A global pandemic couldn’t hold Deshpande down.
On June 10-11, the 10th Annual Deshpande Symposium took place from the comfort of our home offices. And according to the final attendee count, 818 of us tuned in to see what this virtual version would be all about.
The Deshpande Symposium is a collaboration between the Deshpande Foundation - an NGO with the mission of accelerating sustainable/scalable enterprises - and UMass Lowell - a public research university nestled about an hour northwest of Boston (fun fact: Lowell is the backdrop to the David O. Russell boxing classic, The Fighter).
To describe the essence of Deshpande with their own words:
What began as a small gathering now boasts a powerhouse lineup drawing from all facets of where the worlds of academia and business intersect … The Symposium offers over twenty-eight panel discussions and draws hundreds of faculty, administrators, students and business people to discuss an array of topics, including entrepreneurial culture and ecosystems, innovative entrepreneurship curricula, research commercialization, startups and emerging trends.
I had the distinct pleasure of attending the Deshpande Symposium during Summer 2019, when one didn’t have to think twice about attending a conference in-person as long as funding was in the budget. Back then, there was a lively atmosphere in the Lowell summer air.
The UMass Lowell Conference center was bustling with university entrepreneurship educators and stakeholders, salons packed with panels from preeminent thought leaders in this space. And there was just as much value - perhaps even more so - from the one-off conversations you could strike up with your fellow attendees during a networking session or some downtime.
While you’d be hard-pressed to find people who prefer the virtual format that is still a necessity for now, the folks Deshpande Symposium did a wonderful job at capturing some of the elements that made the in-person conference so worthwhile.
There were keynotes each morning that kicked the day off right, planned networking sections to meet your fellow attendees during breaks, as well as plenty of ad hoc interactions on Whova, the conference’s virtual event management software of choice.
Then the crux of the Symposium consisted of cross-collaborative panel sessions throughout the day across four main tracks:
Culture & Ecosystems
Curriculum (my track of choice)
Research Commercialization
Emerging Trends
Below I wanted to give just a snippet of my main takeaways/talks from the conference. Keep in mind - given concurrent sessions and the ever-present multi-tasking of work from home life - I wasn’t able to attend everything. And when I did, I mainly stayed in the Curriculum track. So my experience is guaranteed to differ from others. I encourage you to check out the full agenda yourself and dive in to any topic that looked particularly interesting.
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Let’s dive into it.
Thursday Keynote: Dr. Gilda Barabino, President of Olin College of Engineering
I have to confess … I didn’t know much about Olin College before Thursday morning. I had heard of it. And I assumed it was one of those couple century old Liberal Arts universities nestled somewhere in the Northeast. I was only slightly right.
Olin College is indeed located in Needham, MA, but it was founded in 1997 (not often that I’m older than a college) and its renowned for its small community feel, heavy engineering focus, and project-based curriculum. There are no separate academic departments or grades, and all faculty members hold give-year renewable contracts with no opportunity for tenure. It’s a community of doers and educators, which is perhaps best summarized by its imperative mantra: Do-Learn.
Dr. Barabino’s keynote focused on models for inclusive innovation and entrepreneurship, with the central theme of, “You can’t be what you can’t see”. So what do you do? Make entrepreneurship and innovation accessible for anyone who desires to access it. That requires cultural shifts in language and practice, such as establishing equitable adherence to policies and practices, leading with a proactive stance on righting historical wrongs, and visibly recognizing a diverse array of individuals as creators & holders of knowledge.
Olin College has taken great strides in this regard. Through their Engage with Olin Program, they’ve developed curriculums, programs, and policies that practice what they preach. All students take an introductory course titled Engineering for Humanity (E4H) which blends anthropology and design approaches, beginning with understanding human needs and ending with implemented, adaptable, and sustainable solutions. The course draws equally on empathetic and ethnographic methods, and on a technical understanding of the problem and solution domains.
Olin also brings their ethos outside of Needham by leveraging the Summer Institute - a weeklong interactive workshop for faculty teams engaged in a curricular change effort at their own institution. As described on their website, “Through participatory workshops, immersive design exercises, and presentations from experts, teams of faculty, staff and students learn about, experience, and practice effective, engaging teaching approaches for new and meaningful curricula.”
Dr. Barabino’s keynote opened my eyes to some of the practices that institutions can implement if they consistently prioritize it. And it set a great tone for the rest of the conference.
B2: Entrepreneurship for Every Student: From Fashion to Engineering and Everything in Between
Panelists:
Carrie White, West Virginia University (Moderator)
Colleen Moretz, West Virginia University
Angela Uriyo, West Virginia University
Lauren Prinzo, West Virginia University
Anne Hoag, Penn State University
Ted Graef, Penn State University
Robert Beaury, Penn State University
Liz Kisenwether, Penn State University
This session focused on how West Virginia and Penn State have spent time developing programs that make sure entrepreneurship can be seen as a pathway for any type of student in their respective universities.
