2014 innovation experience - visit innovate companies & Consumer Electronics Show

The 2014 innovation experience will feature visits to some of the most innovative companies in the world and the opportunity to take part in the world’s largest annual innovation event (Consumer Electronics Show).

Traveling to Silicon Valley and to the Consumer Electronics Show provides students with unique insights regarding creativity, innovation, technology, entrepreneurship, and venture capital. Participants are able to network with industry experts and are provided a valuable opportunity for direct exposure to companies that use innovation as a competitive advantage.

Silicon Valley is widely regarded as the ultimate success as an incubator of start-ups and entrepreneurship. More than 40 percent of all venture capital investments in the United States come from Silicon Valley firms. The course takes students behind the scenes to reveal the factors underlying the remarkable success of Silicon Valley.


Students enrolled in the Innovation Immersion experience will learn about:

• How Silicon Valley adapts through continuous cycles of innovation.
• Why the high tolerance for risk, as well as failure, is a huge competitive advantage.
• How the Silicon Valley business model, including generous and flexible employee benefits, contributes to the robustness of the industries based there.
• Why venture capital swelled so magnificently in Silicon Valley, while languishing in other major metropolitan cities.
• What traits set the Silicon Valley entrepreneur apart from others.
• How to create a quality of life that attracts and retains the best talent in the world.

Students participating in the past innovation three-credit courses were exposed to large organizations such as Cisco, Genentech, Khan Academy, Twitter, Amazon 126, Facebook, Google, Pixar, Yammer, LinkedIn, Tesla Motors, Zynga, Electronic Arts, Salesforce.com, and IDEO. Students also visit small companies and venture capital funds such as Greylock Partners and Mayfield Fund.

More information regarding the past innovation course is available at:

http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/news/stories/2012/InnovationImmersion.aspx

The tentative itinerary for the upcoming course is below:
-- January 9-11: Las Vegas (Consumer Electronics Show)
-- January 12-17: San Francisco Bay Area

The 2014 International CES Conference will feature an array of top consumer technology products and trends, including inspiring innovations across a range of hot products and categories. CES will showcase the latest innovations and trends that will capture the hearts and minds of consumers over the coming years. The CES show draws 150,000 industry professionals and more than 3,000 exhibitors introducing over 20,000 new products across a range of product lines.

Students participating in the experience earn academic credit. Costs for the trip are estimated at approximately $1,100-1,475. This includes the hotels (three or four people per room), group transportation, group meals (generally one or two a day), group excursions and activities, and access to the Consumer Electronics Show (not open to the public). Airfare not included


If you are interested in more information please Prof. Mark Wellman at  mwellman@rhsmith.umd.edu. Space is very limited so if you are interested you should reply quickly!