Overview of Programs
When you’re ready to launch into your entrepreneurial journey, the Simone Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is here with a variety of programs to get you started.
The Simone Center provides many opportunities for you to learn to foster innovation, creativity, and an entrepreneurial mindset. As the entrepreneurial hub of RIT, the Simone Center offers several programs throughout the year to propel students to the next level. There are academic courses leading to a minor in entrepreneurship, full-time entrepreneurial and innovative experiences, coaching, and an innovation club.
Programs
Academics
RIT offers a minor and number of courses in the field of entrepreneurship and innovation.
IdeaLab
IdeaLab is a design thinking workshop that links real-world problems and challenges with problem solvers at RIT. We employ student teams with multidisciplinary expertise to solve unique problems faced by corporations, organizations, and nonprofits across the U.S. Students spend one week designing innovative solutions for specific problems identified by the participating organizations.
Student Accelerator Program
This initiative is a full-time semester-long program aimed at assisting entrepreneurs and innovators in developing their business concepts to a point where they are ready to begin to seek angel investment. The program offers instruction across a range of subjects relevant to startups and culminates in the Investor Demo Night, where each student team will have an opportunity to pitch their business to a group of real investors.
Studio 930 Design Consultancy
The Studio 930 RIT Design Consultancy is a multidisciplinary studio focused on the production of access and health technology products. This group is motivated equally by real-world learning and helping people with disabilities in our community. The Simone Center together with the industrial design MFA program, Kate Gleason College of Engineering, College of Engineering Technology, and Saunders College of Business have joined forces to give our students the opportunity to work on meaningful projects.
MAGIC Makers Program
The goal of the MAGIC Maker program is to provide students with the funding and support to manage their own digital media (games, film, digital media, interactive experiences, digital design and more) projects and prepare them for publication and investment-readiness.
Innovation Fellows Program
The Innovation Fellows Program (IF) is a full-time, applied experience where you will work on scoping the business viability of a new product or start-up concept through the use of entrepreneurial skills.