| RELATED INFO |
| * 2008 Idea-2-Product Competition |
February 11, 2008
Students to present entrepreneurial inventions at Purdue competition
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -
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This event, which is free and open to the public, will take place in the Krannert Center for Executive Education and Research. The competition is sponsored by two Discovery Park centers - the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship and the Center for the Environment.
"This is an annual event that has been expanded to include all areas of social entrepreneurship," said Nancy Clement, interim director of the Social Entrepreneurship Initiative at the Burton Morgan Center.
So far, 12 Purdue student teams have registered to present projects. Service-learning teams with local project partners will present concurrently throughout the day with teams from the Center for the Environment.The top teams will then move on to the National Idea-to-Product Competition for Social Entrepreneurship, which will be April 5 at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
"This is a unique competition in that we focus on the social as well as the economic return on investment – commonly referred to as the 'double bottom line,'" Clement said. "Our students are passionate about their causes and are striving to attain sustainability for the programs."
Teams are judged on their product's technology and the prototype or conceptual plan and how the product can meet a societal need.
The team from the Lafayette Area Reading Academy took top honors in the 2007 Purdue competition. Second place in the local competition went to the team from Greater Lafayette Area Special Services, which went on to win third place in the national competition in Princeton, N.J. The national competition will return to Purdue next year.
"The future of environmental solutions includes entrepreneurship," said Brent Ladd, program coordinator for the learning and engagement program at the Center for the Environment. "We are especially excited about the breadth of concepts with environmental solutions that will be presented this year. Most of our entrepreneurship teams are unique in that students from a wide range of Purdue programs are collaborating. We will continue to combine efforts between the Center for the Environment and Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship."
For information, contact Clement at (765) 494-9884 or (765) 414-3938.
Writer: Maggie Morris, (765) 494-2432, maggiemorris@purdue.edu
Sources: Nancy Clement, (765) 494-9884, (765) 414-3938 (cell), nic@purdue.edu
Brent Ladd, (765) 494-1949, laddb@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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