News Release

Engineers in Innovation at IGNITE @ UC San Diego

On February 22, the University of California San Diego will host IGNITE @ UC San Diego.

San Diego, Calif., Feb. 9, 2017 – On February 22, the University of California San Diego will host IGNITE @ UC San Diego, an event that brings together key members of the San Diego entrepreneurial ecosystem for a day focused on hands-on learning, competitions and mentoring for innovators, founders, and startup teams. In addition to highlighting engineering students and alumni, the event will also feature four sessions by the UC San Diego Institute for the Global Entrepreneur, which is a collaboration between the Jacobs School of Engineering and Rady School of Management.

“IGNITE is a great a way to personalize all of the entrepreneurial entities on campus,” said Dennis Abremski, Executive Director of the Institute for the Global Entrepreneur (IGE). “Students will be able to connect directly with the staff and faculty that are here to help.”

The Institute for the Global Entrepreneur will host talks in each of the breakout sessions.

“At IGE, our mission is to educate and empower student and faculty entrepreneurs, and we’re excited to have the opportunity to join with many of San Diego’s most influential startup leaders,” said Abremski. “Our IGE panels will bring many of these luminaries front and center, providing forums to deliver insight, facilitate collaboration, and promote the exchange of ideas.”

 

10:00am – 10:45am

Breakout Session I

• Show Me the Money! How Do you Fund a Startup?

Moderated by Dennis Abremski, Executive Director, Institute for the Global Entrepreneur

 

11:00am – 11:45am

Breakout Session II

• Who Wants to Buy This Anyway? Identifying Customer Segments

 

1:30pm – 2:15pm

Breakout Session III

• Did I Do That? Founders Share Their “Oh Crap!” Moments & How They Recovered

 

​2:30pm – 3:15pm

Breakout Session IV

• Pathways from Lab to Startup: Faculty Roles from Seat on the Board to CEO Founder (Sujit Dey is a panelist. Dey is Faculty Director of the Institute for the Global Entrepreneur, Director of the UC San Diego Center for Wireless Communications, and a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Jacobs School.)
• Amp Up Your Game

 

From 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., attendees will have the opportunity to browse local startups at the Startup and Resource Fair. The fair will feature a number of Jacobs School of Engineering startups, including

• High Speed LED
• Nanome, Inc.
• Custom Brewing
• South 8 Technologies

 

Pitch Competitions

At IGNITE, Jacobs School undergraduates Adriana Guetter and Ryan Hill will run the Idea Competition, which is a pitch competition for people just

starting out with an idea. Each competing team will craft a short presentation outlining the problem they see and their idea for solving it. In return, they’ll receive feedback from experienced entrepreneurs and mentors. Top teams will walk away with a package of goodies to take the first steps in moving from idea to reality. The competition takes place from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. Click here for information on registering for Idea Competition and other IGNITE competitions.

Other pitch competitions:

12:00pm – 1:30pm

Entrepreneur Challenge Elevator Pitch Competition 

The $10,000 Elevator Pitch Competition is designed to inspire young entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams. Teams involved will craft a 90-second pitch to impress the panel of judges. Following up the competition will be workshops designed to improve the way you pitch your idea. Contestants can win up to $2,500 for 1st place.

5:00pm – 8:00pm

The Pitch @ IGNITE 

So you think you’re the best? Come and prove it! Pitch against the best of the best from UC San Diego, San Diego State University, University of San Diego, CETYS University (Tijuana) and Universidad Autonoma de Baja California (Tijuana) fight for your university’s honor! This competition is open to any student from CaliBaja region. Six students will be selected to present to the Tech Coast Angels.

Register to attend at ignite.ucsd.edu

Media Contacts

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Brittanie Collinsworth
UC San Diego Center for Microbiome Innovation
858-534-8390
b4collinsworth@ucsd.edu