New Initiative in Innovation

November 29, 2017

Dear Friends,

Boston University students graduate prepared and eager to build a better future. The world needs individuals who can imagine and implement solutions to challenging problems and succeed in the jobs of today and in ones that are not yet imagined. At Boston University, we have the opportunity to foster in all our students—graduate and undergraduate—the creativity, innovation, and problem-solving ability that will prepare them for that future. This January, we will be launching Innovate@BU—an initiative to create the environment in which all our students can engage in innovation and entrepreneurship.

Last spring, a faculty and staff committee led by Professor Siobhan O’Mahony of the Questrom School of Business submitted a report, Innovate@BU, Creating a Vision for Entrepreneurship and Innovation@BU. Based on the recommendations in the report and with generous support from a group of alumni and friends, the University has made a major commitment to launch the Innovate@BU initiative. Funding for Innovate@BU will exceed $20 million over the coming decade.

Innovate@BU will be headed by Executive Director Gerald Fine, who founded and led Boston University’s very successful Engineering Product Innovation Center (EPIC) in the College of Engineering. Professor O’Mahony will serve as Director of Research & Curriculum. Innovate@BU will be staffed by a team of professionals and supported by faculty from across the University.

The initiative consists of six core elements:

  • A Student Innovation Center as the focal point of student engagement from across the University, staffed in a way that supports curriculum innovation, engages the entire campus community, and conducts effective outreach to the larger Boston entrepreneurial ecosystem. We will launch the Student Innovation Center in 730 Commonwealth Avenue—the space that previously housed Radio Shack, just across the street from Marsh Chapel. Eventually, the Student Innovation Center will be in a 10,000-square-foot facility elsewhere on the Charles River Campus.
  • Curriculum development in entrepreneurship and the innovation enterprise for students across the University, potentially leading to a minor in innovation that aligns with the requirements of the BU Hub general education requirement.
  • Student start-up creation of both for-profit and non-profit ventures through mentoring support and network building, team building, prototyping funds, and contests.
  • Business engagement, connecting Innovate@BU to the Greater Boston entrepreneurial community and beyond.
  • Research in innovation and entrepreneurship to engage faculty and scholars.
  • Wayfinding, marketing, and branding developed by Innovate@BU will guide all our students into the innovation community and will market our students and the enterprises they develop to the outside world.

The Student Innovation Center will be known as BUild Lab: IDG Capital Student Innovation Center, in recognition of generous support supplied by IDG Capital, led by alumnus and Trustee Hugo Shong (COM’87).

Using Innovate@BU as a portal, students will be able to reach the many assets for innovation and entrepreneurship that already exist at Boston University, including programs such as:

We are organizing Innovate@BU as an all-University effort, administratively hosted by the Questrom School of Business and overseen by an advisory board of deans from the most engaged academic units. An external advisory board will be used to assure real-world relevance.

Innovate@BU is an important step toward giving all our students opportunities to become innovative leaders in the 21st century. I would encourage you to read the BU Today article to learn more.

Sincerely,

Robert A. Brown signature
Robert A. Brown
President

View all posts