ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE
I will begin my minor in the spring of 2018 and complete both introductory courses (3 credits each). I will be completing my Entrepreneurship and Innovation by taking ENME204, ENME408, ENME444 and upper-level ENTR elective. I will also participate in the Idea Competition held by the Alex Brown Center for Entrepreneurship in the fall of 2018.
THE IDEA COMPETITION
While this doesn’t directly relate to my Grand Challenge of providing access to clean drinking water, it does focus on engineering better medicines which is another interest of mine. Since this is a rehabilitative tool, useful for both recovery and assisting in decreasing muscle atrophy, it is useful for increasing the standards of living. Ultimately, this relates back to my grand challenge as it serves in enhancing the health standard and therefore allowing others to gain access without physical-injury barriers.
This is the first draft of the idea. A..B.L.E. is for Aiding a Better Living Experience. The business plan was developed during the ENTR200 course.
This is the second revision of the idea. This version was submitted to the Alex Brown Center Idea Competition. Renamed ReActive, for a more appropriate portrayal.
The idea competition will include an initial proposal, a dry run of the presentation, selection through the semi-finals round, and the final presentation and competition. I will base my idea around integrating rehabilitative assistive technology into compression clothing. The competition will begin with the submission deadline of October 11, 2018 and the competition being held on November 27th.
RESHAPING MY EXPERIENCE
Realistic vision is very prevalent in my entrepreneurship experience as I will be tackling several approaches and possible designs to a problem while maintainingperspectiveof the real world. It is imperative to consider the side effects and repercussions as social entrepreneurs often integrate into areas where a certain solution might have unforeseen outcomes. It is these difficulties that must be confronted and tackled repeatedly while pursuing a project, making persistencean important quality that is gained through the entrepreneurial experience.
During both intro level ENTR courses and the ENME design courses to complete the minor, teamwork is an integral part of the challenge. All classes involve a design aspect to be tackled in teams while solving a problem in an innovative way.
The idea competition focuses on issues of health and living standards by providing solutions to improve the quality of life. The competition is a step into integrating the classroom contents to real applications as it provides funding for the winners to pursue their idea.