UMaine Hosting Public Workshop for Technology Entrepreneurs
Contact: Abbe Jacobs, (207) 866-6500; George Manlove, (207) 581-3756
ORONO — The University of Maine’s Student Innovation Center, in partnership with the National Collegiate Innovators and Inventors Alliance, is bringing the Alliance’s “Invention 2 Venture” conference to campus Nov. 9.
The workshop, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at Buchanan Alumni House, will focus on the basics of technology entrepreneurship. It is intended primarily for college and university students, but also is open to anyone who wants to know more about this very important topic. Cost is $10 for students, faculty members and staff, and $75 for others. A participant guide, lunch and a continental breakfast are included in the fee.
Presentations will focus on venture capital, marketing, intellectual property, business plans and related topics. The workshop will introduce inventors and entrepreneurs to the steps necessary to turn ideas into successful business opportunities, from protecting ideas to finding money, according to the UMaine Student Innovation Center. The innovation center is a new facility designed to provide a place where UMaine students can access resources, counseling and mentoring for the development of new inventions and entrepreneurial ideas.
The workshop also will create networking opportunities, through which students and community entrepreneurs can meet other entrepreneurs and resource providers. Business men and women in the community can learn about the commercialization process so that they have a better understanding of the needs of clients in the technology field.
The keynote speaker is Dover-Foxcroft native and MIT graduate Dale Flanders, the CEO and founder of Axsun Technologies, a manufacturing company with Massachusetts and California operations that specialize in advanced miniature optical systems.
Other workshop speakers include representatives from: the Maine Patent Program; Maine Technology Institute; the Intellectual Property Group at Verrill Dana, LLC, law firm; PBC Consulting, a human resources consulting firm; the Libra Foundation; Cost Recovery Services; Maine Medical Center; Corporate Finance Associates; the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance; Marketing Management Solutions; and the UMaine Office of Research, Economic Development (ORED). ORED acts as the liaison office for business and industry, supporting economic development with the assistance of University of Maine resources.
Sponsors for this event include: the UMaine College of Natural Sciences, Forestry & Agriculture, the Maine Technology Institute, Verrill Dana, University of Maine Credit Union, the UMaine College of Engineering and the university’s Advanced Engineered Wood Composite Center.
For more information please contact Abbe Jacobs at 207-866-6500 or abbe.jacobs@umit.maine.edu.