Student Entrepreneurship
Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership
The Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership offers entrepreneurship programs, services, and resources to faculty, students, and community members on The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus and internationally.
The Academy's mission is to encourage entrepreneurial awareness and initiatives across all disciplines of the University of Illinois. We sponsor events for faculty, student entrepreneurs, and staff throughout the year, including workshops, public discussions, business plan competitions, symposia, professional FastTrac courses, and lectures.
Technology Entrepreneur Center
Part of the College of Engineering, the Technology Entrepreneur Center enhances the existing engineering curriculum and engages the College’s vast pool of faculty, students, and alumni supportive of entrepreneurship through courses and co-curricular activities that expose engineering and science students to the complex concepts inherent in the simultaneous processes of technology innovation and market adoption.
Hoeft Technology & Management Program
The Technology & Management Program at the University of Illinois bridges the gap between traditional engineering and business education by offering a unique curriculum to a select group of highly qualified undergraduates drawn from the Colleges of Engineering and Business.
Illinois Business Consulting
An integral component of the College of Business and the Illinois MBA Program, Illinois Business Consulting (IBC) is a student consulting organization. Each year, approximately 200 students perform 40-50 projects for Fortune 500, mid-sized, new venture and non-profit clients. The organization enables students to apply their classroom learning to real business issues.
Illini Entrepreneurship Network
The Illini Entrepreneurship Network (IEN) is the leading entrepreneurship student organization at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It's mission is to promote entrepreneurship on campus and encourage students to create their own ventures.
Chinese Entrepreneur and Professionals Club
The Chinese Entrepreneur and Professionals Club (CEPS) promotes the spirit of entrepreneurship among students and scholars by providing exposure to mentorship programs, networking opportunities and career planning.
Lemelson-Illinois Student Prize
The $30,000 Lemelson-Illinois Student Prize is awarded to a current UIUC undergrad or graduate student who has demonstrated outstanding innovation.
University Business Developers
University Business Developers is the student-run business development and entrepreneurial group at Illinois. We serve several groups of people, including startups, students, and student entrepreneurs.
Nascent Entrepreneur Workshop Series
The Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership is proud to present the Nascent Entrepreneur Workshop series to students, community members, and University staff throughout the year. We cover a wide variety of topics from writing a business plan, to marketing research, new venture modeling, financing your venture, guerrilla marketing, and making the final presentation to investors. Many students move through each of the workshops and then continue on to compete in the Academy’s Innovation Teams Entrepreneurship Competition to put their lessons into practice with real businesses.s
Innovation Teams Entrepreneurship Competition
The Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership’s Innovation Teams Entrepreneurship Competition allows all students from majors across the campus the opportunity to participate in an innovative business plan competition. Students can either enter their own start-up firm in the competition, or they can apply to become a part of a team that will be paired with other students and an existing outside company. Students gain valuable insight into the entrepreneurial process, and learn how to create a meaningful business plan and venture presentation through the Nascent Entrepreneur Workshop Series and individual mentoring with Academy staff. Winners of Innovation Teams have the opportunity to move on to an international business plan competition.
Entrepreneurs Without Borders
Entrepreneurs Without Borders™ (EWOB) is an international student organization dedicated to advancing entrepreneurial and business competencies among a wide variety of peoples in local and global communities. EWOB was founded and is headquartered within the Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership, at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and is expanding through student chapters at partner institutions in the Worldwide Universities Network and other international universities.
The overarching mission of EWOB is to enable participants to put their diverse skills and resources together to work towards educating communities about social entrepreneurship, while developing projects and international travel opportunities that help communities in need and give back to areas of global concern. Entrepreneurs Without Borders™ is an international, student-centered organization, that utilizes faculty experts and entrepreneurs to guide students in helping communities solve social issues. For students, EWOB provides a valuable opportunity to work towards social change and integrate classroom learning into practice to become a force for the public good.