NEW SPEAKER ANNOUNCED (May 24th): John Swinney, MSP, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
Event registration is open for the ‘Educational Journey of An Entrepreneur’. This is a collaborative event between Converge Challenge, Scottish Institute for Enterprise (SIE), Young Enterprise Scotland (YES) building on the Scotland CAN DO agenda. The event is to be delivered in partnership with BQ on Thursday 2nd June at RBS Gogarburn, Edinburgh. This is the first event of its kind aimed at universities, colleges, entrepreneurial ecosystem, investors and, of course, entrepreneurs. Spaces are now limited and issued on a first come, first served basis.
The event will provide a response to the call from the Scottish Government to deliver a step change in entrepreneurial support within tertiary education.
The morning will investigate how can those in tertiary (post-secondary) education in Scotland do things better to help establish and grow sustainable profitable companies. Each of the collaborative organisations will demonstrate how they support enterprising education and expand beyond the concept of starting a business to help our students in Scotland develop an entrepreneurial mindset. The event aims to highlight all good practices that are happening within universities and colleges.
Hosted by Mark Easton, Home Editor for BBC News, the event will focus on encouraging and supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs at every stage of their educational journey whether at college or university. Discussing how can we deliver a step change in developing the entrepreneurial mindset among our students and encourage them not to just start a business but also be intrapreneurial in their career.
A person with an entrepreneurial mindset, whatever their role, wherever they work, will be ambitious for their organisation creating a new type of employee- the intrapreneur. This is important as it is not limited to the business sector but applies to any workplace, including the public and third sectors,and has the potential to make Scotland’s economy inevitably stronger.
Speakers on the day will include: John Swinney, MSP, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills; Dr Olga Kozlova, Director of the Converge Challenge;Fiona Godsman, CEO of the Scottish Institute for Enterprise; Geoff Leask, Chief Executive of Young Enterprise Scotland; James McIlroy, CEO of EuroBiotix, an award winning social enterprise tackling unmet clinical needs in microbiota therapy.
The event will feature inspirational stories from successful entrepreneurs who have "been there and done it” as well early stage projects. These inspiring journeys will feature: Tom Walkinshaw, PocketQube Shop (AlbaOrbital Ltd) – lowering the cost of launching satellites; Rebecca Pick, Personal Guardian a lone detection worker and personal alarm; Adam Nichol, early idea stage college student; Dr Christopher Leburn, Chromacity Ltd - the laser company that will provide biologists with a radical new light source for laser-scanning microscopy; and Siobhan Mackenzie, Siobhan Mackenzie Ltd - Bringing Scottish Dress into the 21st century by breaking the rules of tradition with innovation within design.
John Swinney, MSP, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills will join representatives from the Scottish Institute for Enterprise, Converge Challenge and Young Enterprise Scotland in a special Q&A panel discussing the future of entrepreneurship education in Scotland.
Part of the event will also include a Young Enterprise Scotland Inventor Challenge for school aged children from Flora Stevenson Primary, Edinburgh that will showcase a start of an entrepreneurial journey. The primary school children will design and create a new futuristic invention and present this back to attendees on the main stage in the form of an advert and jingle.
Ready, Steady, Pitch!
The day will culminate with the annual Converge Challenge Elevator pitch competition showcasing the final top 30 Converge Challengers of 2016 who will take to the stage in front of a live audience of around 300 attendees and judging panel of industry experts. Participants will have just one minute each to convince the judging panel that the idea presented has the potential to transform lives and kick start a business reality.
Last year’s winner, Daniel Good, Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, together with Steven Hammer, a post doctoral researcher at Heriot-Watt University won with The E-Finger, a probe which can measure the stiffness of the prostate gland in men which determines diseased areas of the prostate anda id screening and diagnosis of prostate cancer and benign growth.
We are delighted to announce two exceptional guest speakers for the afternoon:Susan Fouquier, Regional Managing Director, Business Banking Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland and Dr Deborah Buckley-Golder, Head of Research Engagement, InnovateUK.
This is a thrilling opportunity to see the best projects developed by students, graduates and staff from the country’s universities and research institutes in action. It is all to “pitch” for as this year Converge Challenge has an increased total prize of £150,000.
There will also be an exhibition on the day featuring the top 30 finalists and many of the support organisations offering great networking opportunities.
Join us and support the next generation of entrepreneurs in Scotland!
You can sign up for this event here. Spaces are now limited and issued on a first come, first served basis. https://educationaljourneyofanentrepreneur.eventbrite.co.uk. Feel free to tweet using #EJEScot16
