NEWPATH - Nurturing Information Technology World Leaders Through Entrepreneurship

CETI is an active participant in NEWPATH, an OSU program, funded by NSF, for nurturing future IT industry world leaders.

It is a long held truism that entrepreneurship is the engine that drives the American economy. A key thesis underlying the NEWPATH program is that in order for the US to maintain and improve its entrepreneurial sprit and strength students must receive solid education in both integrative computing and IT entrepreneurship in order to become future IT industry world leaders.

Highly motivated and talented students from among those currently majoring in or having expressed interest in the Computer Science and Engineering, Computer and Information Science, or Electrical and Computer Engineering degree programs will be recruited into the NEWPATH program. Each NEWPATH student also will complete an existing Interdisciplinary Minor in Entrepreneurship.

Three important new elements vital to NEWPATH will be developed, piloted, evaluated, improved, and made ready for wider adoption.  First, in addition to faculty mentors, each student will have an industry mentor, a volunteer from the staff or an affiliate company of TechColumbus (a local organization that offers a full range of technology and entrepreneurial services from advice through pre-seed funding, access to venture capital and incubation space).  Second, an entrepreneurship training program for NEWPATH students will be introduced through internships in high-tech IT start-ups.  This will be done through enhanced collaboration between the project personnel and staff from TechColumbus.  Third, E-Practicum will give students a unique opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills—in IT and its applications, as well as in entrepreneurship—to run real start-ups. They will go through the phases of planning, market search, fund raising, business management, R&D management, product development, marketing, customer relations, and sales for the creation and operation of small IT ventures. They will own a substantial fraction of company shares, as in usual start-ups. They will be supported by OSU, NSF, industry, local government, OSU Campus Angels and other VCs (Venture Capitalists). They will be advised by experienced faculty, OSU Office of Technology Licensing and Commercialization, and TechColumbus.

NEWPATH starts recruiting students in Fall quarter, 2007. For details, see: http://www.cse.ohio-state.edu/ugrad/newpathhome.shtml