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News and Events

  • NEW COE curriculum for students declaring in Spring 2012

The COE curriculum has undergone an extensive review by the Dean of the College which has resulted in changes that will enhance and strengthen the coursework for COE concentrators in all three tracks. Please note that these changes will affect students declaring the concentration in spring 2012 (with an expected graduation date in 2014). Concentration requirements for students graduating in 2012 and 2013 remain the same as when they declared their concentration. Download more information below,

  • Upcoming co-sponsored COE events with the Year of China, 2/14-2/16

The Year of China and COE will sponsor three days of events, "Doing Business in China: Perspectives from Brown Alumni."  Below is a full schedule of events:

February 14
5:30 PM
MacMillan Hall, Room 115
167 Thayer St

China Risk Finance: Riding the Wave of China's Financial Services Industry

On February 14 Barrett Hazeltine, Professor of Engineering and Drew Mason ‘89, co-founder and Managing Partner of Jade Capital Management LLC, a leading provider of venture and growth capital for top entrepreneurs in China’s financial services sector, will moderate a discussion of the business case, "China Risk Finance: Riding the Wave of China's Financial Services Industry."  Part of the China...Page by Page Reading Series.  A full print out of the business case can be picked up outside of Barus & Holley 504.

February 15
4:00 PM
Stephen Robert '62 Campus Center, Petteruti Lounge
75 Waterman St

Career Talk with Alison Friedman '02
Join us as Alison Friedman '02 founder of Ping Pong Productions talks about her career path from Brown to owning her own company in China. Alison M. Friedman founded Ping Pong Productions in 2009, building on nearly a decade experience working in the performing arts in China. For a full bio outlining Ms. Friedman's career including work as a professional dancer, choreographer, producer, and manager, please visit: http://www.pingpongarts.org/team/

February 16
2:30-3:30 PM
Stephen Robert '62 Campus Center, Petteruti Lounge
75 Waterman St

Entrepreneurship, Enterprise, and Technology in Modern China
Featuring John Chen'78, P'06, P'11, (Sybase), Alison Friedman '02 (Ping Pong Productions) and Drew Mason '89 (Jade Capital Management LLC)

3:30-4:00: There will be a short coffee break and opportunity to talk with the alums

4:00-5:00 PM
Stephen Robert '62 Campus Center, Petteruti

Mutual Reassurance: How to Steer U.S.-China Relations Towards a New Golden Age
Keynote Speaker John Chen'78, P'06, P'11, CEO of Sybase

John Chen'78, P'06, P'11, CEO of Silicon Valley software maker Sybase Inc. and a recognized expert on Asian foreign policy, will discuss the evolution of modern U.S.-China relations, what he sees as key goals and aspirations shared by the two powers, and how these can be leveraged to help transform Sino-American relations for the better.

  • COE alumna launches new magazine

Alexa Baggio '09 is Editor-in-Chief of a newly launched magazine, The Roger, that "redefines the traditional lifestyle publication."

  • New online resource for Brown's entrepreneurial community

EP has launched a new website to facilitate student involvement in Brown's entrepreneurial community. Students may learn about or join other students' new ventures. They may also apply for internships or jobs in start-ups that have been launched by Brown alumni. Further, Brown alumni who have started their ventures may seek student interns or employees.

  • Runa featured in New York Times 'You're the Boss" small business blog

Tyler Gage '09 and Dan MacCombie '09 discuss the successes of Runa, a company (initiated during their ENGN1930X course with Professor Warshay) that specializes in producing guayusa tea and "promotes healthy lifestyles and livelihoods by connecting producers and consumers through sustainable Amazonian products." Read more.

  • COE and Engineering Professor and students awarded at RI Elevator Pitch Competition

Kipp Bradford, COE and Engineering Professor won the Rhode Island Elevator Pitch Competition for pitching "KippCool Medical Cooling System," an ambulance-based emergency cooling system that could help improve the chance of survival for heart attack and stroke victims. Two ENGN 1930G capstone students, James McGinn ’12 and COE's Han Lee ’12 also were awarded as finalists for their pitches, JCD Wind and GLS Mobile Board. Read more.

