Columbia Entrepreneurship

Third Thursday - Social Entrepreneurship
2019-03-28 18:00 - 20:00 UTC
Hosted by Columbia Engineering, in partnership with the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise
Thursday, March 28, 2019
at Columbia Journalism School, World Room
from 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Refreshments and hors d’oeuvres with RSVP
Third Thursday is a recurring open forum that brings together the Columbia University entrepreneurship community for an evening of networking, info session, and pitch presentations. It provides students, faculty, staff, and alumni the opportunity to hear ideas from across campus, form teams, and explore career options. You’ll hear from Columbia alumni and other experts on their experiences working in the field, how they’ve applied their Columbia experience in their careers, and more.
Thursday, March 28 will feature entrepreneurs who are using their engineering skills to solve some of today’s most pressing social and environmental issues. Please save the date to hear from alumni who currently run social ventures in this space, pitch an idea during the open mic section of the event, and meet and network with fellow social entrepreneurs. This event is open to all Columbia University alumni, faculty, and students, as well as professionals in the social impact sector.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:
Linh Le ’09SEAS, Founder and CEO of Bonbouton
Linh Le is a chemical engineer by training, he has published multiple papers, international conference proceedings and currently holds seven US patents. He later found Bonbouton, a technology platform for preventative diabetic healthcare. Prior to that, he received his MS in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University and BS in Chemistry from Vietnam National University. As a vivid distance runner, he recently acquired ultra-marathoner title, and plans to run all the World Marathon Majors.
Liz Luckett ’90CC, Managing Partner of TSEF
Elizabeth (Liz) Luckett has an extensive background in philanthropy, technology, analysis and market research. Before joining TSEF, Liz was Director of Impact Investing at the Pershing Square Foundation. Prior she served as Senior Vice President at Citigroup and co-founded and was Executive Vice President of Fulcrum Analytics (formerly, Cyber Dialogue). Liz began her career with the Gartner Group as director of business planning, where she worked with the CEO and executive team analyzing and implementing acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic partnerships for the company.
Liz is a board member at Aunt Bertha and First Access and a board observer at CloudFactory, ConnXus and Frogtek. She is also a founding board member of The Bail Project and a member of the Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing at Columbia University.
Liz has a B.A. from Columbia University and a Master of Philosophy from Cambridge University in England.
Matthew Robins ’13BUS, CEO of DeansList
Matt Robins is the CEO of DeansList, a software platform that helps schools manage all their non-academic data and parent communication/engagement tools in a single place. Matt started DeansList with BUS’13 classmate Akshai Patel with a mission to specifically address the needs of schools in low-income communities that are actively tackling the achievement gap. Together with their school partners, they develop unique solutions to engage every stakeholder in a child’s education: students, teachers, administrators and parents.
Prior to DeansList, Matt spent six years as a consultant with PwC’s Forensic Technology Advisory groups. There a large portion of his client work included helping banks and lenders assess their data in the wake of the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
Matt has a degree in Information Systems from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
MODERATED BY:
Samuel Sia, Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Faculty Co-Director, SEAS Entrepreneurship at Columbia Engineering
Samuel Sia develops technologies for point-of-care blood tests, wearable sensors, implantable devices, and cell-based therapy, both in an academic and industry setting. He is co-founder of Claros Diagnostics, which garnered European regulatory approval for a prostate-cancer blood test for doctor’s offices and was acquired by OPKO Health (NYSE: OPK), Junco Labs, and Rover Diagnostics.
Sia’s research has garnered coverage from Nature, Science, JAMA, Washington Post, Science News, Popular Science, Chemical and Engineering News and has been featured on the BBC, NPR, and Voice of America. MIT Technology Review named him as one of the top’s world young innovators, and he is an inducted fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
Sia is the founder of Harlem Biospace, a biotech incubator facility in New York City (developed with the NYC mayor’s office) that has hosted over 50 biotech companies. He also currently co-directs the entrepreneurship initiative for Columbia University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Sia has a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Alberta and a Ph.D. in Biophysics (with a HHMI predoctoral fellowship) from Harvard University. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard University.

