Jeremy came in and let everyone know that his mission at NextSpace is to catalyze local talent, local ideas, and local capital in Santa Cruz to create products, services, and solutions for the global marketplace.
In his own words, UCSC is a hugely important repository of talent and ideas and, indirectly, capital is right in our backyard and is, in my humble little opinion, completely underutilized as a community resource: the University of California Santa Cruz.
Jeremy talked not only about his work at NextSpace, but the work that NextSpace is doing with the community and UCSC. From Jeremy’s blog and talk:
UCSC Business Plan Competition
Last month, UCSC held its first-ever business plan competition. The inspiration of Steve Bourdow from the Baskin School of Engineering and a group of entrepreneurial undergrads, the competition was a huge success. Mostly, the competition proved that there is a nascent spirit of entrepreneurship at UCSC.
I served on the competition’s advisory board and helped screen the semi-finalists. And NextSpace was proud to host the semi-final event. The energy at NextSpace shot up on the day of that event as we were flooded with enthusiastic, eager competitors.
I’m not shy to say that I was incredibly impressed and deeply moved by the passion and the smarts that these kids displayed. A few of the finalists will be pitching for capital at an event at NextSpace next week, and a couple of the competitors have joined us a members. It’s safe to say that the competition exceeded everyone’s expectations, marking the beginning of a new era of entrepreneurship at UCSC. Yeah, that sounds kind of lofty. But I think it’s true.
Senior Design Competition
Twice a year, seniors in the Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering programs at UCSC participate in a Senior Design capstone course. Students work in cross-disciplinary teams to complete a significant interdisciplinary design project. At the end of the course they compete for cash prizes and street cred. This year, NextSpace and the Soquel Group have partnered to offer a prize for the “Most Commercializable” project. You can read our fancy press release here.
Last week, I spent some time with David Munday, who was the winner in 2007. He’s now a Ph.D. candidate and the TA for the Senior Design course. He gave me a quick rundown of the projects that the students are working on this year. I was blown away. The competition is tomorrow, June 12th, so stay tuned for results. I’m prepared to be amazed. So should you.
Pilot Project for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Now almost a year old, PPIE is a collaboration between the City of Santa Cruz and UCSC. And from what I can tell, it was one of the first positive steps between the two entities after the settlement of their mega-lawsuit. PPIE gives undergraduates an opportunity to put their classroom training in business and economics to practical use by working on projects in fields such as alternative energy, medical devices, and transportation systems. Many of the PPIE students also served as interns for companies at NextSpace such as Quiddities and Open Spectrum. And I had the honor of speaking to the students at their end-of-year wrap up.
Make no mistake: the undergraduates at UCSC are smart, serious, and ready to contribute to the Santa Cruz economy.