In a Hunter education first, RDA Hunter’s ME Program is directing funding from the Australian Dept of Defence to bring The Business Centre and students from St Philips Christian College together for a workshop series that will help them understand the realities of developing, protecting and commercialising their intellectual property.
The Business Centre will provide students involved in ME Program and STEM subjects with techniques, skills and information to help them transition their ideas and prototypes to commercially available products.
Students will be mentored by Hunter entrepreneurs, meet innovative companies who will share their experiences of success and failure and learn the latest government protocols and much more over the seven month mentoring program.
“We are thrilled that students will have access to The Business Centre’s expertise and client base – business owners and entrepreneurs who are on the front line and willing to share their experiences,” said Rick Evans, ME Program Manager for RDA Hunter.
“This is a first in Hunter education and we are proud to be making a difference to the future of the region’s young people and kick-starting their careers with real and practical knowledge.” continued Mr Evans.
“The Business Centre works extensively with sophisticated and scalable regional entrepreneurs through its Starthouse Accelerator program. The Starthouse program prepares Start-Ups to be ready for market opportunities and to be able to attract capital investment through its series Regional investor Pitch Nights. So we were delighted to be able to work with RDA Hunter and this STEM program at St Phillips High School and to create a special Starthouse ME Program Pitch Event” said Mr Steve Wait Chief Operating Officer at The Business Centre.
“ In our Starthouse programs we educate, mentor and accelerate Start Ups at our Business Centre HQ in Newcastle, and we can’t wait to provide the same opportunity for this group of young inventors and entrepreneurs from our community” continued Mr Wait