The ECenter is the co-curricular heart of ideas, innovation, and entrepreneurship at UNH. Our goal is to create the next generation of leaders with an entrepreneurial mind-set who can see opportunities and identify creative solutions others have missed, one idea at a time. Although part of UNH, we are independent of any one college.
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The Latest Happenings from the ECenter
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One of the great things about the New Year holiday in the middle of the academic year is that on January 2nd we already have huge momentum at our backs. I call it the “sling-shot effect," and boy, do we have it!
This January, we also celebrate three years of the ECenter's doors being open at UNHI in Madbury Commons! We can't believe how fast the time has gone and we're excited to see what the next three years have in store.
First, thank you to the many year-end donors to the ECenter. All of our programs are 100% funded by donations, so we all appreciate your support as we continue to inspire and grow the idea, innovation, and entrepreneurial culture at UNH.
I would also like to welcome Allison Bell to the ECenter team. Allison joins us from the UNH Office of Alumni Relations and is the ECenter’s Associate Program Manager. Knowing UNH as she does, she too has landed with sling-shot momentum and we look forward to all that she will do to help us grow.
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As you will read below, many of the student teams who have been working on their ideas at the ECenter entered and did extremely well in UNH’s Social Venture Innovation Challenge (SVIC). The SVIC provides an excellent reason and deadline for students to work hard to validate and establish their ideas as ventures that can have significant impact.
The Spring semester ahead is full of great experiential opportunities for students. From a first-ever Start-Up Career Fair in partnership with CaPS, to an expanded Paid Student Internship at Start-ups Program, and the expanded Summer Seed Grant sponsored by Pierce Atwood. This is in addition to selecting a winner for the $5,000 Maurice Prize, Spring i2 Passport Program, bootcamps, speaker series, hackathons, and of course, preparing students for the Holloway Prize Competition.
Perhaps one can see why sling-shot momentum is necessary to do all that we do.
Wishing you the best for 2019,
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Ian Grant
Executive Director, ECenter
e.center@unh.edu
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i2 Passport Winners - Fall 2018
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Sponsored by the Patten Family Foundation, the innovative i2 Passport Program rewards students for engaging in ideas and entrepreneurship activities on campus with the chance to win $35,000 in cash prizes to help pay off student loans and tuition, with an additional focus on FirstGen students (first in family to attend college). i2P encourages students to start to explore and understand ideas, innovation, and entrepreneurship and how they might incorporate aspects into their personal and academic lives. This involvement is then rewarded in Passport Visa Stamps Credits and the chance to win prizes totaling $35,000.
For the fall 2018 semester of i2 Passport (the 4th semester of the program), we did something a little different.
With the goal of increasing student participation, we broke the events/activities down into eight categories and required participation in just one event/activity per category. While we saw a big increase in the number of students who were eligible for cash prizes at the December 6th Award Ceremony, our goal is to see even more UNH students participate
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The winners for fall 2018 were:
- $6,000 1st Prize - Matthew Perry '19 (Paul College) from Durham, NH
- $3,000 2nd Prize - Elizabeth O'Malley '19 (Paul College) from Dover, NH
- $2,000 3rd Prize – Anupreet Saini '20 (Paul College) from Concord, NH
- $2,000 FirstGen Prize – Nial Luu '19 (COLSA) from Medford, MA
- $2,000 Runner-up Prize Drawings
- Jessica Nelson '21 (Paul College) from (Deerfield, NH)
- Sierra Migneault '19 (Paul College) from Brookline, NH
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Coaching Social Venture Innovation Challenge Winners
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Ian Grant remarked, “I'm so proud of these students I had the honor to coach and work with to develop their ideas. They spent long hours, worked hard, and made the finals from over 95 entries; then more long hours to prepare for live presentations and went on place at the top of their tracks. Each student started with a passion, a personal experience, or an observation that they acted on. The future is bright with passionate, hard working students chasing dreams and solving problems
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1st Place Student Track
Lux: Safer Dating
Founded by
Christin Badylak-Reals '19, Sean McLoud '19, Julie Berberian '19, and Mark Torpey '19, Lux: Safer Dating is a dating app that integrates wearable technology and location tracking to mitigate dating sexual violence.
