UMd’s Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship and Mtech Recognized for Entrepreneurship Excellence

College Park, Md. – August 25, 2008 — The Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship and Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech) spurred the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business to a No. 9 rank in the business specialty category for entrepreneurship, university officials announced today. The rankings appear in U.S. News & World Report’s annual America's Best Colleges 2009 issue, which hits newsstands today.

The Dingman Center and Mtech, an institute of the A. James Clark School of Engineering, are flagship entrepreneurship centers at the University of Maryland that offer a comprehensive set of programs for students, faculty, and alumni focused on innovation and creating new ventures.

“We are excited to see the university’s entrepreneurship efforts recognized on a national scale,” said Dr. James V. Green, director of Mtech’s Hinman CEOs Program and associate director of entrepreneurship education. “Technology creators who comprehend entrepreneurial concepts will help weave innovation into the fabric of industry. That means new companies that create new jobs, stimulate the economy, and bring life-saving, life-changing and life-enhancing technologies to consumers.”

Campus-wide initiatives offered by the Dingman Center and Mtech to drive entrepreneurship include:

• Capital Access Network
• Hinman CEOs Program
• Pitch Dingman
• Hillman Entrepreneurs Program
• Academic courses and Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Fellows Program
• University of Maryland $50K Business Plan Competition
• Cupid’s Cup Annual Business Competition
• UM Technology Start-Up Boot Camp
• Certificate in Innovation Management Program
• Entrepreneur Office Hours
• Portfolio Companies
• VentureAccelerator Program

“Innovation is by nature a collaborative process,” said Asher Epstein, managing director of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. “There’s a lot of distance between creating a great idea and bringing it to the marketplace. The Dingman Center – with its network of resources and experience growing firms from the back of a napkin to the first million dollars – serves as a great catalyst to many Mtech ventures and vise versa.”

The Hinman CEOs program is comprised of equal numbers of business and engineering undergraduates. Half of all presentations made in the Pitch Dingman program are from students outside of the business school, with many coming from engineering and computer science disciplines. Students from all majors attend the annual Boot Camp and enter both business competitions. Entrepreneur office hours are offered across campus. 

ABOUT Mtech (www.mtech.umd.edu)
The mission of the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech) is tri-fold: educate the next generation of technology entrepreneurs; help technology entrepreneurs create successful technology-based ventures; and connect Maryland companies with university resources to develop new products and to help them succeed. Founded in 1983, Mtech has had a $17.02 billion impact on the Maryland economy through its programs. Mtech is a unit of the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland.

ABOUT the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship
Founded in 1986 as one of the earliest entrepreneurship centers in the country, the Dingman Center has dedicated itself to facilitating, supporting, and encouraging entrepreneurial growth at the University of Maryland and in the Mid-Atlantic region. Forward looking and community focused, the center actively encourages a real-world business culture that innovatively bridges the theoretical with the practical. Programs and services provided by the center support all stages of enterprise creation – from an entrepreneur’s initial concept to the first $1 million.

About the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 13 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and part-time MBA, executive MBA, executive MS, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations on three continents — North America, Europe and Asia.

About the A. James Clark School of Engineering

The Clark School of Engineering, situated on the rolling, 1,500-acre University of Maryland campus in College Park, Md., is one of the premier engineering schools in the U.S. The Clark School's graduate programs are collectively the fastest rising in the nation. In U.S. News & World Report's annual rating of graduate programs, the school is 17th among public and private programs nationally, 11th among public programs nationally and first among public programs in the mid-Atlantic region. The School offers 13 graduate programs and 12 undergraduate programs, including degree and certification programs tailored for working professionals. The school is home to one of the most vibrant research programs in the country. With major emphasis in key areas such as communications and networking, nanotechnology, bioengineering, reliability engineering, project management, intelligent transportation systems and space robotics, as well as electronic packaging and smart small systems and materials, the Clark School is leading the way toward the next generations of engineering advances.

For more information please contact::
 
Carrie Handwerker
301-405-5833