  • COE International Internships Information Session

Are you currently a declared COE junior or a sophomore who will be declaring COE in the spring? Are you interested in an internship in Madrid, Hong Kong, or India for next summer? Then come to the COE International Internship Information Session on Wednesday, 11/16 at 3:00pm in Sayles 018. Read more here.

  • Additional offerings of ENGN 1010

The foundation course in entrepreneurship, ENGN 1010, will be offered every semester in two separate sections, with a maximum of 35 students in each section. The smaller class size will allow for increased group discussions and a more in-depth undertaking of a group project. This change is the first to be enacted in the context of the COE Curricular Review, which is taking place this Fall. We will announce any other changes that result from the Review in the Spring semester.

  • NuLabel Technologies is running strong

NuLabel Technologies, led by former capstone students, Max Winograd '09 (Political Science), Ben Lux '09 (COE-tech track), and Mike Woods '09 (COE-tech track), forges through the uncertainties of starting up and now plans for expansion.

  • WaterWalla featured in Forbes

Created by Brown and RISD students, including COE alum Neil Parikh '11 and COE senior Aamer Hassanally '12, WaterWalla, a social business aimed at bringing safer water technology to India is featured in Forbes. Read more here.

  • Alum offers grads new ventures in Providence

Venture for America, a non-profit entrepreneurship program founded by Brown alum, Andrew Yang '96, was launched in July and seeks to create jobs in economically struggling cities, provide entrepreneurship experience to college graduates and help graduates join start-ups in locations around the country. Read more here.

  • Former Capstone project turned start-up gets state funding

NuLabel Technologies, born from ENGN 1930G/H and launched by three students at the business incubator Betaspring in 2009, was just approved for a $1.5-million loan guarantee through the state’s Job Creation Guaranty Program. The company, which creates liner-free labels that reduce the amount of paper waste and work that companies generate when they affix labels, has pledged to create 40 new full-time jobs in the state by 2016.

  • Professor Ofira Shraga wins a 2010 Teaching with Technology Award

After receiving nominations from students, a review panel consisting of members from the Dean of the College, the Sheridan Center, the Library, the student body, and CIS chose SOC 1060: Leadership in Organizations, taught by Professor Ofira Shraga, as a showcase course for its use of technology to advance teaching and learning goals. The 2010 Teaching with Technology Award presentation will take place at Sayles Hall on Monday, May 2, 2011 from 5-6pm.

  • COE-Supported Research: Call for Proposals

2011 COE Research Funds

Purpose: to support multidisciplinary research in entrepreneurship.

Eligibility: Tenured or tenured track faculty members are eligible for the funds. Junior faculty members are encouraged to apply. Faculty may belong to COE or other departments at Brown.

Award criteria: The COE Faculty Committee will award the funds according to standard criteria, such as the merit of the work and potential impact of the research.

The Committee will give priority to research projects that involve the collaboration of faculty across COE departments, followed by multidisciplinary projects that involve one of the COE disciplines. Projects that involve the collaboration of two faculty members in the same department will also be considered, but given a lower priority.

Use of funds: Awarded funds may be used to support research expenses in data collection, purchase of equipment, travel, research assistant stipends, etc, but not faculty salaries.

Presentation of the research: The funding is conditional on a commitment to give a seminar or informal workshop in late AY2011-12.

Format of the research proposal: faculty should submit a short description of the research plans and proposed budget (up to a maximum of $8,000) to Maria_Carkovic@Brown.edu.

Deadline: The deadline for submission is May 20, 2011.

2011 Hazeltine Fellowship

The Hazeltine Fellowship funds entrepreneurship work by graduate students that are either working with faculty or under the guidance of a faculty member. For example, the Fellowship may fund dissertation-related research or provide the seeds for initiating a new topic of research with a faculty member.

