Concept:

 

Establish a self-sustainable business development program focused on socially responsible products and services that is operated by college students in conjunction with a college or university.

 

Goals:

 

Unleash innovation to help solve today’s problems; e.g. alternative energy, sustainable living, complementary health, etc.

 

Provide a public and profitable incentive that encourages students to study math, science, engineering and business and to apply what they know.

 

Scope

Focus on small, simple solutions, but don’t deny the possibility of far reaching consequences. A few successful simple solutions can generate a self-replicating process, encourage innovation elsewhere, and train an enthusiastic work force.

 

Current Situation:

 

Innovation can be stymied by the bureaucracies inherent in the government, academic and corporate hierarchies. Funds are only available after exhausting and time-consuming review processes. The monies tend to go to established experts who are constrained by the need to publish and who have very little incentive to take risks. Math, science, engineering and other practical disciplines are seen as boring career paths by high school students, so the United States sees too few graduates in necessary disciplines.