Watch their video here
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2nd Place Student Track
True Vote
Founded by Elizabeth O'Malley '19, True Vote is a m
obile and web application that would enable voter participation on a daily basis as well as encourage politician accountability.
Check out Elizabeth's video
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3rd Place Student Track
Janas Analytics
Founded by Sarah Jarrar '21, Janas Analytics is a s
oftware that would be one of the first proactive solutions to predicting global migrant crises.
View Sarah's video
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1st Place Community Track
TheHive
Founded by Devon Crawford ’18 and Jack Nichols, TheHive is an independent quick-deploy network that any wifi enabled device can access, giving users a means of communications with emergency crews and family.
Watch TheHive's video
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The ECenter is excited to welcome Allison Bell to the team as our Associate Program Manager!
She joins the ECenter with a decade of experience in higher education program support. Most recently, she was a Senior Event Specialist in the Office of Alumni Relations at UNH, where she worked with regional networks across the country to develop and execute events and engagement strategies.
Allison earned her BA in English Language and Literature from Central Washington University in 2010 and earned an MA in English Literature and an MFA in Writing from UNH in 2013 and 2016, respectively.
At the ECenter, Allison will be focusing on marketing, events, and operations. We're thrilled to have her on the team!
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Calling All Start-ups:
We Will Pay for a Summer Intern for You!
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Are you at a start-up in need of an intern to work with your leadership team this summer? Thanks to the generosity of the Patten Family Foundation, the ECenter is again offering start-ups to have a student work for them, and we pay the student intern! It is our way of supporting the start-up community and provide students an “in the trenches” experience.
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Check out the ECenter's $4,000 Paid Student Internship at Start-ups Program! Applications are due on or before February 15th.
See the details on our website.
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Thinking About Opening Your Own Business?
Join our Webinar to Learn the 101 Basics.
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Details:
Lunchtime Webinar hosted by UNH Alumni Office
March 7, 2019
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
FREE and open to all!
Presenters:
Ian Grant, Executive Director at UNH’s Entrepreneurship Center (ECenter)
Jamie Baker, Partner at Pierce Atwood, LLP
Learn about the steps to take your business idea to launch and the importance of “customer discovery” before you open and spend a lot of time and money. Then, understand the legal aspects and documents you need to have and why!
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Start-up Career Fair Open for Registration
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The ECenter is partnering with Career and Professional Success (CaPS) and the student-run Entrepreneurship Club to co-host a career fair just for start-ups and students interested in working at start-ups.
The first-ever career fair at UNH just for start-ups will help start-ups find students with a wide range of skills and an understanding and passion for start-up environments. Students’ entrepreneurial skill sets come from the academic and experiential learning that happens across campus in every college, regardless of major. The table fee is just $50!
Be a part of the innovative and entrepreneurship story at UNH and join us at the Start-up Career Fair on March 25th!
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Alumni Entrepreneur Hall of Fame Seeking Nominations
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The ECenter is
seeking nominations
for its second inductee class into the Alumni Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. Created with a gift from an anonymous donor, the Hall of Fame recognized its first members in the fall of 2018. The deadline to nominate for the 2019 award is August 1, 2019. Self-nominations are encouraged!
“More than 10,000 UNH alumni have founded, co-founded, or run their own companies,” said Ian Grant, Executive Director of the ECenter. “This gift allows us to celebrate the innovation and entrepreneurship that has been in the DNA of UNH students and alumni since the beginning. In addition, this inspires students to see what is possible when you have an idea and take the steps to move it forward into a successful venture.”
The award recognizes a graduate who has achieved entrepreneurial success with ventures they have founded, co-founded, or own and who have given back to the community in a meaningful way.
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Ian Grant
Executive Director
Ian.Grant@unh.edu
(603) 862-5470
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Heather MacNeill
Program Manager
Heather.MacNeill@unh.edu
(603) 862-4959
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Allison Bell
Associate Program Manager
Allison.Bell@unh.edu
(603) 862-0349
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