BY AMINE TOURKI
Daily Staff Reporter
Published February 17, 2005
One of the founders of the Samuel Zell and Robert H. Lurie Institute of Entrepreneurial studies has given back to an institute that he helped create.
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The institute, which was founded in 2000 by Zell and the widow of his long-time friend and partner Robert Lurie has received a gift of $4 million. Zell’s donation will increase the available funds of the institute and allow it to expand its programs and reach out across campus, said Mary Nickson, public relations manager for the institute.
“It is an encouragement from him to us and approval of what we are doing” said Paul Kirch the program manager of students programs at the institute.
Zell’s gift has enabled the institute to begin a 12-week pilot program with the National Science Foundation’s Wireless Integrated Microsystems Engineering Research Center, which focuses on microelectronics, wireless communications, and micro-electromechanical systems.
Kirch said the program will put students in the front lines of assessing the potential of research that can be done at the College of Engineering. At the end of the program, the students will make recommendations to WIMS on which products will be successful on the market, based on their assessment of the market potential and the viability of creating a venture based on the prototypes of the research they analyzed.
“If the students find it challenging and of great learning value, then we will expand this program.” said Kirch.
Another program that will be expanded and fully funded with the donated money will be the Dare to Dream Grant Program, which distributes grants to students to complete a feasibility study and gives them the opportunity to develop a business plan for commercial launch.
This year, $62,000 has been awarded to students under the Dare to Dream program with $1000 given to seven student teams for the “Business Concept Assessment” category and $10,000 have been given to in the “Business Integration” program.
“The Business are not chosen on the market value it has, but on the idea merit,” Kirch added some of the plans are chosen so the students will learn of the viability or non-viability of the business.
