Wednesday, July 17, 2013

*Launch|CMU Connects Research and Entrepreneurship to Investment and Alumni Communities

When Carnegie Mellon's Project Olympus, an initiative in the School of Computer Science, began hosting its entrepreneurship "Show & Tell" events, the response from the community both on and off campus was overwhelmingly positive. The popular program provided an engaging, high-level overview of the ideas coming out of the university, allowing businesses, investors and the public to get a glimpse of what was happening on campus.

Looking to capture the spirit of these events and to expand the audience, the Research and Technology Commercialization Committee of the Carnegie Mellon Board of Trustees came together with the leadership of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) to create a new biannual entrepreneurial showcase: Launch|CMU. This event champions innovation, research and startup companies from across the CMU campus and connects students, faculty and alumni with venture capitalists and other investors in entrepreneurial hotbeds such as Silicon Valley, Boston and New York. By introducing research into a showcase environment, Launch|CMU gives attendees a valuable inside look at emerging ideas and the next wave of potential commercialization.

At the helm of Launch|CMU are the co-directors of the CIE, Lenore Blum, Distinguished Career Professor of Computer Science and founding director of Project Olympus, and Dave Mawhinney, executive director of the Donald H. Jones Center for Entrepreneurship. As a signature event for the CIE, Launch|CMU demonstrates how the university is a destination of choice for entrepreneurship and utilizes an "inside-out" approach for accelerating the process of introducing university research into the commercial sector. The program also strengthens the university's entrepreneurial network, boosting an alumni network that fosters mentorship, enables connections among alums and provides links to suppliers and customers...Read More»

By: Gayle Pazerski