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�鶹AV Innovation Incubator to Inspire Entrepreneurship in South Africa

leyla.sade@csun.edu — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 17:43:38 +0000

July 13, 2021

�鶹AV Innovation Incubator to Inspire Entrepreneurship in South Africa by Carmen Ramos Chandler, �鶹AV Today

Tim Tiemann has spent a lifetime in the business world, developing and launching new ideas and new businesses for himself and other people.

He brought that know-how to California State University, Northridge in 2017, when he became managing director of the �鶹AV Innovation Incubator in the David Nazarian College of Business and Economics, determined to expand the doors to entrepreneurial opportunities for traditionally underserved students and students of color.

Pictured: Tim Tiemann

His efforts caught the attention of officials with the U.S. Department of State, who have asked him to bring the ideas behind the �鶹AV Innovation Incubator to women and underserved populations in South Africa this fall.

“The goal is to work with South Africa’s academic institutions and help lay the foundation so that they can do what we have done at �鶹AV, which is to encourage those who aren’t being served at the moment, think about how they can fill those gaps and, in the process, start their own businesses or nonprofits,” Tiemann said. “When you are part of a community, particularly a community whose needs are not being met, you know what the gaps are, what the needs are. An incubator is a place where those entrepreneurs willing to meet those needs — whether a product or a service — can find encouragement and support.”

The �鶹AV Innovation Incubator aims to help students convert their business ideas into marketable products and programs by providing them the opportunity to work alongside established professionals using “lean” startup methods.

Tiemann will work with officials at South African universities this summer over Zoom, to begin sharing the framework for �鶹AV’s incubator and discuss ways they can adapt it to fit the needs of the students at their institutions. He did something similar with officials at universities in Vietnam a couple years ago.

Incubating new ideas “is what universities do best,” Tiemann said.

“We’re not here as a job center, though some people may see us as such,” he continued. “One of the best things universities do is bring a diverse group of people together for creative collaboration and exploration of new ideas. Entrepreneurship does all of that. But we’re not restricting it to biochemists somewhere with a new drug. We’re expanding it to people who are figuring out new ways, new apps, new products that provide solutions to problems or needs in their communities.”

Tiemann said that most entrepreneurship programs, whether in the U.S. or elsewhere, favor a certain type of person.

“It’s usually, in the U.S., a person with access to resources and wealth,” he said. “And what we typically get are products and services that tend to be focused on those segments of society that they know very well, and ignore the needs of the rest of us. They get the training and support, and that’s where people put their money.

“At the most basic, that decision to limit entrepreneurship ignores hundreds, if not thousands, of opportunities for new products, new services and new business,” he said. “Who best to meet those needs than those people whose needs are being ignored — people of color, women and people from underrepresented, underserved communities. If you give them the training, you open the doors to possibilities, not for just for them, but their communities. And we all benefit in the end.”

Chandra Subramaniam, dean of the Nazarian College, agreed

“We strive to make entrepreneurial training and activities accessible,” Subramaniam said. “Tim has been a leading force in helping us succeed throughout campus and the local community. Having him represent entrepreneurship internationally on behalf of �鶹AV and the Nazarian College is the ‘cherry on top.’”

Professor Publishes Article on Blockchain

deone.zell@csun.edu — Thu, 05 Mar 2020 23:15:07 +0000

March 5, 2020

Management Professor Named Fulbright U.S. Scholar

leyla.sade@csun.edu — Wed, 19 Jun 2019 21:47:52 +0000

June 18, 2019

�鶹AV Is a National Leader for Fulbright U.S. Scholars by Jessica Edwards, �鶹AV Today

�鶹AV was honored with the second-most number of Fulbright awards from among the nation’s master’s-level institutions for the 2018-2019 academic year.

Three members of �鶹AV’s faculty and administration were recognized by the distinguished scholarship program, which offers university faculty and administrators, as well as independent scholars, teaching and research awards in more than 125 countries around the world.

�鶹AV President Dianne F. Harrison and two professors, Joanne Scillitoe and Mintesnot Woldeamanuel, were named U.S. Scholars to travel abroad and study in their respective areas of interest.

The award recipients traveled to various countries based on their specialties, conducting research in locations such as France, Spain and Ethiopia.

