Four students are the latest to be named University Innovation Fellows, a highly selective program designed to help foster entrepreneurship and innovation among students nationwide.
They are:
Tyler Greenwood ‘21, a political science major from Kennebunk, Maine; Abdelrahman Mohamed ’21, a biomedical engineering and managerial economics major from Egypt; Emma Lee ’21, an anthropology and political science major from Ridgefield, Conn.; and Nathan Gillespie ’20, a music major (with minors in psychology and classics) from Chicago.
The four are among 358 students from 964 schools chosen for the program, which is run by Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design.
Fellows are selected after an application process that includes an essay and a video highlighting their thoughts on innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. Once chosen, fellows complete six weeks of online training.
In the last four years, 18 Union students have been named fellows.
The program empowers student leaders to increase campus engagement with entrepreneurship, innovation, creativity, design thinking and venture creation.
Fellows design innovation spaces, start entrepreneurship organizations, host experiential learning events and work with faculty to develop new courses.
“Through this program, Fellows gain skills, mindsets and knowledge to face complex challenges at their schools and in the world,” said Humera Fasihuddin, co-director of the University Innovation Fellows program.
“Fellows analyze their campus ecosystems and identify learning opportunities related to innovation, entrepreneurship, design thinking, and creativity. They work to understand the needs of peers across disciplines and the perspectives of faculty and administrators. Armed with this knowledge and perspective, they design strategies to take advantage of these opportunities for change.”
In the spring, Union’s Innovation Fellows may attend a meetup in Silicon Valley, which includes immersive experiences at Stanford University, Google, Microsoft and other organizations.
The students are supported by faculty sponsors Shane Cotter, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering; Erika Nelson, associate professor of German; and Nicole Theodosiou, associate professor and co-director of biochemistry.
