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CSUF Entrepreneurship Students Learn About Innovation

CSUF University Innovation Fellows

For a the past few years Cal State Fullerton has sponsored a select group of elite students to participate in a program called University Innovation Fellows (UIF). This program, sponsored by Stanford University, was created to instruct students on the importance of innovation and empower them to foster innovation back at their home campuses.

CSUF Entrepreneurship: Why is University Innovation Fellows important for Cal State Fullerton and you?

William Kim: The UIF is important to Cal State Fullerton because it brings opportunities for us to bring innovation to our community. We want to see our students engaged in their learning. We want to see students on our campus become innovative change-makers as well. 

To me, the UIF is important because we are a global community/family of students who want to see our campuses grow. I always thought that the UIF program was mostly for business and engineering students. It was a relieving to see and hear the experiences of other biotech and biology majored students. Coming from various backgrounds of studies and cultures brings many perspectives and experiences that I would have never encountered before. 

What did you do on your trip?

On this trip, I networked and interacted with students from all around the world. We met students who were locals (UC Davis students), but we also met students from the Netherlands and India 

At the conference, we attended seminars and learned the various aspects of being change agents for our campuses. I learned, through one particular workshop, how to be a better public speaker and presenter. Simply by rolling my shoulders back, I appear more confident and my voice gets projected 

In one particular moment during the conference, I learned how some peers are dealing with the mental health atmosphere on their campuses. I found it really powerful to see a global community of students to come together to express their concerns and empathy for their campuses. We all want to see our campuses grow. I want to see my peers in the bio department become more innovative 

What key things did you learn on your trip that you will be able to bring back to campus and make it a more innovative institution?

I gained more resources and workshop techniques that I can implement into my project 

I gained more confidence in my abilities as a student to lead workshops. I also gained confidence in my ability to be a leader. I hope to help SINC grow

Additionally, I hope to implement a biotech/Bioengineering competition that utilizes both the design thinking process and scientific method

Lastly, I am in the process of experimenting the design thinking process with the honors program. I am currently consulting with Dr. Perez.

CSUF Entrepreneurship

We are dedicated to helping the next generation of entrepreneurs develop the skills that they need to compete locally and globally. The CSUF Entrepreneurship program does many things, including: consulting projects where students serve up fresh strategies to actual businesses, competitions for students from middle school to grad school, helping entrepreneurs go from concept to launch, frequent seminars and office hours for entrepreneurs and professionals, and much more. Interested in becoming a part of the CSUF Entrepreneurship community? Reach out to us at csufentrepreneurship@fullerton.edu for more information! CSUF Entrepreneurship depends on the support of the community, please go here to donate.


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