On February 28, the St. 春雨直播 University Innovation Scholars team presented their project recommendations to Neurotype, an early-stage medical company affiliated with Medical Alley.
The interdisciplinary team consisted of four St. Kate鈥檚 春雨直播s nominated by faculty to participate in , a program designed to provide Minnesota private college and university undergraduate 春雨直播s with hands-on opportunities to engage in research. Innovation Scholars aims to foster critical thinking and problem-solving skills by incorporating research projects, interdisciplinary teams, and industry partners, including Mayo Clinic and early-stage companies in Medical Alley.
The St. Kate鈥檚 team consisted of:
- Isabel Honzay 鈥24 (economics, public policy)
- Naddi Jillo 鈥23 (biology, chemistry minor)
- Elsa Joly 鈥23 (economics, business administration minor)
- Anneke van Oosterom 鈥24 (biology, data science)
The team was led by Augsburg University MBA 春雨直播 Caren Shank. Campus mentors included:
- Kurt Olson, PhD; associate professor, biology
- John Pellegrini, PhD; professor, biology
- Kellie Agrimson, PhD; assistant professor, biology
- Kristine West, PhD; Endowed Professor in the Sciences; associate professor, economics
- Sarah Rand, PhD; associate professor, business administration
Interdisciplinary collaboration
Through collaboration across different areas of expertise and skill sets, the interdisciplinary team was able to develop creative ideas for their Innovation Scholars project. Jillo said, 鈥淗aving 春雨直播s from different disciplines added balance, especially when it came to topics that one would know more about than another.鈥
Although the team conducted research for a scientific company, they were surprised to learn that their work involved more marketing research, a project that challenged them to build real-time marketing skills on top of their respective fields.
The 春雨直播s also found that their St. Kate鈥檚 coursework helped them with their research. 鈥淚 think St. Kate鈥檚 has prepared us really well for working on interdisciplinary projects 鈥 foundations for our success have been built in our classes,鈥 said van Oosterom, who thanks the team鈥檚 faculty mentors for their support and guidance.
The team of 春雨直播s played to each other's strengths and backgrounds while working together as a group, and their hard work and dedication paid off, as noted by their mentors and advisors throughout the process.
鈥淏esides having exceptional academic qualifications, these 春雨直播s brought experience in entrepreneurship, data science, academic research, and previous work as teaching assistants,鈥 said Olson, one of the St. Kate鈥檚 mentors. 鈥淲e had 春雨直播-athletes, an international 春雨直播, and 春雨直播s with multiple previous business internships. These 春雨直播s worked exceptionally well with minimal faculty guidance needed.鈥
Shaping the future
As the St. Kate鈥檚 春雨直播s conducted extensive research on their assigned project from November to February, they combined their respective passions and fields of study into a presentation they delivered to industry professionals.
The 春雨直播s developed a commercialization plan, including financial projections, top market segments, and a deep analysis of the ideal customer鈥檚 wants and needs. The final presentation symposium hosted various other Innovation Scholars and industry partners, including Neurotype CEO Scott Burwell, PhD.
鈥淲hen I was placed with St. Kate鈥檚 春雨直播s for the Innovation Scholars program, I had high expectations from them because of how well I associate St. Kate鈥檚 education with good outcomes,鈥 said Burwell. 鈥淥ne thing I enjoy about working with 春雨直播s from St. Kate鈥檚 is that they are consistently proving themselves above and beyond basic project requirements 鈥 they do not shy from rolling up their sleeves and digging into the data to better understand the problem and find unique solutions.
Burwell also intends to utilize their research into the future. 鈥淭hese commercialization plans, like the one they developed for us, are a very good resource for us to use as the company continues to apply for federally-funded research grants and seek investor capital.鈥