Aaron Scarboro

A crowd of 400 packed into the Kenan Stadium Blue Zone on the University of North Carolina campus April 9 to hear from leading researchers and rising entrepreneurs at the 2015 Innovation Showcase.  The 16 presenters included faculty studying neuron molecules in an effort to prevent neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, as well as undergraduate students pitching their online donation platform.    The Innovation Showcase, which is in its fifth year, is an opportunity for emerging startups to share their work with the community and network with potential investors and advisors, said Judith Cone (pictured above), who has led...

A crowd of 400 packed into the Kenan Stadium Blue Zone on the University of North Carolina campus April 9 to hear from leading researchers and rising entrepreneurs at the 2015 Innovation Showcase.  The 16 presenters included faculty studying neuron molecules in an effort to prevent neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, as well as undergraduate students pitching their online donation platform.    The Innovation Showcase, which is in its fifth year, is an opportunity for emerging startups to share their work with the community and network with potential investors and advisors, said Judith Cone (pictured above), who has led...

The University of North Carolina recently announced the creation of the Carolina Research Venture Fund, a $5 million pool marked for investment in early-stage startups utilizing university intellectual property. According to university officials, this fund will fill a funding gap that has made it difficult for fledgling startups to commercialize their intellectual property.    UNC’s fund is part of a growing national trend of universities creating funds to finance startups. UC-Berkeley, Virginia Tech and the University of Chicago have similar initiatives and Duke just announced the Duke Angel Network and Duke Innovation Fund to support its entrepreneurs.    UNC is a top 10...

The University of North Carolina recently announced the creation of the Carolina Research Venture Fund, a $5 million pool marked for investment in early-stage startups utilizing university intellectual property. According to university officials, this fund will fill a funding gap that has made it difficult for fledgling startups to commercialize their intellectual property.    UNC’s fund is part of a growing national trend of universities creating funds to finance startups. UC-Berkeley, Virginia Tech and the University of Chicago have similar initiatives and Duke just announced the Duke Angel Network and Duke Innovation Fund to support its entrepreneurs.    UNC is a top 10...

March is a month of madness in Chapel Hill. Tournaments and brackets are the talk of the town, bars and restaurants are packed with fans and conjecture of upsets and championships abound. It’s no surprise that the Carolina Challenge, UNC’s premier entrepreneurship pitch competition, would coincide with March Madness. That energy and competitive (but friendly) spirit were on full display last Thursday evening at the Carolina Inn for the Carolina Challenge finals.  The Challenge started with 65 teams in February in three different tracks—for-profit, social/not-for-profit, and alumni/faculty/grad/staff. The first two rounds of the Challenge eliminated all but four from each...

March is a month of madness in Chapel Hill. Tournaments and brackets are the talk of the town, bars and restaurants are packed with fans and conjecture of upsets and championships abound. It’s no surprise that the Carolina Challenge, UNC’s premier entrepreneurship pitch competition, would coincide with March Madness. That energy and competitive (but friendly) spirit were on full display last Thursday evening at the Carolina Inn for the Carolina Challenge finals.  The Challenge started with 65 teams in February in three different tracks—for-profit, social/not-for-profit, and alumni/faculty/grad/staff. The first two rounds of the Challenge eliminated all but four from each...

Sarah Miller Caldicott thinks Thomas Edison has a lot to teach us about innovation. So much so that she spent three years of her life studying Edison and his creative process. She shared some of her findings at the second Clean Tech Summit at the University of North Carolina in February.    Caldicott discussed her ideas and her role in RTP’s new Midnight Lunch Lab during a panel on building great innovation ecosystems. She was joined by UNC’s Judith Cone and Sarah Lawrence of RTI International. The three women each brought a unique perspective on what it takes to grow an innovation ecosystem, an...

In the classic TV cartoon series The Jetsons, a wisecracking and lovable robot maid named Rosie helps out around the house.  She irons George’s shirts, helps Jane with the dishes and even disciplines Elroy. The show is set in the 2060s, 100 years in the future from the time the show originally aired. While Hanna and Barbera were likely going for comedy rather than prophecy, their depiction of Rosie – a robot capable of learning and performing new tasks—could become reality within our lifetimes.    A big reason for this is the work that researchers are doing in the...

Dr. Debby Stroman of the University of North Carolina’s Kenan Institute for Private Enterprise is fired up about sports. Her passion for athletic competition is not unique in Chapel Hill, particularly as the college basketball season starts to heat up. The research she and her students are conducting is, however.    The former University of Virginia basketball star and golf event entrepreneur has witnessed first hand the impact sports can have on communities, both culturally and economically. As a professor of sport entrepreneurship at UNC, she is dedicating this part of her career to understanding it.  As the NFL season comes...