UNE launches ‘Founders Fireside Chats’ to connect community with entrepreneurs and innovators

The University of New England is launching a new speaker series designed to bring entrepreneurship out of the abstract and into conversation, connecting students, faculty, professional staff, and members of the public with founders and innovators who have transformed ideas into real-world ventures.

The Founders Fireside Chats, an initiative of UNE’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE), will feature candid conversations with entrepreneurs from UNE and Maine’s broader innovation community about their career paths, lessons learned, and the opportunities and challenges involved in bringing new ideas from research and development to the marketplace.

Scott Wood, Ph.D., director of Biotechnology Innovation and Training in the CIE and associate professor in UNE’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, developed the series to make entrepreneurship more approachable while helping build a stronger culture of innovation across the University.

Wood said conversations about entrepreneurship can sometimes leave people interested but unsure of how, or whether, they could become involved themselves. The Fireside Chats are intended to create a low-pressure environment where participants can hear directly from founders, researchers, and other professionals who have navigated the process.

“I wanted to create a forum that was conversational, where people could see themselves in their professors or their peers who are doing work in this area,” Wood said. “I want people to feel like they can dream big and do things that go beyond their own research lab while also giving them information about how they can get started.”

Wood also hopes the series will strengthen connections between UNE and Maine’s growing innovation and entrepreneurship community while giving the public a closer look at the research, creativity, and commercialization taking place at the University.

The first event will feature a conversation between Wood, who is also founder and chief technology officer of CellField Technologies, and Karen Houseknecht, Ph.D., UNE vice president for Research and Innovation and senior associate provost. Together, they will discuss career paths, experiences building a biotechnology startup, and what it takes to move an idea beyond academia and toward commercialization.

Future conversations will also highlight other aspects of the innovation process, from intellectual property and patents to the resources available for researchers and entrepreneurs seeking to advance an idea. Wood said the series will eventually include founders from outside UNE as a way to expand networks and strengthen ties with Maine’s entrepreneurial community.

Wood plans to alternate events between UNE’s Biddeford Campus and Portland Campus for the Health Sciences to make the series accessible to audiences in both communities.

The Founders Fireside Chats build upon broader efforts by the CIE and across UNE to help students and researchers develop entrepreneurial skills, explore commercialization opportunities, and connect academic discovery with needs in industry and society. 

“This series is designed to serve a broad audience, including students who may be curious about entrepreneurship as a career path, faculty and research staff exploring how their work could translate beyond the laboratory or classroom, and community members interested in connecting with UNE researchers and innovators,” remarked Lisa Herschbach, Ph.D., CIE director and assistant dean of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in UNE’s College of Business.

Like UNE’s other public-facing educational programs, Wood said, the series also creates an opportunity for the University’s home communities to engage directly with UNE faculty, researchers, and innovators and learn more about the work underway at UNE.