Third Thursday: Social Entrepreneurship
2019-03-28 18:00 - 20:00
OPEN TO ALL
REGISTER HERE

Thursday, March 28, 2019
6:00–8:00 p.m.
at Columbia Journalism School, World Room
New York, NY 10027
RSVP →
Refreshments and hors d’oeuvres with RSVP
Third Thursday is a recurring open forum that brings together the Columbia University entrepreneurship community for an evening of networking and pitch presentations. It provides students, faculty, staff, and alumni the opportunity to hear ideas from across campus, form teams, and explore career options. You’ll hear from Columbia alumni and other experts on their experiences working in the field, how they’ve applied their Columbia experience in their careers, and more.
This month’s event will feature entrepreneurs who are using their engineering skills to solve some of today’s most pressing social and environmental issues. Join us to hear from alumni who currently run social ventures in this space, pitch an idea during the open mic section of the event, and meet and network with fellow social entrepreneurs.
Please see our panelists below:

Linh Le ’09SEAS, Founder and CEO of Bonbouton
Liz Luckett ’90CC, Managing Partner of The Social Entrepreneurs’ Fund (TSEF)
Matthew Robins ’13BUS, CEO of DeansList
Samuel Sia, Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Faculty Co-director, SEAS Entrepreneurship (Moderator)

Application Deadline: MassChallenge Accelerator
2019-03-13
MassChallenge is looking for the world’s most-promising startups across industries! Have an idea or early-stage venture you want to scale? Apply for the chance to access top corporates, expert mentors, tailored curriculum, free office space, scholarships, and up to $1M in cash prizes – all at zero cost and for zero equity.
The deadline for the 2019 accelerator is March 13. Interested applicants can use code InnovateColumbia100 to get started on your free application. Learn more at masschallenge.org/apply

Data Science Institute-Industry-Innovation Seminar: Amazon
2019-03-06 18:00 - 19:30
OPEN TO COLUMBIANS

Byron Cook, Professor of Computer Science at University College London (UCL) and Director of Automated Reasoning at Amazon Web Services

Wednesday, March 6, 20108
6:00PM – 7:30PM
Schapiro CEPSR, Davis Auditorium (412)

Abstract: This talk will discuss the development and use of formal verification tools within Amazon Web Services (AWS) to increase the security assurance of its cloud infrastructure and to help customers secure themselves. I’ll also discuss some remaining challenges that could inspire future research in the community.

Bio: Byron Cook is Professor of Computer Science at University College London (UCL) and Director of Automated Reasoning at Amazon Web Services. Byron’s interests include computer/network security, program analysis/verification, programming languages, theorem proving, logic, hardware design, operating systems, and biological systems. Byron is the founder and leader of Amazon’s Automated Reasoning Group (ARG).e at University College London (UCL) and Director of Automated Reasoning at Amazon Web Services

The Columbia | IBM Blockchain Accelerator Demo Day
2019-03-06 09:00 - 13:00
OPEN TO ALL
REGISTER HERE

The Columbia | IBM Blockchain Accelerator Demo Day, coming up onWednesday, March 6th in NYC from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm! The event will be held at AppNexus at 28 W 23rd St in Manhattan, and will feature pitches from each of the NETWORK program companies.
Each company will announce their Blockchain network and highlight key developments that have occurred throughout the 8-week program. You can see an overview of all teams here.

Application Deadline: Carnegie Mellon Venture Challenge
2019-03-04
OPEN TO ALL UNDERGRADS
APPLY HERE

The Carnegie Mellon University Venture Challenge is an annual, international start-up competition where students from around the world come to CMU’s Pittsburgh campus to pitch their creations. For 12 years, the CMUVC has been bringing top students to launch their ideas, technologies, and talent. CMU receives over 100 applications every year from universities all over the country, as well as several international applications. For each of the 12 finalists, the CMUVC brings together a strong network of resources, including mentorship from serial entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, attorneys, and the opportunity to present and pitch to a panel of judges and the city of Pittsburgh.
More information on eligibility and the application is available here.

