ROME, NY — In collaboration with the Griffiss Institute, Wasabi Ventures and Wasabi Ventures Academy held their first summer internship program, ROPES (Rome Opportunity Program for Entrepreneur Students). This program was held from July 5th through August 27th, 2016.
The inaugural cohort of ROPES contained ten participants, divided between high school and college students. Over the course of eight weeks the students delved into the business development process. The students studied numerous startups, learning the key components to develop a successful company. The students also engaged in experiential learning by developing the foundation for potential startups using technology developed at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Information Directorate (Rome Labs). Each student reviewed real world pain points and transformed his chosen topic into an idea deck.
Of these ten students, two continued into the AFRL Commercialization Academy, a Griffiss Institute program sponsored by Rome Labs to create startups in the local area. At this point, the students incorporated the AFRL’s technology in developing their concepts from idea decks to true startups.
One of the two students, Jonathan Maurer, is in the process of building his startup, tentatively named Monitoring the Monitors. A graduate student at SUNY Polytechnic Institute, he is utilizing AFRL patent US 7017113 B2 to aid in the development of his business. He hopes to be one of the teams asked to pitch at the Spring 2017 AFRL Commercialization Academy Demo Day.
The other student, Jeff Johansen, has not only begun building his startup, MakeIt 3D, he was named the Judges’ Winner at the Fall 2016 AFRL Commercialization Academy Demo Day. Jeff is using AFRL patent US 7171561 B2 to aid in development of his company. With the $20,000 prize, Jeff plans to continue growing this business.
Jeff acknowledged the benefits of the ROPES program, “I would be nowhere if it weren’t for this program.” He also added that winning one of two cash prizes would benefit the growth of his company.