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CBA Offers Business Plan Coaching

Students interested in entrepreneurship—including those who plan to participate in the Innovation Challenge—are invited to attend business-plan coaching sessions put on by the CSULB College of Business Administration.

At 7 p.m. each Tuesday in CBA-139A, a group of MBA alumni called the Founders will hold coaching sessions about business plan writing in particular and starting a business in general. Those who have questions about their innovation, business plan, or how to start a business are invited to attend.

The Founders are comprised of Brian Budzinski, Dean Heiss, JR Jimenez, and Naki Patetefa. Budzinski received his undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering from Purdue University and works as an engineering manager at The Boeing Co. With an undergraduate degree in aeronautical science with a minor in aviation safety from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Heiss works as a senior project manager at Southern California Edison. Jimenez holds an undergraduate degree in psychology from University of California, Irvine and is a marketing and event manager for Entrepreneur Media. Patetefa, who has a CSULB undergraduate degree in finance, real estate, and law, works as a customer support manager at Ultimate Software.

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Innovation Challenge Kicks Off 7th Season

Innovation Challenge snapshotStartups are an important vehicle for U.S. economic growth, accounting for half of all new jobs created. At CSULB, students have a unique opportunity to gain real-world experience in starting a business through the Innovation Challenge, an annual contest that provides the winning entrepreneurial team with $50,000 in cash and services to get started.

Now in its seventh year, the Innovation Challenge is supported by the CSULB Colleges of the Arts, Business Administration, and Engineering, along with industry leaders with varied high-level business experience. The contest is open to all students. Continue reading “Innovation Challenge Kicks Off 7th Season”

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EE Honors Its 2016 Grads

The CSULB Electrical Engineering Department on Monday celebrated its 2016 graduates with an awards ceremony and celebration.

EE Chair Anastasios Chassiakos awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award to BSEE graduate Jose Cartagena, manager of project engineering at Disneyland. “Jose is very accomplished,” said Chassiakos. “He started as an intern at Disneyland and stayed and rose through the ranks.

A member of the CSULB Electrical Engineering Advisory and Development Committee for 15 years, Cartagena was the recipient of Great Minds in STEM’s 2015 Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Corp.’s Luminary Award. He was recognized for his commitment to community service, including volunteering to support the Salvadoran community in Los Angeles, where he encourages youth to get their education in STEM. Continue reading “EE Honors Its 2016 Grads”

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Student Capstone Project Wins National Manufacturing Contest

PlaneKool prototype
The PlaneKool prototype Heinrich Gerhardt designed is half the weight of competitors.

Senior capstone projects are supposed to measure students’ experience and knowledge—and in the case of Heinrich Gerhardt, there’s a lot to measure.

A Northrop Grumman engineering designer for more than a decade, Gerhardt headed back to school part-time in order to get a promotion at work. He’s been attending Cal State Long Beach for five years now, and is enrolled in Manufacturing Engineering Technology, a major that’s no longer offered.

“The joke in my household is, ‘Will I graduate first or retire first?’” said Gerhardt, who designs mechanical systems and wind tunnel test models in Northrop Grumman’s Test and Evaluation Engineering department. Continue reading “Student Capstone Project Wins National Manufacturing Contest”

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Two Teams Receive Startup Funding

The CSULB Innovation Challenge’s top team for 2016 took repeated punches and jabs from senior citizens to test out its winning business idea, while the runner-up watched hours upon hours of video games.

The Boxing Movement team, made up of business majors Anthony Gonzalez, Eric Lara and Gina Gionta, won the top prize of $10,000 in seed funding and $40,000 in services for a mobile boxing ring that could be trucked to recreation centers and other facilities to help seniors have fun and maintain strength.

The Boxing Movement team was made up of (l-r) Anthony Gonzalez, Gina Gionta and Eric Lara.

“It’s something that can benefit the entire senior population,” said Gonzalez, a personal trainer at CSULB’s Student Recreation and Wellness Center. He added that spending on wellness-based services is expected to increase from its current level of $200 million to $1 trillion by 2025. Continue reading “Two Teams Receive Startup Funding”

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Mentors Are Key in Helping Student Entrepreneurs Succeed

luxnova
Lux Nova won the 2015 Innovation Challenge with its idea for a 3D bone printer.

Student teams don’t make it to the CSULB Innovation Challenge finals alone. To get through the contest, they’re matched with mentors who help them think through ideas and submit their all-important business plans.

A joint project of the colleges of Engineering, Business Administration, and the Arts, the Innovation Challenge rewards winning teams with $10,000 in cash and $40,000 in financial, marketing, legal, and other services. The Innovation Challenge is designed to inspire entrepreneurship and produce one commercialization success each year.

Students who participate receive instruction on developing a business plan and help in finding fellow team members. But it’s the advice from mentors that’s most valuable. Continue reading “Mentors Are Key in Helping Student Entrepreneurs Succeed”

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CECS Project Aims to Help City with ‘Tunnel Vision’

sewr_wkr_0The CSULB Computer Engineering and Computer Science Department (CECS) is working on a $62,000 pilot project to build a software application that would help the city of Long Beach improve inspection of its hundreds of miles of sewer lines.

The application being developed by CSULB engineering faculty and students would add some automation to the inspection process through a software tool that scans video images to detect problems.

The city’s aging network of sewer pipes must be regularly inspected to keep drains flowing freely—a process that takes about a decade to complete. The inspection process is currently carried out by video cameras that are pushed through tunnels to capture images that are viewed by employees visually checking for problems or needed repairs. Continue reading “CECS Project Aims to Help City with ‘Tunnel Vision’”

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Entrepreneurs Get Lesson on Business Plans

busplan
Writing a business plan is critical to understanding all facets of the business, says Bruce Sparks, a senior business advisor for the Long Beach Small Business Development Center.

Innovation Challenge Advisory Committee member Larry Pate compared starting a business without a business plan to taking a cross-country trip without knowing how you’ll reach your destination. “The odds of success of just getting in the car and driving are slim. You might have a fun time, but it will take you a long time to get there.”

Students interested in entering the 2015 Innovation Challenge got a lesson Tuesday in a key part of the competition: creating the business plan. The contest offers $50,000 in seed funding and business services to the winning business idea.

“It’s one thing to have an idea—it’s another to say how you’re going to make money,” said Pate, chief learning officer at Decision Systems International. Continue reading “Entrepreneurs Get Lesson on Business Plans”

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Step 1 to Startup Success: Build a Winning Team

icmeetupThe Innovation Challenge is intended to give students real-world experience in starting a business. And just like in the real world, assembling a diverse team can be a barrier to entry.

Contest rules recommend teams with 3-7 members, since business ideas have a stronger chance of success if teams include people with finance, marketing, design, and technical skills.

“You can’t run a business by yourself,” said Barbara Barcon, an Innovation Challenge organizer and retired vice president and CFO with Pacific Gas and Electric. “You may like your idea, but will others like it? You’ll also need some market research.” Continue reading “Step 1 to Startup Success: Build a Winning Team”

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Are You Ready to Dream Big?

If the enthusiastic crowd at the Innovation Challenge’s second information meeting is any indication, a lot of Cal State University Long Beach students have startup dreams.

startup dreamsThe annual entrepreneurial Challenge, where student teams compete to win $50,000 in funding and services for the best business idea, was started six years ago by the colleges of Engineering, Business, and the Arts. Students at Thursday’s meeting appeared equally divided between the three colleges. Continue reading “Are You Ready to Dream Big?”