Third Thursday: Athletics and Human Performance
2019-02-28 17:30 - 19:00
Third Thursday is a recurring open forum and networking session for the Columbia University entrepreneurship community. It provides students, faculty, staff, and alumni the opportunity to hear ideas from across campus, form teams, and explore career options.
February’s Third Thursday event will feature an exciting announcement about new funding for interdisciplinary startup projects and the Makerpace! Brent Walker Ph.D., Columbia Associate Athletics Director for Championship Performance will be joined by Houtan Fanisalek, a seasoned CTO and SEAS grad. Both speakers will share knowledge in athletics, human performance, and the new technologies that can support better performance, recovery, tracking, and training.
The Ignition Grants and new Making and Igniting Grants are financial grants to assist Columbia University students in launching new businesses, social and not-for-profit ventures. The grant supports the initial stages of early venture development from formation, IP protection, and incubation to building prototypes and creating proofs of concept.

Columbia Startup Lab Applications are LIVE
2019-02-25
Apply for the 2019-2020 Startup Lab cohort here. Deadline is April 1 and the new cohort will be announced April 17.

Eligibility
CSL is open to recent alumni from across the University (including Barnard and Teachers College) who are committed to working on their venture full-time.

Teams must select one Columbia University-affiliated founding member.
Only one application per team will be considered, regardless of the school in which the founder is affiliated.

Quick Facts

The application period is OPEN. Deadline to apply is April 1, and the new cohort will be announced on April 17. APPLY HERE.
Admitted teams may spend up to 1 year in the space.
The annual turnover of cohorts is the first week of June.
The space is administered by WeWork and includes: furnishings (desk & chair), WiFi, printing, meeting spaces, phone booths, water/coffee, beer, cleaning/maintenance and access to common facilities across the global WeWork network.
CSL provides ongoing workshops, office hours, networking events, and community building activities to help resident ventures advance their businesses. All CSL teams are encouraged to participate.
Columbia University affiliated tenants are required to commit to a four-month term in the space at a rate of $250 per month/per seat. Non-Columbia University team members will be required to make a contribution of $400 per month/per seat.

Application Deadline: Women’s Business Enterprise National Council Student Entrepreneur Program (WBENC SEP)
2019-02-22
OPEN TO ASPIRING COLLEGIATE FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS

APPLY HERE

The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council Student Entrepreneur Program (WBENC SEP) is a premier startup program fostering growth for the next generation of women-owned businesses.

Aspiring collegiate female entrepreneurs studying in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) or Business receive mentoring from some of the most successful Women’s Business Enterprises (WBEs) and America’s largest Fortune 500 companies while also participating in a tailored entrepreneurial curriculum, a pitch competition awarding $20,000 in seed capital and experiential learning through off-site visits to WBEs, corporate campuses, and accelerators.

Apply now to participate in the 2019 program, taking place June 23 – 28, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland during the WBENC National Conference & Business Fair.

Applications are due by February 22, 2019.

LEARN MORE:

Visit wbenc.org/SEP for more program information and details about the application process.
Check out a recap of the 2018 SEP Program.
Meet past SEP Pitch Competition winners.

Columbia Startup Lab Info Session
2019-02-21 18:00 - 20:00
Interested in applying? Meet the team, see the space and hear from a few resident ventures at our Open House on Thursday February 21. RSVP here.
The Columbia Startup Lab opens its seats to a new group of Alumni ventures this June, offering subsidized space for recent alumni entrepreneurs to house and nurture their fledging ventures.
In its fifth year, the CSL has been “corporate headquarters” for more than 150 Columbia-founded ventures. The space is administered by WeWork and includes: furnishings (desk and chair), WiFi, water/coffee, cleaning/maintenance and access to common facilities across the global WeWork network. CSL also provides ongoing workshops, office hours, networking events, and community building activities to help resident ventures advance their businesses.

Social Venture Pitch Mix & Match
2019-02-21 18:00 - 20:00
OPEN TO ALL
RSVP HERE
Thursday, February 21, 2019
6:00–8:00 p.m.
Columbia Business School
Uris Hall, Calder Lounge
New York, NY 10027
RSVP →
Dinner will be provided with RSVP
This matchmaking event is designed for:

Any Columbia student or alum from any Columbia school (including Barnard and Teachers College) looking to join or get involved with a Columbia-affiliated social or environmental start-up, and
Any Columbia-affiliated social or environmental start-up or nonprofit (at any stage) seeking new team members (co-founders, interns, specialists, etc.) or connections

Join for this fun, easy, and informal gathering!

Immigration 101 for Entrepreneurs and Startups
2019-02-20 12:30 - 13:30
This workshop will cover immigration law essentials for entrepreneurs and startups. Presenter Najia Khalid will provide an overview of immigration topics including how to read, navigate, and evaluate financial documents, which are critical to various employment-based immigration cases.

