Working as a large team of three at TechTown, Andy, Becca and I got the opportunity to work on three different projects simultaneously: Alumni, Innovation Studio, and Developer. These three projects are affiliated to different divisions inside TechTown and have their own distinct targeted type of Detroit entrepreneurs, through which the multitasking experience not only allows me to apply various skills to tackle each unique problem, but also helps me gain a better whole picture of how my work will be contributing to the community.
Our first project intends to settle the current issue that there is no actual programming for TechTown’s alumni. This deficiency discourages their continued involvement with TechTown and hinders potential future partnerships. We hope to employ data science to discover the needs of past alumni from all TechTown programs, and provide customized new programming recommendations for each program’s alumni respectively. Moreover, according to the Gallup Wellbeing Index, a general difficulty faced by entrepreneurs is their likelihood to feel more stressed and isolated. With the new programming planned out, which includes skill workshops and a variety of social events, our project will provide TechTown more information about how to better facilitate its alumni, and most importantly, help to create a stronger sense of community for these business owners so that they will always feel supported both work wise and emotionally.
Our second project, the soon-to-be relaunched Wayne State University Innovation Studio, focuses on offering suggestions of possible events and helping improve the studio’s first year programming calendar. As students ourselves, we have more empathy toward other students about their concerns and needs regarding becoming entrepreneurs while still at college. The studio will serve as a hub for all Wayne State students interested in entrepreneurship, turn their ideas into real-life business, and get involved in the local entrepreneur network, which all together should eventually “close the confidence gap” for all the aspiring students.
Besides people it has already worked with and college students, TechTown also aims at serving as a platform to match developers and idea-stage startups. Our project will provide specific criteria, such as programming language mastery and software development experience, to categorize the developers and thus enhance the matching efficiency. We will also create a learning guide for developers who will potentially become CTO to help them better adjust into the new role. Lots of good ideas are given up because of the lack of technical skills, and lots of talents could not be kept in their hometown because of the lack of opportunities. Our result will be used as the foundation to develop such a platform, encouraging the birth and development of many more Detroit local startups.
Our first project intends to settle the current issue that there is no actual programming for TechTown’s alumni. This deficiency discourages their continued involvement with TechTown and hinders potential future partnerships. We hope to employ data science to discover the needs of past alumni from all TechTown programs, and provide customized new programming recommendations for each program’s alumni respectively. Moreover, according to the Gallup Wellbeing Index, a general difficulty faced by entrepreneurs is their likelihood to feel more stressed and isolated. With the new programming planned out, which includes skill workshops and a variety of social events, our project will provide TechTown more information about how to better facilitate its alumni, and most importantly, help to create a stronger sense of community for these business owners so that they will always feel supported both work wise and emotionally.
Our second project, the soon-to-be relaunched Wayne State University Innovation Studio, focuses on offering suggestions of possible events and helping improve the studio’s first year programming calendar. As students ourselves, we have more empathy toward other students about their concerns and needs regarding becoming entrepreneurs while still at college. The studio will serve as a hub for all Wayne State students interested in entrepreneurship, turn their ideas into real-life business, and get involved in the local entrepreneur network, which all together should eventually “close the confidence gap” for all the aspiring students.
Besides people it has already worked with and college students, TechTown also aims at serving as a platform to match developers and idea-stage startups. Our project will provide specific criteria, such as programming language mastery and software development experience, to categorize the developers and thus enhance the matching efficiency. We will also create a learning guide for developers who will potentially become CTO to help them better adjust into the new role. Lots of good ideas are given up because of the lack of technical skills, and lots of talents could not be kept in their hometown because of the lack of opportunities. Our result will be used as the foundation to develop such a platform, encouraging the birth and development of many more Detroit local startups.