Harnessing Student Brainpower to Solve COVID-19 Challenges
They’ve been trained to think and act like entrepreneurs. Now, business minor capstone students in the new venture course at Leeds School of Business face their most challenging project yet: Create a business that solves a problem of the coronavirus pandemic.
Problems can range from addressing supply chain challenges, efficient production of masks or delivering essentials to senior citizens and other high-risk populations. Student teams will create business plans and pitch their ideas for additional funding if they wish to launch their ventures post-graduation.
This mid-semester focus shift happened at lightning speed in the last couple weeks. Leeds instructor Visda Carson and coach Scott King, a retired entrepreneur, revamped the curriculum and secured $25,000 of seed funding for teams who create solutions to COVID-19.
"As we thought about how to continue teaching this class during the outbreak, we realized that the pandemic presented a great opportunity to offer our students the ability to pivot their business ideas to something that supports our local community,” says King.