What: Go@CMU - Project Kickstarter
Why: Connect community problems with students to help solve them
When: First Friday 5:30-9pm of Spring and Fall Semester
Where: Maverick Innovation Center - 730 Mesa Avenue, Grand Junction, CO 81501
What is it?
Go@CMU is a mixer event the first Friday evening and an optional Saturday morning of each semester. It is a way to connect ideas and needs in the community with students willing to contribute to them.
What do I get from it?
If you have a need or idea that may fit a student project, this is a friendly venue to pitch with passion, and see if you can make progress on something important to you.
What do I need to do?
For the event to be successful, understand the needs of the students you want to connect to.
- Students want to work on projects that interest them, and they are confident they can contribute to making progress on the concept. Listening to interested students may help you refine your goals to something that works for them.
- Faculty will help you understand what kind of projects students are looking for, and may give you ideas about what might fit the university model.
- Be willing to pitch your idea Friday evening and help orient a team on Saturday.
- These are students and do not have the same skills, time, and resources that a regular employee or business owner has, and will be limited in time. These students may be able to continue with the project after the term or year ends with additional arrangements.
- A typical student is thinking about fulfilling one semester long project in one class on a particular topic they are learning about, which roughly equates to a 4-8 hour/week time commitment over 3-4 months (1 semester “term” project) or 7-8 months (2 semester “year” project). Most courses are generally one semester, with the exception of Engineering Capstone which are two semesters.
What are we not?
This is a fishing venture and your lure may not catch a student the first time out, as they have a mix of options, but we encourage you to continue fishing.