Harrison, who previously participated in the Fulbright-Hayes Seminars Abroad Program to Jordan and Oman, completed the Fulbright International Education Administrators Seminar in France. The seminars help U.S. higher education officials create empowering connections with the societal, cultural and higher education systems of other countries. Seminars include campus visits with a cross-section of universities and colleges; briefings with faculty and administrators, government officials, and leading educational experts; and tours of historical and cultural sites.

“�鶹AV is a global university, attracting students and scholars from all over the world, as well as those who hail from Southern California,” Harrison said. “As a university, we are strengthened by these global connections. The Fulbright International Education Administrators Seminar provided the invaluable opportunity to ensure that �鶹AV remains a leader in implementing the best practices in higher education from across the globe.”

Joanne Scillitoe, professor of management, conducted research in Madrid, Spain, on the impact of socio-tech ventures and their technological innovations. These entrepreneurial ventures were created with a social mission at their core, but also utilize technology to meet the needs of their beneficiaries.

“This is a new area of both research and practice globally,” Scillitoe said. “Evidence suggests that running them as either a technology or social venture alone, using existing tools and knowledge, can result in significant problems. Similar to the U.S. and elsewhere, social enterprises are struggling to survive, and subsequently, struggling to provide the intended social impact.”

Madrid is a global hot-spot for socio-tech ventures, making it the perfect location to study for Scillitoe.

“Madrid has recently experienced momentum regarding entrepreneurship and is also currently experiencing a growing, lively tech startup scene including a Google for Startups Campus in the heart of Madrid,” Scillitoe said. “Being a Fulbright Senior Scholar at the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid is an honor. My hope is that my research in this area will provide valuable insights that will not only be publishable academic work, but also result in new pedagogical programs and practice.”

In the heart of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, �鶹AV urban studies and planning professor Mintesnot Woldeamanuel is working to improve the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system’s function, as it has experienced higher level traffic than originally expected.

“I was born in Addis Ababa, so this gives me an opportunity to get back to my origin and give back,” Woldeamanuel said. “The LRT was opened in 2015 in order to meet the needs of the ever-increasing travel demand in the city. My students and I collected data from riders and the adjacent communities, and we also gathered air quality data at several stations. Through the analysis of the data, we hope to find out the challenges [of the rail system], and propose some solutions to the Rail Authority in order to better improve its function.”

Woldeamanuel also hopes to cultivate scholarly connections to the capital of his native country and �鶹AV.

“Ethiopian universities have unmet needs in quality teaching and research,” Woldeamanuel said. “This experience would open up opportunities for potential collaboration between Ethiopia and �鶹AV. I plan to involve graduate students in co-writing the manuscript for publications on academic journals.”

In addition to the three U.S. Scholars for the 2018-2019 academic year, �鶹AV is also attracting attention from the Fulbright program for 2019-2020. �鶹AV biology professor Jonathan Kelber received a Scholar Award from the Fulbright U.S.-United Kingdom Commission and Cancer Research UK to conduct cancer research this fall in the United Kingdom.

At the University of Manchester and the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Matrix Research, Kelber will collaborate with Martin Humphries’ laboratory, exploring how certain proteins that surround tumor cells serve to protect them from anti-cancer therapies.

“Cancer cells are inherently good at adapting to stressors within their local microenvironment,” Kelber said. “Clinically, this prevents cancer cells from responding to anti-cancer therapies and allows them to establish resistance in other tissues. This Fulbright-sponsored work has the potential to advance our understanding of how cancer cell adhesion signaling mechanisms function to support these stress-resistant mechanisms in cancer cells. Of course, the ultimate goal is to identify new treatment strategies that help patients.”

�鶹AV Researcher Finds Benefits of Emotional Bonds Between Managers and Employees

leyla.sade@csun.edu — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 23:12:05 +0000

August 7, 2018

�鶹AV Researcher Finds Benefits of Emotional Bonds Between Managers and Employees

Sigalit Ronen’s research makes the business case for bosses who nurture emotional bonds with their employees.

Ronen, a California State University, Northridge assistant professor of management, has worked with researchers around the world to study how these emotional bonds impact employees’ job performance.

What she found: When people feel secure in their relationships with their managers, they become more creative and their performance increases. Read More News �鶹AV Dr. Ronen's Research.