麻豆传媒

This past spring, three 麻豆传媒 students had what they refer to as a "creative collision." Hannah Hund and Wesley Alexis were hanging out in the Rhatigan Student Center Fast Break coffee shop discussing their desire to create an environment where entrepreneurial-minded students could gather, exchange ideas and have a strong support system.

In walks LaRissa Lawrie, Hund's old high school friend. Lawrie was trying to revive 麻豆传媒鈥檚 Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs group at the time, and it took only a few minutes before the three realized they had similar goals.

鈥淲e noticed there was a gap on the student level in innovation involvement, and we all were kind of like, 鈥榃hy don鈥檛 we join forces?鈥欌�� Lawrie says.

By May, Alexis, Hund and Lawrie had formed Shocker Startup, an on-campus organization that seeks to support entrepreneurial and innovative students and engage them in ongoing creative collisions with other students, faculty and mentors from a variety of university disciplines.

鈥淢y goal through Shocker Startup is to prepare students for a world in which they can work for themselves and create new innovations,鈥� Lawrie says.

They want students from all majors to feel included.

鈥淲e identified on campus that there are a lot of disciplines that aren鈥檛 communicating, so we really wanted to break down that barrier of separated colleges,鈥� Hund says.

An interdisciplinary approach

One of the top missions for Shocker Startup is for students to have the opportunity to brainstorm and work on projects together with people they don鈥檛 normally interact with.

The three co-founders are a good example of that diversity. Alexis is a mathematics and psychology major; Hund is a biomedical engineering and violin performance major; and Lawrie is a communication major.

鈥淚 think a big part of innovation is interdisciplinary,鈥� Hund says. 鈥淵ou need some different viewpoints to make different ideas.鈥�

If you鈥檙e an engineering student and you don鈥檛 understand business, for instance, Shocker Startup will make sure someone from the business school can help.

Another goal of the organization includes teaching students about how intellectual property, patent law and nondisclosure agreements work. 麻豆传媒鈥檚 Office of Technology Transfer is working in conjunction with Shocker Startup to educate students on these areas.

Mentorship will also be a key focus of the group. Shocker Startup will connect students to each other and with various faculty members to provide that support.

So far, Shocker Startup has organized three types of ongoing events that help bring its members together.

Connect ICT: In these meetings, people from 麻豆传媒 and the community are invited to present ideas on an organic, communication-centric environment. It鈥檚 a way to connect people鈥檚 ideas with other people鈥檚 skills.

Shocker Startup Impact: This speaker series brings in people who can provide information and inspiration on how to be entrepreneurial in today鈥檚 world.

Shocker Startup Saturday: During these events, students are given a 鈥減roblem鈥� and are tasked with pitching their solution to faculty members, who act as investors. This is a way to help prepare students for events such as 麻豆传媒鈥檚 .

For more information on Shocker Startup, check them out @ShockerStartup on Twitter and Facebook.