Undergraduate Innovation
at Berkeley
2015 Reinvention Center Conference
Catherine P. Koshland
Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education, UC Berkeley
Entrepreneurship
Ecosystem
•
Annual competition that provides funding, support, and encouragement to interdisciplinary teams of
undergraduate and graduate students with “Big Ideas.”
•
Encourages students to think creatively, rigorously & independently about how to apply classroom learning
to their own individual passions
•
Seeds the energy and innovation that results when students from various disciplines and departments
come together
•
Gives students more autonomy earlier in their career – a scaffolding of project management,
entrepreneurship and leadership support
•
Serves as a replicable model for tapping the creativity and energy of students to address the challenges of
the 21st century
Initially administered as an award-only program, roughly 65% of submissions came from teams of graduate students from
the business and engineering schools—areas that are generally considered entrepreneurship centers. In 2009, the program
was moved to the Blum Center for Developing Economies with the following intentions/actions:
–
–
Make the program more accessible to students from all disciplines.
•
Emphasize a multidisciplinary team approach
•
Broaden category descriptions
•
Broaden outreach efforts to attract a diverse set of students
Make the program more accessible to undergraduate students.
•
–
Increase marketing efforts to raise awareness about the program for lower-level students
Provide an ecosystem of resources to assist and encourage students as they develop their ideas.
•
Incorporate mentorship, workshop, and networking activities
In the most recent competition, 65% of submissions came from undergraduates in 9 Topical Areas.
The award aspect of the program is no longer the incentive, but the bonus after 9 months of concentrated effort which helps
to launch the Big Idea into the next phase of development.
Big Ideas: Project Profiles & Categories
•
BCAPI (2015) – all undergraduate interdisciplinary team won Information Technology for Society
•
Back to the Roots (2011) – undergraduate team won Scaling Up
•
2015- 16
CONTESTstudents won Scaling Up
Next Drop (2010) – interdisciplinary
team of graduate and undergraduate
•
We Care Solar (2008) – Led by MPH student, interdisciplinary team for Technology for Social Good
BIG IDEAS
BIG IDEAS
CONTEST
CONTEST
EN
ERGY
CLEAN
&&
O
PEN
DATA
RESO
SUSTAIN
ABLE
FO
R URCE
ALTERN
EN
ERGYATIVES
DEVELO
PM EN T
ALTERN ATIVES
ART
& DATA
CREATIVE
O
PEN
SO
CIAL
EXPRESSIO
N
FO
R
CHAN
GE
FO R SO
CIAL
DEVELO
PM
EN T
JUSTICE
M
O BILES
CREATIVE
FO
R
EXPRESSIO
N
READIN
FO R SOG
CIAL
JUSTICE
M
O BILES
GLO
BAL
FO
R
HEALTH
READIN G
IM
GLO
IMPROVIN
PROVIN
BAL GG
STUDEN
HEALTH
STUDENTTLIFE
LIFE
FIN
FIN
CIAL
CIALG
CO
IMAN
PROVIN
NAN
FLICT
IN
IN
CLUSIO
CLUSIO
AN
STUDEN
D
TNN
DEVELO
LIFE
PM EN T
CO
NRM
FLICT
IN
FO
ATIO N
AN D O LO GY
TECHN
DEVELO
PM EN T
FO
R
SO CIETY
FO
O
IN
FOFO
OD
D
RM ATIO N
SYSTEM
TECHN
SYSTEMOSLO GY
IN NROVATIO N S
FO
SO CIETY
FO
SCALIN
O D G UP
SYSTEM
BIG IDEAS
IN N OVATIO N S
Encourage
thethat
Devise
a plan
adoption ofpublicly
cl ean
leverages
energy datasets
available
alternatives
to
innovate that
are sustainable
solutions
and
and haveimportant
the
address
potential for broad
development
impact.
challenges.
Create aanplan that
Devise
innovativepublicly
arts
leverages
project that
available
datasets
meaningfully
to
innovate
engages with
solutions
and
issues ofimportant
advocacy,
address
justice, and
development
communitychallenges.
building.
