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South Dakota Receives Student Entrepreneurship Grants

Dakota State University has received two grants from the National Collegiate Innovators and Inventors Alliance (NCIIA) to encourage student innovation and entrepreneurship throughout South Dakota. The grants will support the development of a statewide "Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship" course and to provide financial support to student teams developing innovative products or solutions with social benefits and/or significant commercial potential. The National Collegiate Innovators and Inventors Alliance is a national organization which is committed to increasing the number of students across the country who have an interest in invention, innovation and entrepreneurship.

With the support of the grants, Dr. Melvin Ustad will utilize the Governor's Electronic Classroom to deliver the two Technology Entrepreneurship courses during the spring semester of 1999. The two courses are:

Introduction to Technology Entrepreneurship: The dual credit (high school/college) course is designed to introduce high school seniors and undergraduate students to the opportunities of technology based entrepreneurship.

Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship: The undergraduate and graduate credit course will be offered at Dakota State University, South Dakota State University, the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and the University of South Dakota. The course will involve teams of students working together to identify and develop innovative new products which benefit society and have significant commercial potential. The grant will provide financial support for the student E-Teams. Successful E-Teams are eligible to receive up to $20,000 in additional NCIIA funding to support their project.

"We hope to have some exciting new technology based businesses are started in South Dakota as a results of these projects" said Dr. Melvin Ustad the author of the grants. For more information on the projects contact Dr. Ustad at 605-256-5555.