessment Program (TAP) grant that funded the college's unique technology transfer course.