Doha: Over 70 Qatar University (QU) students, faculty and researchers attended a seminar ‘Follow your passion, Lead the future – The story of OpenRov’, an innovative underwater robot for exploration and education.
The event was a joint effort of Centre for Entrepreneurship (CFE) at College of Business and Economics and Research Office and the US embassy.
It aimed to engage participants on how innovative ideas can be transformed into a business.
The seminar was conducted by OpenRov CEO and Founder Eric Stackpole. The mechanical engineer and Nasa-trained robotics entrepreneur channelled his interest in science and space technology into innovative projects. He built his first telepresence robot as an undergraduate at Santa Clara University and founded its CubeSat group, and later built nanosatellites at Nasa.
Stackpole’s presentation included a demonstration of the workings of OpenROV, and a discussion on his experience as an innovator and entrepreneur in which he explained the process of developing an idea into an enterprise.
Dr Nitham Hindi, Dean of the college, shed light on its efforts to develop entrepreneurial education, culture and research.
His presentation included the introduction of a minor in entrepreneurship for undergraduates, and an MBA concentration in entrepreneurship for graduate students. “In establishing the centre in Fall 2013, we aim to support entrepreneurial activities within QU and collaborate with peer institutions in Qatar and beyond to stimulate entrepreneurial research.”
Dr Mahmoud Abdellatif, Director of the centre, outlined its mission to support entrepreneurship at QU and the wider community and ongoing work to link academic life with business reality through training, incubation, research and consultation.
He said: “The centre is well placed to promote the culture of entrepreneurship and innovation institution-wide and within the community. In collaborating with companies and experts in the field of business, we are providing our students and those in other colleges at QU with opportunities to learn how to shape their ideas into viable businesses.” He also highlighted the centre’s programmes on entrepreneurship such as ERADA training series and ‘From Innovation to Commercialisation’ training. The Peninsula
