11:00 AM
to 12:30 PM
Insights from Young Entrepreneurs
6 Attendees
Location
Sansome
Type Student Development, Panels
In most colleges, entrepreneurship programs strive to help students be "major+" graduates: students complete their selected major and gain the unique "plus" skills and knowledge in entrepreneurship. Does this approach succeed? This panel brings together five or six young graduates from a variety of colleges and majors with entrepreneurship programs to discuss how well their education has served (or not served) them in being entrepreneurs or intrapreneurs. The session will have three segments. First, panelists will briefly overview their backgrounds and current careers. Second, they will answer questions on topics such as what they wish they had learned in college, failure, challenges, and what ethical dilemmas have they faced. The remainder of the session will be open Q&A. The goal is for the audience to gain insights into effective entrepreneurship education.
Tags Thurs 2A
11:00 AM
to 12:30 PM
Preparing Students to Travel Overseas: Experiences from MIT's D-Lab
6 Attendees
Location
Washington
Type Student Development, Workshops
Nadia Elkordy, Gwyn Jones, Kendra Leith, Ariel Phillips, Amy Smith, Kofi Taha
For many students, addressing challenges faced in developing countries is the most rewarding application of their education. Over the several years of their existence, D-Lab courses at MIT have been taken by many students, most of whom travel to developing countries as part of their project work. Instructors and students alike frequently face interesting and surprising challenges before and during trips. Often, what we have prepared in university classrooms and workshops looks very different when we arrive in the field. For example, it's easy to forget simple things, like making personal introductions before launching into project questions in a new village. This workshop will provide an overview of the history and development of MIT's D-Lab family of courses, as well as perspectives from former D-Lab students and trip leaders about such challenges as advance communication with community partners, design obstacles, and difficult team dynamics. We will also share stories of successful practices and lessons learned the hard way, both before and during trips. We will include opportunities for attendees to discuss their experiences and knowledge about preparing students for travel.
Tags Fri 2C
2:30 PM
to 4:00 PM
Student Development Workshop (students only)
6 Attendees
Location
Sansome
Type Student Development, Workshops
One of the many challenges when setting up your venture is knowing how and where to spend that scarcest resource of all, your time. Building your networks, developing your product or service, understanding how your strategy evolves along with every new bit of information you discover, and working out how to keep your business progressing the way you want can be tough with so many moving pieces. This highly interactive session will help you develop the way you think strategically and understand how to build meaningful relationships with customers, partners and potential investors as well as mentors and advisors in the most effective way.
Tags Fri 3A