SPARK WORKSHOP on Retouch Haiti: Creating Sustainable Employment by Building Links Between Haiti and Global Markets
2019-02-12 18:00 - 19:30
Open to All
RSVP Here
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
6:00–7:30 p.m.
Columbia Business School
Uris Hall, Room 329
3022 Broadway
New York, NY 10027
Refreshments included with RSVP
Retouch | Haiti is a social enterprise that provides graduates from a free film and audio engineering college in Haiti, called The Artists Institute, with specialized training in e-commerce photo and video post-production.
With these graduates, Retouch | Haiti operates an e-commerce photo and video post-production service that specializes in providing global retailers, brands, and creative agencies with high-quality, high-volume, and quick-turn around capabilities at an affordable cost. The need for online imagery is growing, as is the demand for high-quality and affordable post-production services. There exists a quality gap between current offshore vendors’ capabilities and the industry’s quality expectations, and Retouch | Haiti aims to fill this gap.
Retouch | Haiti is an incubator to test the training tools, organizational structure, business model, operational efficiency, and product offering in the market. The long-term objective is to create a business model that can be successfully expanded to other locations in Haiti and replicated around the world.
About Spark Workshops
Spark provides social innovators with an opportunity to explore resources, connections, and potential solutions to help their social ventures. These workshops tap into the collective knowledge within Columbia University and the larger entrepreneurial and social impact community.
Spark is a platform for ventures to make valuable connections, as the audience is a self-selected group interested in the topic area. Ventures are also able to gather ideas through group brainstorming to help them address specific questions or problems within the business organization.
These workshops are free and open to all who are willing to bring their ideas, experience, and connections to help solve social and environmental challenges that social innovators aim to address.
If you are unable to attend this event but would like more information on Spark, please register for our mailing list.
If you would like to suggest a future Spark workshop, please contact:socialenterprise@gsb.columbia.edu.

Food & Design Workshop - SIPA, NYU, and the Design Studio
2019-02-09 09:00 - 16:00
APPLY NOW!
An inaugural workshop exploring the tools and knowledge required to rethink Food Systems using Design Thinking.

First Round Deadline: $250K Columbia Venture Competition
2019-02-08 23:59
Entry links, descriptions of the five tracks, rules, and eligibility requirements for the $250K Columbia Venture Competition are here. If you are a Columbia University (including TC and Barnard) student or recent alumnus and your venture has less than $150,000 in venture funding – YOU MAY BE ELIGIBLE. CVC judges will come from Columbia’s worldwide alumni community, from Bordeaux to Beijing to Brooklyn, and will represent diverse backgrounds and a wide-ranging set of expertise.

The First Round Submission Deadline is Friday, February 8th 11:59PM.

FDT Center for Intelligent Asset Management - FinTech Lecture Series
2019-02-08 15:30 - 17:00
OPEN TO ALL COLUMBIANS

FDT Center for Intelligent Asset Management – FinTech Lecture Series

“Fair Algorithms for Machine Learning”

Michael Kearns

Friday, February 8, 2019

Davis Auditorium
3:30 pm lecture followed by 4:30 pm reception

Michael Kearns is a professor in the Computer and Information Science Department at the University of Pennsylvania, where he holds the National Center Chair. He is also Head of Research in Morgan Stanley’s AI Center of Excellence. At Penn, Kearns has secondary appointments in the Department of Economics, and in the departments of Statistics and Operations, Information, and Decisions in the Wharton School. He is the founding director of the Warren Center for Network and Data Sciences and the founder and former director of Penn Engineering’s Networked and Social Systems Engineering Program. His research interests includes topics in machine learning, artificial intelligence, algorithmic game theory and quantitative trading and finance. Kearns is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Science, the Association for Computing Machinery, and the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. He has consulted widely in the technology and finance industries, and on a variety of related regulatory and legal matters.

