Opportunity Fest highlights student ventures
Apr 07, 2011
Contact:
Eric Gedajlovic, 778.782.5168; erg@sfu.ca
Marianne Meadahl, PAMR, 778.782.3210;marianne_meadahl@sfu.ca
April 4, 2011
Student entrepreneurs are preparing to showcase their class-produced ventures to the wider business community as part of Simon Fraser University Surrey’s Opportunity Fest on April 7 from 7 – 9 p.m.
They’re also vying for the chance to be crowned Mr. and Ms. Opportunity.
“This is like a Capstone experience for these undergraduate students,” said Eric Gedajlovic, a professor at SFU’s Beedie School of Business, which is sponsoring the event. “In today’s inter-connected world, where things are happening so rapidly and your plans are outdated as soon as they are established, success and growth depends on your ability to continuously identify and pursue opportunities.”
Among student-generated business ideas: a blue-tooth embedded ski helmet, a bus-tracking GPS device, inflatable skates, and smart exercise machines that upload workout data to the Internet.
“This event is a bit of Dragon’s Den and a bit of Apprentice,” he said. “The teams take this opportunity to develop a full-blown project. These are ideas and new ventures that come from dissatisfaction with the way things are done currently – and now represent viable business concepts.”
Student exhibits include product prototypes, videos, graphical display boards and more. Judges from industry, academia and the wider business community will informally meet with participants to evaluate the products, and express their financial interest or commitment through investment of emulated venture capital dollars.
More than 50 students will participate in the marketplace-style exhibition, which is open to the public. The event will include themes of sustainability and social innovation along with traditional entrepreneurship and business strategy.
Gedajlovic says the event attracts students and entrepreneurs from a variety of fields who often identify opportunities in areas they feel passionate about — whether they are not-for-profit initiatives, environmental causes or cultural activities.
“It’s part experiential, but is also theory and problem driven,” adds Gedajlovic. “The opportunities that people discover can be highly idiosyncratic and are typically derived from their own background or experiences or network – something that they will really care about.”