Many universities desire to achieve or maintain a competitive advantage by cultivating a culture of making on campus to meet current student demand, attract talented prospective students, and broaden the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem on campus. They recognize the importance of students who know how to both think and do. Many universities learn the hard way that a room with machines is not necessarily a makerspace and alone doesn’t foster entrepreneurship. More is needed to make a vibrant ecosystem and the Make Impact Consortium’s Mobius platform will provide tools to fill in the gaps.
Founding members of the Make Impact Consortium will have the unique opportunity to help shape the dialogue with other academic institutions at various stages in the process, as well as interact with a select group of corporate members.
Founding members have indicated they would value joining the consortium to exchange best practices about:
- maximizing the impact of makerspaces on entrepreneurship programs, defining and measuring success of a makerspace;
- creating complimentary entrepreneurship programs, ensuring safety without constraining access; learning from others about how best to approach fundraising, staffing and other resource needs;
- setting up and equipping space; etc.
They are also interested in sharing how makerspaces contribute to a robust innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem that provides resources to students at every step along the way from idea to product to successful start-up.
Read more about the Make Impact Consortium and our private and public partners.