Application Deadline: Almaworks Spring 2019
2019-02-08
The Spring ’19 Cohort for Almaworks, the startup accelerator created by and for Columbia students, is now open – apply now!
Almaworks take no equity and aim to help early-stage startups run by NYC student entrepreneurs achieve significant, sustainable growth.
Its 45 student startups have collectively raised more than $12m in seed funding and enrolled in programs like TechStars, Y Combinator or Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator.
Eligibility
Startups applying should have:
○ 1-4 founders, at least half of whom should currently be an undergraduate, graduate, or recent alumni (at most two years out of school) of Columbia University. Dropouts of college-age will be considered.
○ A burning passion for the product and at least some domain expertise
○ A desire to prioritize growth over everything else for eight weeks (especially schoolwork).
○ At least some progress with market validation and efforts to find initial product-market fit

Computational Social Science Poster Session
2019-02-06 18:00 - 20:00
The Data Science Institute invites you to poster session that will highlight some of the recent and current research done by our centers. Open to the public and larger Columbia community. Light refreshments provided.

Wednesday, February 6, 2019
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Mudd Hall, 500 W. 120 St., New York, NY 10027
Room/Area: 407 (Data Science Institute)

Event Contact Information:
Data Science Institute
212-854-5660
datascience@columbia.edu

E-Team Grant Program (Deadline)
2019-02-06
VentureWell is seeking student-led teams with science and engineering-based inventions that address the world’s biggest problems.
Apply now: E-Team Grant Program
Teams can receive an E-Team grant and get training through our early-stage innovator training program. The program provides peer networking, expert coaching, national recognition, and hands-on workshops to move your innovation forward.
Program Information

Deadline to apply: February 6
E1 Workshop Dates: April 25-27
E2 Workshop Dates: May 9-11
Workshop Location: Boston, MA

Who Should Apply?
We are looking for student-led teams with inventions that have the potential to positively impact the world. Some technology examples that we fund include, but are not limited to, medical devices, clean energy technologies, and technologies for low-resource settings.
Interested in learning more about the program?
Attend a webinar or office hour and get your questions answered by VentureWell staff. Find a date and sign up here or click the button below to learn more.

Almaworks Accelerator Info Session
2019-02-01 19:00
Learn more about Almaworks at this Info Session!
Date and Time: February 1, 2019, 7pm
Location: Lerner 477
Almaworks is the startup accelerator built by and for Columbia students. We take no equity and aim to help early-stage startups run by NYC student entrepreneurs achieve significant, sustainable growth. Our 45 startup alumni have collectively raised more than $12m in seed funding and enrolled in programs like TechStars, Y Combinator and more.
At the info session on Friday, learn how to apply to the Spring 2019 cohort or check out eligibility and apply now:
http://alma.works/apply

DSI Health Analytics Center
2019-02-01 15:30 - 17:30
OPEN TO ALL

The Data Science Institute invites you to poster session that will highlight some of the recent and current research done by our centers. Open to the public and larger Columbia community. Light refreshments provided.

Friday, February 1, 2019
3:30 PM – 5:30 PM

Mudd Hall, 500 W. 120 St., New York, NY 10027
Room/Area: 407 (Data Science Institute)

#OpioidSolutionsNY Demo Day
2019-01-31 14:00
OPEN TO ALL
RSVP HERE
Interested in solutions to curb the local + national opioid epidemic?
Register to attend the Empire State Opioid Epidemic Demo Day to witness innovators pitch solutions that have the potential to curb the local + national opioid epidemic. All teams have made remarkable progress towards commercialization and impact since September. An expert panel of judges will select a grand prize winner of $10K and acceleration support through the CAMTech Accelerator Program (CAP).
Empire State Opioid Epidemic Demo Day
January 31, 2019
2:00 – 5:00 PM
Columbia University Davis Auditorium Schapiro Hall/CEPSR
530 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027
http://bit.ly/OpioidSolutionsNYDemoDay
Demo Day is the last leg of the Empire State Opioid Epidemic Innovation Challenge and an opportunity for teams to present progress made 90 days after co-creating innovations to curb the epidemic at the Challenge Summit + Solutions Sprint.
In September 2018, the Challenge Summit convened over 200 clinicians, government representatives, public health experts and affected community members to facilitate a discussion of challenges and provide critical insight into the opioid epidemic. Following the Challenge Summit, the Solutions Sprint served as an open-innovation platform for innovators to co-create solutions over a 48-hour period.

