Entrepreneurship at Cornell Announces 2023 Award Winner

BUSINESS

Continued from page 1 uisite for another class I wanted to take so I was a little frustrated.”

This semester, Warden struggled to find room in required courses that satisfy her requirements in the information science major. In Information Science

3450: Human-Computer Interaction Design, Warden described the professor being unable to move due to the swarm of students seated on the floor around her.

“Kids were sitting on the floor and all down the halls. There were two times as many people as could fit in the classroom,” Warden said.

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“The key thing about this office is that it is completely university wide,” said program director Zachary Shulman ’87 J.D. ’90. “We serve students from across the campus — grad, undergrad, any school or college.”

Shulman added that the most successful student businesses are usually composed of students from across the University studying a diverse range of majors.

Moesch, who has worked with EaC for 34 years, noted that the program has grown extensively over time.

“When I started with our program, it was only in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences,” Moesch said. “Gradually we brought the other colleges and schools on board to make it truly university-wide — it’s just grown massively.”

Students are eligible to apply for EaC’s summer internship program, which places them with small companies nationwide. In addition, student businesses can compete for the annual Business of the Year award, which offers a $5,000 cash prize.

“We tell students the best time to start a business is while they’re a student,” Shulman said. “If it fails, they’re still students, so there’s really no downside risk,” he continued, adding that he encourages students to balance their business with their schoolwork.

Entrepreneurship at Cornell also offers the eLab program. According to Shulman, students apply during the fall semester and, if selected, take a half-credit course. The following spring, they take a three-credit course where they attend boot camps and receive mentor assistance to develop and launch a business. This year, participating students will showcase demos of their work on April 13, the first day of the Entrepreneurship at Cornell Celebration.

“The program really ensures that entrepreneurship gets spread throughout the campus.”

On the alumni side of the program, the Cayuga Forum was launched last year, connecting alumni in groups where they can discuss their work, business and personal interests. Shulman said that the program is looking to continue to grow and create new products and services in the future as well.

“Cornell has a rich history of entrepreneurship,” Shulman said. “The program really ensures that entrepreneurship gets spread throughout the campus.”