The purpose of the Rockwell Fellowship in Entrepreneurship and Innovation is to:

• Support students who are building entrepreneurial ventures and initiatives by providing a rich environment of knowledge, practice, coaching, and opportunity. 
• Cultivate courageous and thoughtful innovative forerunners whose own entrepreneurial pursuits will stir critical thinking and creative action across RMU’s campus. 
• Visibly position extraordinary entrepreneurial student champions to be rising leaders in and contributors to the region’s innovation ecosystem

The Rockwell Fellowship is a 2-year scholarly commitment of engaged learning and  practice in entrepreneurship. Ten (10) students will be selected to receive a $6000 tuition scholarship, $3000/year, for their junior and senior years of college respectively.

Rockwell Fellowship Application

Contact Us

Eliada Griffin-EL, PhD
Associate Professor of Management 
Founding Co-Director of the Rockwell Fellowship in Entrepreneurship and Innovation
griffinel@rmu.ed

Prasad Vemala, Ph.D.    
Interim Dean, School of Business
vemala@rmu.edu

Fellowship Program

Rockwell Fellows would be key learners and contributors to the following core components of the program: 

RMU Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Year 1 and 2 of the Fellowship)

• The certificate serves as the curricular platform of the fellowship through which Fellows learn key skill sets, tools, and knowledge frameworks towards developing and building their ventures. 
• Fellows will be exposed to an overview of entrepreneurial thinking, methods of innovation, psychology of selling, and hands-on learning opportunities through elected internships via the initial academic offerings of the Certificate. 
• The Business Model Lab, which culminates the certificate, provides a hands-on, experiential lab equipped with opportunities for prototyping, networking, pitching, and exposure to key actors in Pittsburgh’s entrepreneurial scene.  

Rockwell Venture Growth Pitch (Year 1 of Fellowship) 

• Fellows present their entrepreneurial concepts to an audience of entrepreneurs, representatives of support organizations,  professionals, and peers. 
• Members of the entrepreneurial community will be attracted to the Fellow’s ideas of their choice to create a personalized venture ecosystem of coaches, connectors, and various forms of capital. 

RockWELL of Ideas Speaker Series (Year 1-2 of the Fellowship Program)

• Inspired by convenings of inspirational thought such as the Aspen Ideas Festival or Ted Talks, The RockWell of Ideas is a reservoir of creative and unique insights from innovators across the region (or country), led and developed by the Rockwell Fellows. 
• Each Fellow is to identify an iconic local entrepreneur, ideally a person who resonates with their entrepreneurial ambition, and invite them to campus to hold a lecture, fireside chat, interactive session, or or any experience which the Fellow will plan and curate for the campus and community. 
• The Rockwell Speaker’s contribution will be captured on film or podcast, with support from RMU’s Academic Media Center, to make available to the campus and public. 
• The intentional connection with innovative leaders is intended to broaden and enrich the Fellows personal, professional, and entrepreneurial networks. 

Rocket Launch Demo Day (Year 2 of the Fellowship Program) 

• Rockwell Fellows host a day long symposium within which they demonstrate their innovation and/or share its development to date.
• The audience is comprised of members of the university, innovation community, and general Pittsburgh region. 
• Fellows are encouraged to make connections with organizations that will enable them to move their venture to the next stage. 

Rockwell Fellows Cohort 1