Application Deadline: Innovation Cup 2019
2019-01-31
Applications are open for the Biopharma Innovation Cup 2019 from November 1st 2018 to January 31st 2019.
Applications are invited from postgraduate students in the life sciences working towards a PhD in biology, medicine, biotech, bioinformatics, computer science, data science, biochemistry, chemistry, pharmacy, engineering or related fields. Postdoctoral students are also welcome to apply, as are advanced MBA students or recent MBA graduates with an interest in the pharmaceutical business and a background in life sciences.
Learn more about eligibility and apply here.

Learning Engines for Healthcare: Using Machine Learning to Transform Clinical Practice and Discovery
2019-01-29 13:00 - 14:00
OPEN TO ALL COLUMBIANS

Lecture in Precision Medicine: Mihaela van der Schaar

“Learning Engines for Healthcare: Using Machine Learning to Transform Clinical Practice and Discovery”

Prof. Mihaela van der Schaar, John Humphrey Plummer Professor of Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Medicine, University of Cambridge

January 29, 2019

1:00PM – 2:00PM
William Black Building, Alumni Auditorium,
650 W. 168th Street, New York, NY 10032

Professor van der Schaar is John Humphrey Plummer Professor of Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Medicine at the University of Cambridge and a Turing Faculty Fellow at The Alan Turing Institute in London, where she leads the effort on data science and machine learning for personalized medicine. Prior to this, she was a Chancellor’s Professor at UCLA and MAN Professor of Quantitative Finance at University of Oxford. She is an IEEE Fellow (2009). She has received the Oon Prize on Preventative Medicine from the University of Cambridge (2018). She has also been the recipient of an NSF Career Award, 3 IBM Faculty Awards, the IBM Exploratory Stream Analytics Innovation Award, the Philips Make a Difference Award and several best paper awards, including the IEEE Darlington Award. She holds 33 granted USA patents. Her current research focus is on data science and machine learning for medicine and education.

The overarching goal of her research is to develop cutting-edge machine learning, AI and operations research theory, methods, algorithms and systems to understand the basis of health and disease; develop methodology to catalyze clinical research; support clinical decisions through individualized medicine; inform clinical pathways, better utilize resources & reduce costs; and inform public health.

To do this, she is creating what she call Learning Engines for Healthcare (LEH’s). An LEH is an integrated ecosystem that uses machine learning, AI and operations research to provide clinical insights and healthcare intelligence to all the stakeholders (patients, clinicians, hospitals, administrators). In contrast to an Electronic Health Record, which provides a static, passive, isolated display of information, an LEH provides dynamic, active, holistic & individualized display of information including alerts.

How We Turned $120,000 Into a Billion-Dollar Eyeglass Brand - Warby Parker
2019-01-28 18:00 - 20:00
OPEN TO ALL

RSVP HERE

When: Monday, January 28, 2018
Where: IAB 1501
Time: 6:00PM to 8:00PM EST

Warby Parker is a transformative lifestyle brand that offers designer eyewear at a revolutionary price, while leading the way for socially-conscious businesses. Their social claim? – Almost 15% of the world’s population lacks access to glasses, which means they cannot effectively learn or work. To help address this problem, Warby Parker partners with non-profits like VisionSpring to ensure that for every pair of glasses sold, a pair is distributed to someone in need. Neil will talk about conceiving, growing and scaling a social impact business.

This event is sponsored by SIPA Management Specialization, in partnership with USP, TMAC, Entrepreneurship and Policy Initiative @ SIPA and Columbia Entrepreneurship. To sign up, click here.

Deadline: Design Your Venture
2019-01-28 17:00
OPEN TO ALL COLUMBIANS
APPLY HERE
Are you an entrepreneurial Columbia student?
Is there a specific challenge or a problem you are passionate about solving?
Do you want to be part of an incredible cohort of change-makers?
Do you want to develop practical approaches that will lead to sustainable solutions?
The Design Your Venture program will work with a limited number of highly motivated teams to tackle an issue they’re passionate about using design to solve. Over the course of the semester, teams will dive into each phase of the design process together and receive one-on-one coaching from the Design Team.
Throughout the program you will:
* Interview and research real users and stakeholders in the community you are designing for.
* Design an innovative solution for your challenge.
* Have a coherent market, value proposition, and workable prototype by the end of the program.
This program is a deep dive into creating a venture based on user-feedback and testing so it will be particularly useful for students applying for any of the entrepreneurship fund challenges in their respective schools. You will be joining an impressive community: a number of teams who have been through this program have gone on to receive investment, win the Columbia Venture Competition, and earned seats in the Columbia Startup Lab.
APPLY HERE

