The University of Alabama at Birmingham Collat School of Business will soon begin operating an innovation lab within the Innovation Depot. The lab will serve as collaborative teaching space to help students expand their entrepreneurial thinking.
Students will be able to work with the emerging businesses housed in the Innovation Depot to gain firsthand experience starting a business and to learn what it is like working in a startup environment.
“We are excited about strengthening our partnership with UAB in the form of the Collat School of Business’ new Innovation Lab opening here inside the Innovation Depot,” said Innovation Depot CEO Devon Laney. “The Innovation Lab is exactly the kind of project to help further enhance the real world, entrepreneurial experience students receive by working with startup companies here at Innovation Depot and performing diligence on new technologies developed at UAB. Immersing UAB students in the startup and entrepreneurial culture that exists here at Innovation Depot will be a differentiator for our ecosystem, and we are proud to have the UAB Innovation Lab housed here.”
Along with being a teaching space, the lab also will be an early-phase business accelerator for student-led companies and ones developed by UAB faculty members. These companies receive coaching and mentoring from Collat’s faculty on everything from market research to business plan.
There will be an open house this Wednesday, Nov. 12 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
November 11, 2014
Alan Alexander | Reporter- Birmingham Business Journal | Email- Alan Alexander covers health care, technology and education for the Birmingham Business Journal.
