This past spring, I had the pleasure of joining entrepreneurship students on a site visit to one of Stanley Black & Decker’s Breakthrough Technology and Innovation centers. Frank DeSantis (who’s profiled earlier in this magazine) gave us a tour of the facilities and offered a glimpse of how their team of engineers, software specialists and business leaders develop and explore new ideas. In this space, the team is encouraged to think outside the box. The fear of failure does not hinder their work whatsoever.
This kind of space where individuals collaborate, think freely and come up with and test new ideas is the exact sort of space we envisioned when we decided to launch the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship last year.
The center’s mission is to develop, nurture and commercialize talent contributing to economic and social development in the Baltimore metro region and beyond while fostering entrepreneurial talent, ideas and opportunities on campus.
We’ve started by introducing new programs like Entrepreneurship Unplugged—a weekly speakers series with entrepreneurs on campus. This past year, the center hosted five student competitions with more than 70 participants. This fall we’re unveiling a new entrepreneurship classroom in Stephens Hall to facilitate hands-on, active learning in our entrepreneurship courses and more.
This is just a sample of all the exciting ways the center is bringing entrepreneurship to campus. As we enter our second year, we are even more excited about these initiatives.
Our hope is to make innovation less abstract and more hands-on as we engage more and more students, alumni and faculty members. Students from all backgrounds and academic interests will gain an appreciation for innovation and learn how to apply it to their careers, companies, industries and communities.