Another week, and another opportunity. This time, I was invited to join a selection of University of Manchester academics and PHD students at the first of five Entrepreneurial Roadmap Sessions by the University of Manchester Intellectual Property (UMIP) team, hosted by Ian Brookes from DNA People.<\/p>\n
UMIP has the responsibility of providing Intellectual Property (IP) management and commercialisation activities throughout the University. They\u2019ve therefore taken an active role in encouraging an entrepreneurial mind-set among students and staff, here in Manchester, with the aim of more spin-offs materialising.<\/p>\n
And their success can be measured too. Depending on which source you use, it\u2019s reported that 80% of all start-ups fail. This contrasts the 69% success rate of UMIP associated spinouts. Perhaps UMIP is the rabbit\u2019s foot we\u2019re all looking for?<\/p>\n
SUR-130<\/strong><\/p>\n This first session focused on balancing academia and entrepreneurship. Which I felt somewhat out of place for. See, I was the only undergraduate in the room. Minus two PHD students, the audience was academics, very opinionated academics.<\/p>\n This resulted in a somewhat constructive level of drama, whereby every statistic, question, or statement was scrutinised by the above-average-IQ\u2019d audience. It was perhaps even more interesting to talk to the other attendees, with such a huge range of backgrounds and experiences.<\/p>\n From a member of staff hoping to launch an arts-based innovation scheme in the third world, to a bioengineer who claimed to have a cure for cancer, every background was covered.<\/p>\n JUST A THOUGHT<\/strong><\/p>\n Perhaps one of the factors I found most interesting was a discussion regarding how much the University is currently doing to encourage an entrepreneurial mind-set. As made clear by the presence of UMIP, Manchester has a fantastic groundwork for developing and launching spin-offs, but there\u2019s doubt over how much first hand encouragement is provided directly to students.<\/p>\n Having seen the University of Manchester ranked as high as 33rd <\/sup>best Worldwide (QS 2015\/16), we\u2019re all aware of the potential that lies within its 40,000 strong student population. But perhaps this isn\u2019t being maximised upon.<\/p>\n Within the School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, we\u2019ve participated in modules designed to directly encourage these skills. Whether it be the third year module \u2018Tools & Techniques for Enterprise\u2019, or the fantastic \u2018Build a Product\u2019 project in first year.<\/p>\n Wouldn\u2019t it be great if more schools made similar modules compulsory? Or perhaps the University could launch something like a multi-day event on campus devoted to educating encouraging such activities, in the same way it currently does for careers or social awareness.<\/p>\n It shall be called \u2018The Apprentfest\u2019, and the three-day event will include presentations by well-known entrepreneurs\u2019 \/ Manchester alumina, specialist workshops, and a Dragons Den styled finale with a panel of Dame Nancy Rothwell, Brian Cox, and Benedict Cumberbatch. Just a thought.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Another week, and another opportunity. This time, I was invited to join a selection of University of Manchester academics and PHD students at the first of five Entrepreneurial Roadmap Sessions by the University of Manchester Intellectual Property (UMIP) team, hosted by Ian Brookes from DNA People.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":92,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,14],"tags":[24,37,25,22],"class_list":{"0":"post-91","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eee-in-the-real-world","8":"category-life-in-eee","9":"tag-3rd-year","10":"tag-alec","11":"tag-events","12":"tag-undergraduate","13":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n