Rob Duncan, vice chancellor for research at the University of Missouri, is challenging students to create their own careers after college instead of struggling in a slow job market, and he wants faculty members and local entrepreneurs to help. Duncan has created the Club Innovation for Missouri Business, or CLIMB, to pair innovative students with experienced mentors. He envisions a student-led organization that would invite researchers and established entrepreneurs to speak at regular meetings. Students interested in particular subject areas would then flesh out their ideas for new products or services with experts in related fields. “We need to engage members of the community so students get the opportunity to translate those ideas into products and services people are ready to pay money for,” Duncan says.
CLIMB would provide a network of resources to help the best ideas get off the ground. Specifically, Duncan wants to see young entrepreneurs look into the possibility of an air taxi service and new ways to transport and use natural gases. He has enlisted the assistance of attorneys, VCs, and university licensing and tech transfer professionals. CLIMB participants will have access to the Missouri Innovation Center, MU’s Small Business Development Center, and Columbia’s Regional Economic Development, Inc. (REDI). “We’ll focus as much of our resources as available to support the University of Missouri as it builds this economic climate,” says REDI President Mike Brooks.
Source: Columbia Daily Tribune