The McNeil Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Our unique approach to creating value is rooted in bridging the gap between academically rigorous foundations and the complexity and uncertainty innovators experience in practice. We start with the problem, not the solution, and apply scientific methods every step of the way. We test and validate early and often. While others emphasize entrepreneurial theater – brainstorming, day-dreaming and pitching unproven ideas – we bring ideas to life and test them.
We support members of our community through:
- Academics credit-bearing courses
- Learn & Earn courses
- Innovation leadership in any organization
- Innov8x Studio for de-risking innovation
- Challenges and community events
- Mentoring and alumni connections
- Industry relations
Bring your ideas to life:
- Get hands-on innovation experience through Innov8x courses, challenges and studio.
- Bring your ideas to life and develop solutions for real-world problems.
- Apply our processes on the job and deliver results.
Get ready to bring your ideas to life in the Labriola InnoHub, the largest making space in West (right-hand photo above). Bring potential users, customers or partners to try your solutions in Innov8x Studio (left-hand photo above). Watch Ken Liang and Chris Tolton share their startup journey.
Let our alumni and student entrepreneurs inspire you.
Read about Todd Benson’s entrepreneurial journey and what he learned from his mentor, Ruben Hartmeister, the man who invented Coors’ infamous aluminum can.
“If I would have had the business education Mines has now, I think it would have accelerated me dramatically on my path,” he said. “Just having an education on IP strategy, on what it takes to raise money, on what innovation is would have given me a head start. There are some individuals who are by nature innovators and inventor-types who are going to be impacted like gasoline on a fire with an infrastructure like this.”