WCU is a University of North Carolina campus
Recent Stories
- Campaign: Kimmel gift yields new scholarships, professorships
- Carnegie Foundation recognizes WCU for community engagement
- WCU to hold Jan. 8 info session, registration for Asheville programs
- Annual trumpet festival set for Jan. 16-18 at WCU
- School of Nursing to host open house on Jan. 24
- Alumna named director of graduate nurse administration program
- Herr-Hoyman named WCU's new Web Services director
- Service-learning fair planned for Jan. 27
- WCU marketing major takes first place at regional sales competition
- Health sciences students collect food items for Community Table of Sylva
WCU creates entrepreneurship hub, renames engineering resource arm
12/1/2006 - The board of trustees at Western Carolina University endorsed the creation of a center to spur new ideas for business ventures in Western North Carolina and renamed an existing center to better reflect its increasing role in using the university’s high-tech resources to provide technical assistance to regional business and industry.
The board approved the new Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and bestowed the name Center for Rapid Product Realization on what has been known as the Center for Integrated Technologies. The action came as part of the board’s quarterly meeting Friday, Dec. 1.
The Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation will be housed in WCU’s College of Business and will be charged with providing entrepreneurship programs on and off the campus. The CEI is designed to build upon the university’s existing undergraduate and graduate programs in entrepreneurship, and to support faculty research focusing on issues of innovation, new venture creation and growth, commercialization and technology transfer, and identification of funding sources.
Entrepreneurship and new business creation have become increasingly important in today’s global economy, in which many traditional manufacturing industries have closed and as many of the region’s young people are forced to move away to find good jobs, said WCU Provost Kyle Carter. “The need for regional entrepreneurship has never been greater. The need for a new way to reverse the loss of enterprises and jobs is vital,” Carter said.
The CEI will serve as a hub to stimulate and commercialize new ideas and create new ventures in the region through several activities, including an enhanced entrepreneurship curriculum; an innovation and entrepreneurship “boot camp” for faculty; a new commercialization laboratory to support new commercial ventures; collaboration with external agencies; and an innovation roundtable allowing successful entrepreneurs to share their success stories.
The newly named Center for Rapid Product Realization replaces the previous Center for Integrated Technologies, created in February 2004 with a focus on education and applied research in the areas of product development, optoelectronics, rapid prototyping, laser machining and parametric modeling. It will remain housed in the Kimmel School of Construction Management, Engineering and Technology under the direction of Phil Sanger.
The name change is designed to reflect a natural evolution in the activities within the center, Carter said.
“Western’s focus has been on the utilization of the latest technologies to solve current challenges in the creation of new products,” he said. “Rapid product realization is core to almost every business, yet the technologies used to provide test parts, first products to customers, or lab prototypes are not typically found in many companies. Through the resources in the center, we can continue our emphasis on providing a critical service to industries, give our students valuable hands-on learning experience, build expertise in high-technology manufacturing, and help attract new industry and jobs to the region.”
Duane Dunlap, Kimmel School director, said the center’s new name is in keeping with a central tenet of the school’s mission of external engagement with the region. “We are either working to keep jobs in the region, create new economic opportunities that did not exist before, or improve the quality of life for people,” said Dunlap. “The CIT has worked with more than 80 companies over the past three years. We fully anticipate that level of engagement to increase with the CRPR.”
The board approved the new Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and bestowed the name Center for Rapid Product Realization on what has been known as the Center for Integrated Technologies. The action came as part of the board’s quarterly meeting Friday, Dec. 1.
The Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation will be housed in WCU’s College of Business and will be charged with providing entrepreneurship programs on and off the campus. The CEI is designed to build upon the university’s existing undergraduate and graduate programs in entrepreneurship, and to support faculty research focusing on issues of innovation, new venture creation and growth, commercialization and technology transfer, and identification of funding sources.
Entrepreneurship and new business creation have become increasingly important in today’s global economy, in which many traditional manufacturing industries have closed and as many of the region’s young people are forced to move away to find good jobs, said WCU Provost Kyle Carter. “The need for regional entrepreneurship has never been greater. The need for a new way to reverse the loss of enterprises and jobs is vital,” Carter said.
The CEI will serve as a hub to stimulate and commercialize new ideas and create new ventures in the region through several activities, including an enhanced entrepreneurship curriculum; an innovation and entrepreneurship “boot camp” for faculty; a new commercialization laboratory to support new commercial ventures; collaboration with external agencies; and an innovation roundtable allowing successful entrepreneurs to share their success stories.
The newly named Center for Rapid Product Realization replaces the previous Center for Integrated Technologies, created in February 2004 with a focus on education and applied research in the areas of product development, optoelectronics, rapid prototyping, laser machining and parametric modeling. It will remain housed in the Kimmel School of Construction Management, Engineering and Technology under the direction of Phil Sanger.
The name change is designed to reflect a natural evolution in the activities within the center, Carter said.
“Western’s focus has been on the utilization of the latest technologies to solve current challenges in the creation of new products,” he said. “Rapid product realization is core to almost every business, yet the technologies used to provide test parts, first products to customers, or lab prototypes are not typically found in many companies. Through the resources in the center, we can continue our emphasis on providing a critical service to industries, give our students valuable hands-on learning experience, build expertise in high-technology manufacturing, and help attract new industry and jobs to the region.”
Duane Dunlap, Kimmel School director, said the center’s new name is in keeping with a central tenet of the school’s mission of external engagement with the region. “We are either working to keep jobs in the region, create new economic opportunities that did not exist before, or improve the quality of life for people,” said Dunlap. “The CIT has worked with more than 80 companies over the past three years. We fully anticipate that level of engagement to increase with the CRPR.”