We are full swing into the spring semester and I am happy to report we have LOTS going on! I swear I can hear the office humming some days.

Beginning Monday, we celebrate annual Engineering Week. Six student teams will vie for the coveted Dean’s Cup through five days of challenges and contests. Tuesday, we welcome alumna Robin Antonucci ’79 back to campus as our Dean’s Leadership Colloquium speaker  and we will induct over 100 seniors into the Order of the Engineer.

Finally, on Saturday the 27th, we welcome our Engineering Alumni (all of you!) back to the Tsongas to watch the River Hawks take on the BC Eagles (takes a breath). Tickets are still available for the reception in the Talon Club and the game. Click Here to purchase.

If that’s not enough, TONIGHT we are kicking off a new Faculty Tech Venture Program and Competition! 

The program will feature six interactive sessions covering various topics that are core to commercializing university technologies using start-up mechanisms. Topics include customer discovery, market research and validation techniques, concept feasibility testing, technology roadmapping and pricing and revenue model development. Sessions are hands-on and interactive, and will be facilitated by the New Venture Development staff and Manning School of Business faculty.

The goal of the program and competition is to help interested faculty (and their research teams) move an idea, invention, or start-up company forward. The winner will be awarded a two-course release in the fall along with additional resources to pursue their project.

The competition will culminate with a Tech Venture Pitch on May 5th. I truly look forward to learning more about faculty projects and supporting their commercialization efforts.Stay tuned for photos of tonight’s event and more information on our faculty projects.

-Joe