The grand opening for UCF’s new Starter Lab was recently held at the UCF College of Business Administration. Sponsored by Mobile Makers, Florida High Tech Corridor and Research Assessment and Innovation for Social Enterprise (RAISE), the Starter Lab is a new initiative in the college providing a 1,500 sq. ft. space where students of all disciplines can collaborate and work on new venture ideas. The Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) at the University of Central Florida hosted the grand opening and honored the foundational funding group, Florida High Tech Corridor Council and its president Randy Berridge.
“The Starter Lab is a great place for students to collaborate with others and ‘noodle’ with preliminary innovation and new venture ideas. We intend for the Starter Lab to be a community center for student starters from all disciplines,” said Dr. Cameron Ford, director of the CEL and the Blackstone LaunchPad at UCF.
Ford continued: “The space features meeting space, pervasive whiteboards and post-it notes, as well as materials to experiment with preliminary ideas for innovative solutions. We think it will become an important space that fosters the development of an entrepreneurial culture at UCF.”
“This campus was in dire need of a place where all UCF starters could collaborate and share ideas—finally, that place exists. This space is important to the community because when two like-minded people come together, great things are bound to happen. I love being able to take my ideas and put them all over the walls. This space inspires creativity and is the ideal area for innovative starters,” said Oluwafunlola Falade, ‘14, founder of Quarterwear.
Established in 1968, the UCF College of Business Administration offers degrees at the bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, and executive levels. All programs, as well as the Kenneth G. Dixon School of Accounting are accredited by AACSB International – the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
The college provides high-quality academic programs designed to give students a competitive advantage in the world of business now and in the future. As such, the college establishes partnerships with some of the nation’s most innovative leaders to model new and best practices that harness evolving technology. In addition, the college promotes a unique culture of engagement, risk-taking, cross-disciplinary collaboration and data-driven decision making in an effort to ensure students are well prepared to enter a dynamic marketplace.