SOUTHFIELD—An app to help you make healthier eating choices even when ordering fast food. A robot to help elderly and disabled people with everyday tasks. A robotic receptionist for professional offices.
Those were the ideas pitched by students from around Michigan and the Chicago area, who spent a week learning the ins and outs of entrepreneurship and international trade from business experts and the faculty of Lawrence Technological University's College of Business and Information Technology.
The LTU high school summer camp, "Youth Entrepreneurship and Global Trade," was a collaboration between LTU and the Troy global business consulting firm International Strategic Management Inc., myISMinc.com.
ISM CEO Faris Alami called the camp a "mini international MBA" in just five days. "It's wonderful that LTU hosts events like this," he says, "because it shows they are committed to producing the business leaders of tomorrow,"
The students researched a nation in which they intended to sell their products, designed a product that filled an unmet need, and figured out how to produce and sell it at a profit.
Alami and two of his colleagues—Joe Licavoli, ISM director of innovation, acceleration, and technology, and Summer Baraka, global program manager—along with CoBIT Interim Dean Matthew Cole, served as judges of the Shark Tank-style final presentations.
Cole said the camp was an intensive, five-day, hands-on learning experience that simulates an entrepreneurial and international business trade mission. It's intended to expose high school students to the possibilities of exciting and rewarding careers in business, international relations, and the STEM disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The student teams created three companies:
- Nutrihaze, an app that suggests healthy and nutritious alternatives in restaurants and food ordering apps that consumers use every day.
- ED Robot, a robot offering personal assistance to the elderly and disabled.
- Receptek, a robot receptionist for use at everything from doctor's offices to hotels and office buildings.
Students provided not only detailed business plans, but backgrounds on the international markets where they intended to introduce their products.
Speaking to the students after the presentations, Alami said: "You showed up Monday with no knowledge of any of the things you just talked about. As someone who reviews many business presentations, I was really impressed by how much you learned in just five days—the language you're using, the sophistication of your research."
LTU's 20-plus summer learning camps for high school students end this week. For more information on the programs offered, including business, engineering, healthcare, biotechnology, architecture, design, computer science, gaming, and more, visit www.ltu.edu/summer-camps/
Lawrence Technological University, http://www.ltu.edu, is one of only 13 private, technological, comprehensive doctoral universities in the United States. Located in Southfield, Mich., LTU was founded in 1932, and offers more than 100 programs through its Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Business and Information Technology, and Engineering. PayScale lists Lawrence Tech among the nation's top 11 percent of universities for alumni salaries. Forbes and The Wall Street Journal rank LTU among the nation's top 10 percent. U.S. News and World Report lists it in the top tier of best in the Midwest colleges. Students benefit from small class sizes and a real-world, hands-on, "theory and practice" education with an emphasis on leadership. Activities on Lawrence Tech's 107-acre campus include more than 60 student organizations and NAIA varsity sports.
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