Develop
novel
Create an
novel
mobile
mobile
innovative
arts
technologytechnology-based
project that
based
innovations
innovations
to
meaningfully
to
enhance
enhance
reading
engages
with
reading
scores
early
issues for
ofscores
advocacy,
for
children
grade
children
justice,
and in
in
developing
developing
communitycountries
countries.
building.
an
Develop novel
action-oriented,
mobile
interdisciplinary
technology-based
project that to
would
innovations
help alleviate
enhance
reading
a globalfor
health
scores
early
concern
amongin
grade
children
low-resource
developing
communities.
countries.
Develop
Describean
a new
action-oriented,
initiative that
interdisciplinary
improves the UC
project
Berkeley
that
student
would
help
experience,
alleviate
or
athat
global
encourages
health
concern
studentsamong
to engage
low-resource
and improve
communities.
the surrounding
community.
Develop
Describe
aa
proposal
new
Propose
Propose
novel
that
initiative
will prthat
event,
products,
innovations
that
mitigate,
improves
orthe
help
UC
services,
either
address
tools
or
resolve
Berkeley
conflict
student
mechanisms
unmet
needs
that
ofin
any
experience,
fragile
oror
either
the
financially
address
conflict-affected
that encourages
unmet
underserved,
needs of
area.
students
to engage
the
or
financially
help extend
and improve
underserved,
existing
services
the
surrounding
orto
help
low-income
extend
community.
existing
populations.
services
Describe
Develop aan
proposal
Describe
an
innovation
that will pr project
event,
innovative
project
that
would
mitigate,
or help
that
would
demonstrate
the
resolve conflict
in
demonstrate
the
capacity
of IT
to
any fragile
capacity
oforIT to
help
address a
conflict-affected
help
address a
major
area. societal
major societal
challenge.
Describe anthe
Encourage
innovation project
development
of
that would
innovative
demonstrate
solutions
thatthe
capacity of IT to
address
help address
a
challenges
and
majortosocietal
lead
challenge.
improvements
in
global food
systems.
For previous
previous
For
Encourage
the
Big
Big Ideas
award
Ideas
development
award
of
winners who
whohave
winners
innovative
have advanced
advanced
solutions
that
their
their ideas,
projects,
address
and are
looking
challenges
take
and
and areto
looking
their
lead
to
projects
to take
their to
the
improvements
next level.
projects
to thein
global
food
next level.
systems.
challenge.
BCAPI
An interdisciplinary team with backgrounds in software engineering,
cognitive neuroscience, signal processing, machine learning, and business
developed an idea to leverage emerging technologies to improve systems
for people with disabilities. Their Big Idea uses a brain-computer
application program interface (BCAPI) to deliver commands to a
motorized wheelchair.
Back to the Roots
These 2011 Big Ideas winners were on their way into corporate careers in
investment banking and consulting when they got their Big Idea: to turn
coffee grounds—one of America’s largest urban waste streams into
mushroom farms.
Today, the company has an expanded product line available in major retail
outlets across the country.
NextDrop
In almost every city in South Asia, residents have access to mobile phones
but not to water. The taps work intermittently and must be monitored for
collection. This results in wasted time: missed work, events, and school.
2010 Big Idea winner uses simple technology and mobile phones to alert
residents when water is available in their neighborhood. In addition to the
impact on residents, the system delivers data on reservoir levels to help
utilities to improve distribution decisions.
We Care Solar
Laura Satchel, a gynecologist and public health graduate student, won an
honorable mention from Big Ideas that catapulted her into nonprofit work
that provides portable, solar-powered “suitcases” for use in maternity
hospitals, health clinics, and emergency situations. Stachel has been named
a CNN Top 10 Hero and a UN Global Citizen, and her organization’s Solar
Suitcases have been distributed to more than 30 developing countries.
•
In the last year alone, entries were received from 124 teams, consisting of more than
435 UC Berkeley students from 75 majors.
•
$1,536,900 awarded to winning projects—winners have leveraged an additional
$55M through Venture Capital, grants, and other funding streams
•
Big Ideas projects have been placed in 66 countries (including USA)
•
A recent survey showed that 27 (out of 28) Big Ideas winners were still involved in
their project in some capacity, one year after the competition—whether as a student
or as a professional.