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.

Members of the incoming and existing cohorts gather in early September to launch another academic year of entrepreneurial action. Rockwell Fellows are given an overview of the year’s program over an enjoyable dinner and networking. The Rockwell Fellows also discuss and celebrate their ventures’ progress.

The Rockwell Pop-Up Shops are a student-driven marketplace that showcases student ventures from across campus. The Rockwell Fellows hosts this  opportunity for all student entrepreneurs to feature their products/services or to test their ideas before real customers. The open-air marketplace occurs bi-annually–once in the fall semester and again in the spring semester. We invite students from all over campus to participate in the Rockwell Pop-Up Shop, that activates the entrepreneurial spirit and puts it into practice.

Rockwell Fellows participate in venture building sessions by which they learn specific skills and facilitate peer-led discussions of each other’s ventures.

The Rockwell Speaker Series invites leading venture founders to share key insights and enrich the Fellows’s understanding of the commitment, critical thinking, and courage required to launch an entrepreneurial idea. The Rockwell Speaker Series forms a reservoir of creative innovators, regionally and nationally, and is made available campus-wide as a flagship event of RMU’s Annual Global Entrepreneurship Week Celebration.

The Rockwell Retreat is a full day off-site capacity-building event to provide Rockwell Fellows with new skills and knowledge by which to advance their ventures. Rockwell Fellows also engage in peer mentorship and constructive feedback. Esteemed entrepreneurship professionals, academics, and experts from across the region are invited to facilitate interactive workshops, venture coaching, and panels. Each Retreat is hosted at a different innovation co-working/support space across Greater Pittsburgh, and occurs each Fall and Spring semester.

The Rockwell Symposium is a day-long symposium wherein fellows share their innovation and/or the progression thereof, also known as the Venture Growth Pitch.. The audience is comprised of the students’ family and friends, university members, community of innovators, and the general public of the Pittsburgh region to provide insight and knowledge to the Rockwell Fellows as they present. 

The Rockwell Symposium also provides rich opportunities for networking between RMU student entrepreneurs and innovation leaders across the region.

This certificate is the curricular platform of the Fellowship. Fellows will gain key skill sets, tools, and knowledge frameworks that will aid them in developing and building their ventures.

Learn More: Entrepreneurship and Innovation Certificate