Howard Community College

and entrepreneurship. "We are addressing is one member of a team of students entrepreneurship program. Both the HCC the need to better prepare students for jump-starting a new company called course and the summer program attract the workplace and increased global NutriGrown, LLC, which is developing a diverse student population in gender, competition through an experiential a line of soil products based on a slow ethnicity, and age (from 17 to 60 and learning opportunity centered on release "green" fertilizer developed by older), reports Swann. innovation," explains Professor Wayne scientists at the Agricultural Research Swann, HCC's technology assessment Service of the USDA. "The faculty decision to use student teams in the classes, cutting across program manager. "Students increase Another group of students began a their knowledge about innovation by business called CrispTek, LLC. Its first continues to enhance the richness of the learning to assess the value and product, a gluten-free rice-flour based students' experiences," says Swann. "And potential of products and their batter that reduces the oil absorbed in student career interest in entrepreneurship applications. They evaluate a new U.S. fried foods, is being sold at a number of is showing a significant increase, with 83 government innovation and are guided by retail sites. CrispTek is headquartered percent of the students expressing a high faculty, mentors, subject matter experts, in Howard County's Center for Business or very high degree of interest after taking and inventors." and Technology Development's NeoTech the course." Partners in the program with HCC include the Howard County Public School elements of age, experience and goals, So stay tuned - the program is Incubator. The technology assessment initiative supporting students who are speeding System, Howard County Economic began with a four-year National Science new technology to market and generating Development Authority, NASA's Foundation Partnerships for Innovation new products that may soon improve our Goddard Space Flight Center, the U.S. grant and is now part of HCC's environment and our health. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service, and The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Student assessment reports and presentation materials are submitted to the partner laboratories to provide independent feedback and assist the technology transfer offices to move innovations to businesses and facilitate new start-ups. The HCC course, "Taking Innovation to Market," is part of HCC's entrepreneurship program, but students come from a variety of backgrounds, interests, and majors. There is also a summer program for elementary and middle school students, ages 10 to 14, called "Young Inventors at Work." Katelyn Skarbek took Swann's class when she was a high school senior. "I decided to attend HCC because I really enjoyed the class and my classmates," she says. As a result of the program, Skarbek, who graduated from HCC as a Rouse Scholar and is now a business major at the University of Baltimore, The CrispTek team with their line of gluten-free products. Howard Community College Spring 2011 | Pathways 21

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