College of Business News Release
September 14, 2007
CONTACT:
Debra McCarver, WSU CB Entrepreneurial Faculty and Experiential Projects Coordinator
509/335-7876, dmccarver@wsu.edu
Robert Olsen, Associate Dean College of Engineering and Architecture
509/335-9608, bgolsen@wsu.edu
WSU Frank Fellows Learn From Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs; Tour Tesla Motors
PULLMAN, Wash. – A sports car that can go from 0-60 mph in four seconds, is totally electric, and costs less than two cents a mile to drive? “Incredible” is what business and engineering students from Washington State University’s Frank Fellows program said after a sneak peak tour of Tesla Motors in San Carlos, Calif. The Silicon Valley start-up is creating quite a stir with well over 430 cars already pre-ordered with a price tag of $100,000 each.
“Getting to visit Tesla was a fantastic experience,” says WSU Electrical Engineering student, Justin Wood. “The car is amazing and seeing one of the prototypes up close was incredible.”
The tour was the last hurrah after a week spent visiting Silicon Valley start-ups and staying at the homes of local entrepreneurs. “A critical part of our Frank Fellows program is getting engineering and business students face-to-face with actual entrepreneurs, bankers, and venture capitalists,” says Robert Olsen, director of the program and associate dean of the College of Engineering and Architecture. “Students spend four weeks learning the basics of entrepreneurship with the final week being spent in Silicon Valley where the action is happening.”
After this first month intensive, business and engineering students intern over the summer at various start-up firms, getting hands on experience in their areas. “Hands-on learning and developing connections and relationships with business leaders is what makes this program so incredible,” says Debra McCarver, entrepreneurship professor in the College of Business. “I can’t tell you the number of times adults have wished they had a similar experience like the Frank Fellows Program.”
Students are carefully selected through an application and interview process. The chosen 12 students enter a year-long program that gives them skills and experiences in entrepreneurship. Following their summer internship, students enter a business plan and prototyping class where they are put in cross-functional teams to create a product and work through the prototyping phase. For engineering students the prototype is also their senior capstone design project. Student teams present the corresponding business and product at the CB’s Business Plan Competition in the spring. Last year over $60,000 in prize money was given to winning teams.
“The program is unique in its partnering of business and engineering students,” says Olsen. “These two groups are essential to each other in technology driven entrepreneurship but often don’t know how to work together. Our students spend nine months of intense time working together on their projects.”
The Frank Fellows Program was created by a $3 million gift from Harold (’48 B.S. Electrical Engineering) and Diana Frank which established the Harold Frank Engineering Entrepreneurship Institute in the College of Engineering and Architecture. Frank, a successful entrepreneur who founded Applied Magnetics in the 1950s, benefited from the GI bill after World War II. Because of the help the GI bill gave him in getting started, Frank felt he wanted to provide a similar experience for other WSU students. “This is something I felt I had to do,’’ says Frank. “I’d like to see students go out on their own and start their own companies to benefit mankind.’’
To find out more about the Frank Fellows visit www.cea.wsu.edu/entrepreneurship.
The WSU College of Business and College of Engineering and Architecture are accredited programs. The colleges span the four campuses of WSU with the largest programs in Pullman and urban campuses located in Spokane, Vancouver, and the Tri-Cities area. The colleges conduct scholarly and applied research, and offer degree programs in a variety of disciplines. For more information, visit the college’s Web site at www.business.wsu.edu or www.cea.wsu.edu.