Staff Report gsanews@scbiznews.com Published Feb. 9, 2015

Clemson University is expanding programs for students whose entrepreneurial ideas have the makings for starting a business. While most of Clemsons entrepreneurship initiatives are in the College of Business and Behavioral Science, the programs are spreading across campus. At least two other colleges have entrepreneurship courses and the university offers a minor in entrepreneurship for nonbusiness majors.

A team of 20 faculty members and students assessing the universitys offerings is working as the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative on strategies to take them to the next level. The initiative could include grants for research and to develop new curricula. Training workshops and seminars could be offered to faculty members.

John DesJardins, an associate bioengineering professor, said entrepreneurs and innovation can arise from any academic discipline. Several entrepreneurship programs are in place, so we have a great start, he said. The difference now is that we are on the verge of transforming campus culture.

The two leaders on the campuswide initiative are DesJardins and Matthew Klein, interim director of the Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership.

Nationally, Clemson is among 25 institutions selected for the 2015 Pathways to Innovation Program, which will provide help incorporating innovation and entrepreneurship into the engineering program. The program is run by the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation, or Epicenter, which is funded by National Science Foundation and directed by Stanford University and VentureWell.

A new program in the College of Engineering and Science has already started producing companies. The College of Engineering and Science is looking to advance lab inventions into real-world products as part of its commitment to the National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenge Scholars Program.

To have a high impact on society, I feel strongly that design, entrepreneurship and commercialization must play a central role in our universitys focus on the future, said the colleges dean, Anand Gramopadhye.

A campus organization that is part of the College of Engineering and Science, the Design and Entrepreneurship Network is in its second year. It matches students with experts, such as patent attorneys and angel investors, who can suggest ways to take inventions to market..

Accessible Diagnostics, a company formed as a result of network, has received a commitment of $500,000 in private investment from Concepts to Companies. The companys product, GlucoSense, uses ink-jet printers to make glucose test strips for diabetics in Tanzania and other resource-poor settings.

Original post:
Clemson expanding entrepreneurial culture