ON the HILLTOP
Diving With Sharks
(and other academic experiences) “I made it!! I went shark cage diving on Wednesday and I have returned to Stellenbosch with all 10 fingers, 10 toes, 2 arms, 2 legs and 1 head. In fact, I came back without even a scratch! I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to feel seeing sharks so up close and personal, but I can honestly say that it was one of the coolest things that I have ever done in my life. So here’s how the day went…” Interested? Katie Williams ’14 (right) tells a good story. She also offers lots of “fun facts” (Great white sharks are called “apex feeders” because they’re at the top of the food chain; and they average 18 feet in length.) The full story is on the college’s Study Abroad Blog. Williams, an international relations major, writes about studying environmental sustainability in South Africa; Sean Connolly ’14 (history/secondary education) writes from Salzburg, Austria; Sean Curtis ’14 (international relations) is studying at the University of London. Previous bloggers described their learning experiences in Belgium, Argentina, and Spain.
“I m ade it !” Read travelers’ tales at
blogs.anselm.edu/studyabroad
New Program Mixes Science and Business Science majors who are interested in applying their knowledge to the world’s social and environmental challenges have a new path to doing just that. A Saint Anselm College partnership with the University of Notre Dame allows academically qualified science majors to enroll in a one-year master’s program in entrepreneurship and innovation. By matching business knowhow with a background in biology, computer science, math, chemistry, engineering, or physics, students can develop solutions to pressing problems and create businesses that can bring these solutions to market. Such companies are known in the business world as “triplebottom-line,” a concept most science majors have never heard of. A triple-bottom-line company has positive social and environmental impact as well as financial profit. Creating such a company is a way that students may someday combine career success with contributing a value to society. The program is called ESTEEM (Engineering, Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Excellence Master’s). The director of the Notre Dame program, David Murphy, is the former CEO of the literary charity Better World Books, an ESTEEM-based startup project that collects used books and sells them online, benefiting literary non-profits around the world. He has co-founded several
technology startups and social entrepreneurship ventures. “Students work with senior faculty at Notre Dame and take an idea from the bench to the market. It’s like a mini-MBA for people with bachelor’s degrees in science,” he explained recently to Saint Anselm students.
“It’s like a mini-MBA for people with bachelor’s degrees in science.” The first Saint Anselm graduate to complete the unique program, applied physics major Steven Gaudet ’11, received job offers immediately and accepted a position in the soft ware engineering department at Raytheon Company. Emily Dutile ’14 is one of several undergraduates attracted to the program. Majoring in computer science with a business emphasis, she plans to apply as a senior. Her goal is to create a product that will benefit the community and bring it to market through her own company. “I like the fact that Notre Dame has similar values to Saint Anselm, emphasizing service and contributing something positive,” she says.
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