The following are guidelines for proposals:

  • In terms of substance, the Fellowship’s purpose is to advance the study of entrepreneurship. Proposed projects should include a section that explicitly addresses the expected impact of the project. This could vary from a final-stage deliverable such as a PhD dissertation or publication, to an earlier-stage outcome such as the presentation of work in a seminar or lecture. Under either option students are expected to disseminate their work and make presentations before the COE faculty in Spring 2012
  • To advance COE’s goals, the faculty will give priority to proposals that are interdisciplinary
  • The proposal should explicitly link the graduate student and one or more faculty members and be submitted jointly, reflecting either independent research carried out under faculty supervision, or the exploration of a new research field with a faculty member
  • Finally, the proposal should include a budget of the expenses directly linked to the field research, or the way in which Hazeltine Fellowship funds will help carry out a larger body of research
  • The deadline for this year’s proposals is May 20, 2011. Please send a proposal to Maria Carkovic: Maria_Carkovic@Brown.edu
  • COE student and professor featured in Brown Annual Fund Donor Recognition video

COE senior Marc Howland '11 acknowledges Professor Ofira Shraga in a thank you video produced for donors of the 2009-2010 Brown Annual Fund.

  • ENGN 1930G students win 5th Annual Rhode Island Elevator Pitch Competition

In a presentation led by Brown junior, Theresa Raimondo, HnC (Hot and Cold)--which has been working on their project in the ENGN 1930G capstone course since September--won first place in the Rhode Island Elevator Pitch Competition for their concept on improving the taste of food eaten by astronauts. Read more here.

  • BWIB members attend the 2010 Harvard IBC

On October 23, a group of Brown Women in Business members attended the 2010 Harvard Undergraduate Women in Business Intercollegiate Business Convention in Boston. This event was sponsored in part by COE. To read more about the event click here.

  • 2010 COE Hazeltine Fellowship recipient is awarded Kauffman Dissertation Fellowship

Ishani Tewari, who is researching India's product reservation policy for small-scale enterprises, has been awarded a fellowship by the Kauffman Foundation. Her dissertation proposal was selected as one of the 15 best out of a total of 132 proposals submitted. She will be recognized during a reception in January at the Allied Social Science Association/American Economic Association annual meetings in Denver, Colorado.

  • The Faces of COE, first COE alumni newsletter distributed

To remain connected to its continually expanding alumni base, COE distributed its first newsletter. The Faces of COE highlights the paths of four seniors of the 2010 graduating class, as well as the professional endeavors of four young alumni in the field.

  • 2010 COE Faculty Research Awards announced

This year, four Brown faculty members were awarded funding to support their multidisciplinary research in entrepreneurship. The recipients and titles of their research projects are as follows:

  1. Ebony Bridwell-Mitchell, Assistant Professor of Sociology: Learning One’s Place: How Teachers Become Integrated into Professional Communities
  2. Mary Fennell, Professor of Sociology: Transitions in Long Term Care Markets
  3. Seth Rockman, Associate Professor of History: New England Entrepreneurs and the Marketing of Plantation Provisions in the Antebellum United States
  4. Mark Suchman, Professor of Sociology: On Advice of Counsel: Legal and Financial Firms as Inter-Organizational Pollinators in Silicon Valley
  • 2010 Hazeltine Fellowship recipients announced

The Hazeltine Fellowship was awarded to two Economics graduate students for the 2010-2011 academic year. Tomislav Ladika's research focuses on the relationship between a manager and outside investors, examining whether investors provide managers with effective incentives when structuring compensation packages; Ishani Tewari's research evaluates India's de-regulation of spacial policies for small-scale enterprises in terms of its economic impact.

  • COE Class of 2010 graduates!

On Sunday, May 30, 2010, Brown University Trustee William H. Twaddell and former Trustee Joseph Penner conferred the Bachelor of Arts degrees to 57 graduates in Commerce, Organizations and Entrepreneurship. The ceremony was attended by the graduates, their families, and Professors Ebony Bridwell-Mitchell, Mary Fennell, and Mark Suchman from Sociology, Barrett Hazeltine, Angus Kingon, and Danny Warshay from Engineering, and Maria Carkovic and Ivo Welch from Economics. Alexander Vogel '10 spoke on behalf of the graduating class. Among the graduates, three were awarded Magna Cum Laude and four were granted an Honors in COE distinction. Our graduates plan to work in industries as diverse as finance, consulting, healthcare, professional sports, and motion pictures. Many of them also plan on attending graduate school, law school, or pursuing an MBA degree. We wish them well!

