Cultivating creative prototyping and essential business skills

Teams bring together CEAT and Spears students who desire to launch a technology-based business. By partnering with the School of Entrepreneurship, Cowboy Innovations, the Riata Center for Innovation and entrepreneurship, the Zink Center positions these teams for a successful business launch.

Interdisciplinary teamwork developing essential business skills

• Benefits for students include incubator resources, business startup skills training, business competition opportunities, and startup funding
• Teams bring together CEAT and Spears students who desire to launch a technology-based business
• Team guidance focused on successful business launch provided by a partnership between the Zink Center, the Riata Center, Spears School of Entrepreneurship and CEAT Endeavor laboratory.
• Freshman students can also participate in a unique multi-semester mentoring opportunity with upper-class CEAT and Spears students.

Funding Strategy:

Create Innovation Scholars Program ($5M endowment)

• This program will be designed to recruit top students to an immersive, multidisciplinary experience focused on product ideation, design, development and market launch
• It will include enrichment activities, programs start-up workshops, and recruitment scholarships.

Create Innovation Prize Fund ($1M endowment)

• This fund will provide three named annual awards in perpetuity
• The awards will be designed to complement existing Riata Center competitions and focus on technical excellence, innovation and collaboration.

Create Innovation Makerspaces within Endeavor (3 named spaces in Endeavor)

• The makerspaces will provide Zink Center Innovation teams with resources and collaborative spaces in a stimulating and mentoring environment.
• They will be outfitted with hardware and software to support rapid prototyping and product design.