Important Dates & Times:
Applications Open: January 14th
Applications Close: January 28th by 5pm.
Accepted Applicant Teams Notified: February 1, by 5pm
Design You Venture Launch: February 6, 2pm-3:50pm
Design Your Venture will start on Wednesday, February 6th, from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm followed by three consecutive weekly sessions on Wednesday afternoons, ending on February 27th. If you are applying as a team you only need to fill out one application.

DEADLINE: Design Your Future
2019-01-28 17:00
OPEN TO ALL COLUMBIANS
APPLY HERE
The future can feel uncertain, so we’ve created Design Your Future as a three-session program where attendees learn to apply design to their careers and to life after graduation. The goal of this program is to help you to better navigate your career and life choices in the face of uncertainty.
This can be both an exciting and unnerving time.
What if you discover that your new job isn’t for you?
What happens if you start to drift away from the things you feel passionate about?
What trajectory is right for you?
In these interactive, emotive, and highly engaging sessions you will use design principles to prototype potential life trajectories.
APPLY HERE
Important Dates & Times:
Applications Open: January 14th at 8am
Applications Close: January 28th by 5pm.
Accepted Applicants Notified: January 30, by 5pm
Design You Future Launch: February 6, 11am-1pm
Design Your Future will start on Wednesday, February 6th, from 11am-1pm followed by two consecutive weekly sessions on Wednesday morning, ending on February 20th.

Third Thursday: Immigration and Entrepreneurship
2019-01-24 17:30 - 19:00
OPEN TO ALL COLUMBIANS
RSVP HERE
Please join Columbia Engineering for its January Third Thursday, focused on Immigration and Entrepreneurship.
–
Third Thursday is a recurring open forum and networking and info session for the Columbia University entrepreneurship community. It provides students, faculty, staff, and alumni the opportunity to hear ideas from across campus, form teams, and explore career options. You’ll hear from Columbia alumni and other experts on their experiences working in the field, how they’ve applied their Columbia experience in their careers, and more.
Thursday, January 24) will feature Megan Kludt, Partner at Curran, Berger & Kludt LLP.
Megan is very knowledgeable on visa options for students after graduation, and specializes in complex immigration cases in the areas of business, academia, scientific research, and the arts. Additionally, she was selected by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) to provide emergency legal aid to children at the US/Mexico border and was honored as one of AILA New England’s Pro Bono Champions in 2016.

Creating the Future 101
2019-01-18 16:30 - 18:00
OPEN TO ALL COLUMBIA STUDENTS
RSVP HERE
“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”
– Robert Swan
The primary objective of this event is to provide a platform for aspiring impact entrepreneurs and sustainable engineering enthusiasts to network with potential investors from the corporate and facilitate discussions on global issues that can be addressed through social entrepreneurship.
We have invited 5 – 8 members from the corporate who will share their insights on achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals and CSR initiatives related to impact investing.
If you have a business idea or a project that promotes sustainable development and want to present at this event, send us your pitch decks to ceecsolutions@gmail.com.
Networking session and refreshments have been arranged.
The event will be useful for Columbia students with ideas and solutions for social impact and interest in entrepreneurship, and will not be limited to SEAS students alone.
Bring the following with you to check-in:

Eventbrite Ticket
Valid Columbia University ID

Please note: you must be a SEAS Grad or Columbia University student with valid ID.

DEADLINE: Rabobank-MIT Food and Agribusiness Innovation Prize
2019-01-11
Application and eligibility guidelines can be found here.
You still have time to submit your winning idea to improve the food and agriculture system! The Rabobank-MIT Food and Agribusiness Innovation Prize has extended its application deadline to January 11, 2019.
The Prize supports ideas along the entire food and agriculture value chain. Finalists will receive mentoring with an expert, and the first and second place winners will receive $20,000 and $10,000, respectively, plus mentorship and support from Rabobank.
Ready to take your idea to the next level? Submit your application here by January 11, 2019 at 11:59pm EST. To learn more about the prize and eligibility, visit the MIT Food & Agriculture Club website.