West Virginia spotlighted their Fashion With a Purpose course, which combines fashion, entrepreneurship and community engagement to empower students to solve problems in their communities. This immersive course directs students to form teams, research pressing problems in their communities, develop a business model around a solution and move towards the implementation of solutions. They also learn practical skills in the world of fashion from industry experts such as sewing. It culminates in a final pitch at the WVU Launch Lab to peers, faculty, and industry reps.
And Penn State discussed the impact of their Intercollege Minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ENTI). Its grown to be one of the largest interdisciplinary entrepreneurship programs of its kind, with every single Penn State undergrad (all 80,000 of them) having access to entrepreneurship classes. And over 8,500 of them have enrolled in at least one course within the last four years. With such an interdisplcinary focus, it is no wonder that Penn State is able to generate student ventures across the entire entrepreneurial spectrum.
B3: Developing and Pivoting Culture on an Entrepreneurial Campus in the New Normal
Panelists:
Cornelia Huellstrunk, Princeton University
Michael Lehman, Lehigh University
Kay Molkentin, University of Portland
This was perhaps my most anticipated session of the conference and it didn’t disappoint. Like many in this space, I spent the last year trying to figure out how to make “the new normal” suck the least for the students that I serve. Each of these panelists brought something unique to the table from their own lived experience in the virtual classroom over the last academic year.
Cornelia led a program at Princeton that is channeling the feeling of inspiration many have felt during racial equality protests of last summer into tangible action. They are pioneering a year-long cohort program, partnering with organizations such as the Racial Equity Institute, in order to give students the frameworks and tools they need to both understand and act upon their desired social change.
Michael spoke about the shift of classroom culture during the pandemic and offered strategies to ensure that virtual didn’t mean boring. To counteract the loss of serendipity that comes with in-person interactions, Michael implemented techniques such as mailing DIY kits to students, collaborate prep work before class, and jam boards/Zoom breakouts to ensure that virtual classes weren’t a total snoozefest for his Lehigh students.
Kay brought a happy-go-lucky approach to embracing the virtual year. Quoting comedian Ron White, her philosophy was along the lines of “If life gives you lemons, go find someone who life gave vodka and throw a party.” To that end, she found cross-collaboration with other professors/classes in different disciplines incredibly fruitful. If you’re online anyway, why not shake things up and expose your students to some fresh perspectives?
B4: Best Practices in Coaching the Creation of Real Companies
Panelists
Wendy Kennedy, WendyKennedy.com, Inc. (WKI)
Tom Sudow, Ashland University
John Gebhard, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio
Shannon Pastizzo, University of South Florida
John Hanak, Purdue University
Another session dear to my heart - coaching “real” student startup companies. A lot of this session revolved around Wendy Kennedy and the frameworks that she helps universities/research centers to implement in order to help them go from idea/invention to tangible venture. Its a question that many university students have, especially those approaching entrepreneurship from a technical angle. How do you take an idea in its raw form and cultivate its potential?
Wendy’s philosophy is that coaching real companies - growth oriented companies - can make an outsized impact in their own community and within society at large. She does this by providing certain frameworks that can be used to close the divide between domain expertise and the business side of running a tech-enabled venture.
Each of the other panelists discussed their own university innovation systems and how the WKI principles were applied to standardize and streamline the commercialization process. I came away very impressed by the structure WKI provided and easily see how this could be adopted within research-focused universities all around the country.
Wendy was also kind enough to make some of her frameworks available for free on her website, which can be found below.
Deshpande Symposium Awards for Excellence in Innovation and Entrepreneurship
The Deshpande Symposium also recognizes various programs, individuals, and achievements in entrepreneurial higher education. These nominations can be submitted beforehand to an awards selection community consisting of Deshpande Foundation members, sponsors such as VenturWell, and Chancellors at prestigious universities all around the country.
I was able to screen shot each of those awards as they were presented, so please take a moment to recognize our colleagues + peer institutions for their well-earned kudos.
EXCELLENCE IN CURRICULUM INNOVATION IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
EXCELLENCE IN STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
EXEMPLARY PRACTICE IN TECHNOLOGY COMMERCIALIZATION
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS TO ADVANCING INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN HIGHER EDUCATION
DESHPANDE SYMPOSIUM FOUNDERS AWARD
And that’s a wrap on Deshpande Symposium 2021!
Next up? They’re taking their show on the road to Cleveland, OH next year, so I hope to see many of you there. We’re very much overdue for an in-person conference.
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Bonus Opportunity - Data Science & Machine Learning Bootcamp
My fellow Kevin - Kevin Cox of Florida Atlanta University’s Adams Center for Entrepreneurship - is putting on an entrepreneur bootcamp focused on Data Science and Machine Learning for Executives, Business Owners, and Entrepreneurs. If you’re looking for a crash course on these topics within the next two days, then you’re in luck! Check out more info below.
Date: June 17th
Time: 6 pm EST
Format: Zoom Webinar
Cost: $50 Registration Fee