  • ENGN 1930X student business plan wins RI Business Plan competition

Speramus, a company creating an online fundraising platform that uses a proprietary ranking system to match donors with individual support opportunities, won the student track of the RI BUsiness Plan competition. The plan was developed in ENGN1930X (Ryan Chan, a senior at Brown, is CEO of the company).

  • Brown Degree Days Talk, May 5, noon, Barus & Holley 190

Sam Blackman '98, CEO and co-founder of Elemental Technologies, will give a talk entitled The Entrepreneur's Imperative--Joy, freedom, pain and suffering: Lessons from a 21st-century software startup.

  • EP Entrepreneurship Competition Finalists named

COE students Cody Simmons, Jose Vasconez, Brian Neff, David Chanin, Laurielle Hofer, Greg Stepina, Juan Vasconez, Jeff Hay, Ibiayi Briggs, and Nick Elenz-Martin are all finalists in the EP Entrepreneurship Competition.

  • New elective course added to Business Economics track

ECON 1465 - Market Design: This course studies the design of organized markets, focusing on efficient organization and the incentives created by market rules. The analysis relies on a mix of documenting the rules of real-world markets, game theoretic analysis, empirical analysis, and experimental work. Applications include:

  • Online auction markets - e.g. eBay, Amazon
  • Ad auctions - e.g. Google
  • Matching markets
    • Matching students to schools
    • Matching workers to job: medical residents to hospitals, lawyers to clerkship positions
    • Matching kidney donors to recipients
    • Online dating
  • Our students are semi-finalists in the RI Business Plan Competition

Several of the projects were initiated and developed in entrepreneurship courses and the entrepreneurship capstone. The projects and principal applicants in the student track of the RI Business Plan competition include:

Solubricin Technologies – Creating a catheter coating designed to fight urinary tract infections. Principal applicant: Brian Neff, COE concentrator.

Ulterius Enterprises – Developing a patented technology to solve thermal inefficiencies in biotechnology equipment. Principal applicant: Juan Vasconez, COE concentrator.

SEMTEC – Developing a line of coated endotracheal tubes, central-line catheters, and urinary catheters to help prevent hospital-acquired infections. Principal applicant: Rehim Popatia, PRIME program.

Speramus  – An online fundraising platform that uses a proprietary ranking system to match donors with individual support opportunities. Principal applicant: Ryan Chan, Brown University.

JobLink – An online service that connects college students to local businesses and employers, as well as resume and portfolio hosting. Principal applicant: Walker Williams

  • 2010 COE Research Funds: Call for Proposals

Purpose: to support multidisciplinary research in entrepreneurship.

Eligibility: Tenured or tenured track faculty members are eligible for the funds. Junior faculty members are encouraged to apply. Faculty may belong to COE or other departments at Brown.

Award criteria: The COE Faculty Committee will award the funds according to standard criteria, such as the merit of the work and potential impact of the research.

The Committee will give priority to research projects that involve the collaboration of faculty across COE departments, followed by multidisciplinary projects that involve one of the COE disciplines. Projects that involve the collaboration of two faculty members in the same department will also be considered, but given a lower priority.

Use of funds: Awarded funds may be used to support research expenses in data collection, purchase of equipment, travel, research assistant stipends, etc, but not faculty salaries.

Presentation of the research: The funding is conditional on a commitment to give a seminar or informal workshop in late AY2010-11.

Format of the research proposal: faculty should submit a short description of the research plans and proposed budget (up to a maximum of $8,000) to Maria_Carkovic@Brown.edu.

Deadline: The deadline for submission is May 20, 2010.

  • The Economist Online debate with Professor Ross Levine

From February 23 through March 5, Economics Professor Ross Levine engaged in an onilne Economist debate with Nobel Prize winning economist, Joe Stiglitz, about financial innovation.

  • "Day at Brown" with Hope High School

Last semester, Prof. Ivo Welch started a “Day at Brown” program for Hope High School students in Providence. Sophomores and juniors at Hope High were paired with a student from Brown for the day, attended classes, had lunch, and explored the campus. COE coordinated the expansion of this program. In the early Spring, 70 students from COE classes signed up to host Hope students. Their visits took place in late February and early March. The purpose of the program was to expose high school students to the excitement and possibilities of a college education.