Enterprise Education

Nishan Canagarajah, Chair of CS&EE

Bristol – Science City

Bristol – Technology ClustersAerospace and Defence

Telecoms

Micro Electronics

Creative Media

Major Enterprise Initiatives

• Toshiba Research Labs (Communications)• Rolls Royce UTC (Composites)• Mobile VCE (Communications)• British Energy Partnership (Safety critical

systems)• 3CR (Computing, Communications,

Content)• DIF DTC (image and data fusion)

Bristol Approach

• We try and create an educational environment that prepares graduates ‘for’ enterprise

• Building entrepreneurial knowledge, skills, and behaviour into the curriculum

• Use the Bristol eco-system

• Student led

Facilitating Enterprise• Providing sources of advice & feedback

• Funds for student start-up (£41k pa)

• Inspiration from real entrepreneurs

• Competitions to incentivise business ideas (£36k pa)

• Networks & Mentors

• SETsquared business incubator

Curricula Opportunities• ‘Hi-Tech Enterprise’

• 1st & 4th year option for Computer Science students• Taught by Entrepreneur/Silicon Valley experts from

SETsquared’s ‘entrepreneur-in-residence’

• Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Enterprise• Final year unit – open across Engineering Faculty• Taught in part by visiting entrepreneurial expertise & by

local businesses mentoring student teams

• Both units use a business plan and oral investment pitch as final assessment

Extra-curricular opportunities• Annual New Enterprise Competition for students

and staff worth £35k in prize funds

• Bristol University Business Angels (BUBA)

• Student-run group providing advice, networking, and £30k of university-provided investment funding

• Student Societies supported by a graduate ‘entrepreneur in residence’ - scholar with the Kaufmann Foundation

Success Stories: XMOS

• Software-defined Silicon Chips

• Founded in 2005

• Computer Science academic

and student part of founding team

• Student’s UG project key to co-

development

• Raised $16m investment in 2007

Success Stories: SnapFashion

• Visual Search Engine

• Developed by Computer Science

Finalist

• Winner of the University’s 2009

New Enterprise Competition

• Won £15k of funding and six

months’ free business incubation

within the University

Challenges

• Developing suitable metrics on impact

• External pressures/funders: REF

• Managing ‘conflicts’

• No one-size-fit-all

• Wherever the students take us

• Student-managed business incubation