News
05/14/12 — Gryphn Co-Founder Bobby Saini Speaks to EIP Students
Bobby Saini, Co-Founder of Gryphn Corporation, a mobile security company and creator of ArmorText, which enables secure text messaging, spoke recently to Mtech's Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program freshman class, HEIP 144, Contemporary Issues in Entrepreneurship & Innovation.
Saini detailed a career path that includes a leadership role at RDB's South Asian music label Three Records and a government consulting company he started while attending George Mason University.
"I thought he was a real down-to-earth guy and not that much older than us so I could see me being in his shoes," said EIP student Allan Nicholas. "I liked how he went into the music business first. It was really interesting to see his journey and how he helped create a really cool product and put the power in the sender when sending messages."
Saini emphasized to students that they should broaden their view when considering career paths.
"Working for "the man" is great, but the vibe and creative freedom you have when working at a startup is amazing," said Saini. "I've also found that students in the D.C. region feel they have to go to the West Coast to work for a cool start-up. That is absolutely wrong! There are great companies being formed in D.C. everyday, and overall the tech vibe is awesome here. We are just miles away from the most powerful city in the world. They can knock on hundreds of doors of agencies and companies to help them solve problems in innovative ways. It's easy to get involved in the tech scene here in D.C. I got started by attending a few events in the area: Bootstrap Maryland, which is hosted at UMD's College Park Campus and was started by UMD Alumn Jared Goralnick, DC Entrepreneurship Week, where I re-connected with Navroop Mitter, co-founder and CEO of Gryphn, and MoDevDC, put on by Pete Erickson, where Navroop met our third co-founder, Aaron Huttner."
11/30/11 — EIP Students Head to the White House
The success of the University of Maryland's entrepreneurship programs drew invitations to 35 students from the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program (EIP) to visit the White House on November 28 as part of the "I Am an Entrepreneur" event.
Sponsored by the Young Entrepreneur Council and MTV, the event served as a platform for more than 150 aspiring and current entrepreneurs from universities across the country to learn from successful young entrepreneurs. YEC founder Scott Gerber kicked off the event, while MTV's Sway Calloway moderated a series of panels featuring business leaders and entrepreneurs such as Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and Dina Kaplan, co-founder of blip.tv.
"This was the most inspiring entrepreneurship-related event I have been to," said EIP student and marketing and psychology major Melinda Pandiangan. "The sheer amount of wealth and talent they had packed into one room made everyone want to go out and do something, not just talk about it. They gave you the impression that anything really was possible."
11/28/11 — UMD's Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program Named Finalist for National Excellence in Entrepreneurship Education Awards
The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program (EIP) has been named a national finalist for the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) Excellence in Entrepreneurship Education Awards in the Outstanding Emerging Program category.
A joint program of the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech) and The Honors College, the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program was acknowledged as an "exemplary emerging initiative reflecting innovation, quality, potential viability, comprehensiveness, depth of support, sustainability, and impact."
EIP was selected from a record 47 entries for the USASBE award. Of those, just 11 nominations in six different categories moved on to the finalist round. Finals for the Excellence in Entrepreneurship Education Awards will be held at the 2012 USASBE Conference in New Orleans, from January 11-15.
09/15/11 — EIP Student Visits HY-TEK Bio
Pictured, from left to right: Zheng Liu, researcher, Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology; Jack French, Vice President, HY-TEK Bio; EIP student Lindsay Djuhadi; and Bob Mroz, President and CEO, HY-TEK Bio.
Baltimore-based HY-TEK Bio is an early stage company developing a patent-pending process to remove carbon dioxide and other harmful greenhouse gases from smoke stake flue gas.
HY-TEK scrubs the gas by funneling it into a sealed bioreactor that contains algae, waste water and LED lights. The algae feeds on pollutants in the waste water and flue gas, yielding cleaner water and cleaner emissions. The process produces high-lipid-oil algae, a key ingredient in some skin care products, nutritional supplements, medications, paints, bio-plastics and biofuels.
09/13/11 — EIP Students Showcase Technology
(from left to right) EIP Director Jay Smith with EIP students Shrey Tarpara and Micaela Larson, who presented their new product idea at the Bisnow Maryland State of Tech and Life Sciences event on September 13, 2011 at the University of Maryland.
06/16/11 — UM EIP Student Wins Prestigious Fulbright Summer Institute Scholarship at Roehampton University in the U.K.
Stephanie Graf, a student in the joint Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech) and Honors College Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program (EIP), has won a prestigious Fulbright Summer Institute scholarship to study at Roehampton University.
Graf was selected from a strong applicant pool for the scholarship, through which she will learn about and experience the United Kingdom during a four-week summer program. While there, she will experience a stimulating academic curriculum, investigate concepts of citizenship and identity, improve her presentation and communication skills, and explore the culture of the U.K. with trips around London and Edinburgh. The summer initiative ends with a team project to produce a short film about human rights and citizenship.
08/30/10: EIP Launches
The new Honors Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program (EIP) officially launched Monday, August 30, with a special ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The profile for the inaugural class includes:
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74 students
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1430 average SAT score
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17 percent are Banneker/Key scholars (given to just 2.5 percent of undergraduates)
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39 percent are business majors
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31 percent are engineering majors
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30 percent are arts and science majors
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All of them share a passion for the power of entrepreneurship and innovation!
Watch a video of the ceremony or view pictures from the event.
EIP In the News
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New Head of Maryland Entrepreneur Program Lends Global Perspective
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Putting Young Entrepreneurs on the Fast Track (E@M Magazine, page 16)
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