The Latest MEC Incubator News: Nov 2022 New Location & Upcoming Events

November

What to Know for November

New Lease & Location in Fairfax City for MEC-Fairfax

The Fairfax City Economic Development Authority (EDA) announced in October it has executed a new memorandum of agreement to continue operations of the Mason Enterprise Center - Fairfax “MEC-Fairfax”, along with its institutional partners George Mason University and the City of Fairfax and has signed a lease for the relocation and modernization of the MEC - Fairfax to 10300 Eaton Place in Fairfax City.

The relocation of the MEC-Fairfax also includes relocating the sponsored programs to a 6,680- square-foot space at 10306 Eaton Place. “George Mason is proud to be continuing this 25-year-old partnership with the City of Fairfax and the Economic Development Authority to grow small businesses in the region. The Mason Enterprise Center has worked in partnership to serve the community by providing services and access to university resources and talent in the support of the local economy – and we look forward to continuing the work through our next chapter of this shared mission” said Dr. Gregory Washington, President of George Mason University.

The MEC and the City’s economic development teams will leverage the new location and state-of-the-art facilities in identifying and incubating new businesses with high growth and mentorship potential. The new MEC - Fairfax buildout will be completed by November 2022 when they move into the space.

“This is a monumental step in the evolution of business incubation in Northern Virginia. The new MEC - Fairfax, powered by George Mason University, will solidify Fairfax City’s place in the innovation economy currently exploding in Northern Virginia” said Christopher Bruno, Fairfax City Director of Economic Development. “This partnership will allow Fairfax to continue working to attract new startups and businesses looking to grow within the center of our metropolitan region.”

MEC-Loudoun Celebrates its 10-year Anniversary

Mushtaq Khan, Principal Advisor of Makpar, and Joe Linza, Founder of Lynker, MEC-Leesburg companies, receiving their Inc 5000 Awards.

10 Years of Helping Startups and Small Businesses in the Region

In her celebratory remarks, GMU's AVP for Innovation and Economic Development, Paula Sorrell, mentioned "how proud Mason is of the 240 companies the MEC-Leesburg has served, graduating an average of 11 companies per year, with more than half remaining in Loudoun County. Several have grown significantly and hired hundreds of employees. Mason Enterprise Center companies have access to Mason student interns and faculty-guided work projects, no-cost mentorship, payroll support, group health insurance and more. Mason looks forward to its expanded partnership with the City of Fairfax, Prince William County, and Arlington.

Last year Mason’s entrepreneurial and small business services put on 863 no cost or low-cost workshops across Virginia. AVP Sorrell thanked Leesburg and Loudoun for their partnership with the MEC for the past ten years."

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Mason students receiving the $2,000 check for their second place finish from George Mason University President, Dr. Gregory Washington, through the Cameron Rian Hays “Outside the Box” Student Competition.

GMU Students Win Second and Third Places at Accelerate 2022 Student Compeition

Accelerate 2022 featured area leaders and highlighted the latest discussions around innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth. In addition, $10,000 was awarded to top pitch winners.

Congratulations to George Mason students, Wyatt Mingus, Reed Lawrence, Abdulrahman Albawardi, Mohanned Yasin, from Aircraft Maintenance, for winning 2nd place in the pitch competition.

Through machine learning the health of an aircraft can be analyzed from collected sensor data, creating the opportunity for failures to be predicted. Implementing a condition-based predictive strategy to aircraft maintenance allows for maintenance actions to be performed only when necessary. Increasing aircraft availability while also reducing risks to safety.

Special mention goes out to GMU's Mahati Malladi and her team for their 3rd place finish.

MEC-Fairfax Welcomes New Client

MEC-Fairfax Welcomes Whizport

Whizport connects professional IT talent in the DMV. At Whizport, our team synchronizes with our clients and learns about their technology, projects, culture, industry, and opportunities. Our recruiters are IT experts and can discuss complex technology stack competencies and challenges in great detail. The network of our IT professionals is carefully developed and curated, which enables us to harness the power of network effects. Moreover, we assess beyond what’s on paper – by leveraging emergent and refined techniques for identifying unique talent.

Whizport is a certified Small, Women and Minority-Owned (SWaM) business by the Commonwealth of Virginia.

www.whizport.com

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Upcoming Webinars

November 18th Webinar: Leverage Your Strengths for Well-Being

You may know already that your brain is hardwired to focus more attention on the negative than the positive. When it’s time to evaluate your performance, you may have noticed that it’s more difficult to think specifically about your strengths, but you can identify your weaknesses quickly. That’s your negativity bias in action. Understanding your weaknesses is important for your development; however, becoming aware of your strengths—and leveraging them as often as you can.

You’ll take away strategies for integrating your natural talents and strengths into your daily life.

Prior to the webinar, you can take the free VIA Character Strengths Survey to discover your greatest strengths (viacharacter.org/survey/account/register—is actually a critical piece of getting the results you want.

MEC-Loudoun Event - Techcess Talks

Critical and Emerging Technologies of the Next Five Years and the Opportunities They Represent

Visit The MIX at Horizon Hall to

Create, Innovate, and Collaborate

Need to Prototype an Idea?

When Biology Professor Travis Gallo needed custom cases made for a research project, he reached out to the MIX for help. Professor Gallo is part of Mason's conservation science lab in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy. One of the projects that the UrbanX Nature Lab is collaborating with is in urban wildlife tracking. By placing sensors around urban environments, they can count and analyze wildlife.

Professor Gallo was able to consult with MIX staff to design and prototype the enclosures to protect the sensors and tracking devices,. These custom cases were printed at The MIX using their 3D printers and we look forward to hearing about the results.

The MIX facilitates and supports collaborative collisions and their resulting outcomes with a focus on entrepreneurship, innovation, and research. Its mission is to foster an interdisciplinary environment where Mason’s students, faculty, and staff have a chance to interact, work together, and innovate. The MIX, like the MEC, is an initiative out of Mason’s Office of Research, Innovation and Economic Development.

Learn More

For more information about the MIX contact Tim Nielsen at mix@gmu.edu, Manager MIX Makerspace & Events

Experience What Makes MEC-Fairfax Unique

The Mason Enterprise Center - Fairfax offers a one-week free trial to new clients.

Schedule a visit!