IDEA Fellows Recipients
A spirit of innovation, design and entrepreneurship is an essential tool for career success and serves to enhance multidisciplinary appreciation, yield advanced solutions and provide novel insights. However, this spirit is often underserved by a pedagogical approach to teaching within a discipline. The IDEA Faculty Fellows program presents an opportunity for faculty to become involved by directly creating curriculum to enhance student skills in the areas of innovation, design and entrepreneurship
There were eight 2016-2018 Idea Fellows on the Morgantown campus, and currently there are four 2018-2020 Idea Fellows at the regional WVU campuses. Nominations are currently being taken for the 2020-2022 academic year.
Demo Day is the brainchild of the 2016-2018 class of IDEA Fellows, eight faculty members from across WVU who were selected via a competitive process to train in infusing entrepreneurship into their curriculum and then implement that training in the classroom. In addition to their classroom work, the Fellows work together to promote entrepreneurship and innovation across the university. The Fellows hope that Demo Day will provide a campus-wide platform for showcasing the kind of creative thinking and problem solving that they find so exciting themselves—and which their students find both inspirational and transformative.
Apply to join the IDEA Fellows
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Andrea Kay Kent
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Dr. Andrea Kay Kent is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at West Virginia University – Institute of Technology. She receive her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2013 with a focus in Comparative Politics and a sub-field specialization in American Government.
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Amy Weaver
Visiting Instructor of Business Management Technology and Computer Information Systems
Amy graduated with a Master of Arts in Teaching from Marshall University. She serves as a Student Success Coach and the co-coordinator for the Catamounts Against Cancer student organization.
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Keri Whitacre
Psychology Instructor
keri.whitacre@mail.wvu.edu
Keri Whitacre is a tenure-track Psychology Instructor at Potomac State College in Keyser, WV. She serves as an academic advisor and is an active member of the Social Justice Council.
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Adrienne Williams
Visiting Assistant Professor
Adrienne Williams is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at the West Virginia University Institute of Technology.
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Cheryl Brown
Associate Professor, Agricultural and Resource Economics M.S., Ph.D., Agricultural and Resource Economics, U. California, Berkeley
Dr. Brown’s proposed course will teach the concepts, legal structures, and funding opportunities related to social enterprises, with a particular focus on areas struggling with economic development.
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Kasi Jackson
Associate Professor, Women’s and Gender Studies PhD, Biology, Certificate in Women’s Studies, University of Kentucky Co-Investigator, NSF ADVANCE Award to recruit, retain and promote women faculty in science and engineering
Dr. Jackson will pursue initiatives to infuse innovation, design and social entrepreneurship into the Women’s and Gender Studies curriculum.
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Jeffrey Moser
Teaching Assistant Professor, Interactive Design for Media (Co-faculty, Reed College of Media, College of Creative Arts) MFA, Studio Art, University of Delaware
Mr. Moser will modify an existing course, Advanced Interactive Design, to facilitate collaboration with another course, Game Development.
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Elizabeth Vitullo
Assistant Dean of Graduate Programs, College of Business and Economics Ph.D., Education, M.B.A, West Virginia University
Dr. Vitullo’s proposal focuses on the creation of a graduate business course in entrepreneurship that will introduce students to the facets of entrepreneurship and provide students with expertise in vetting ideas through the Business Model Canvas.
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Thorsten Wuest
Assistant Professor, Industrial and Management Systems Engineering MA, IBM, AUT University, Auckland, New Zealand PhD, Production Engineering, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Dr. Wuest proposes a course centered on the potential of product service bundles, which allow customers to enjoy a more holistic experience of products.
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Jonathan Boyd
Associate Professor, Chemistry Ph.D., Environmental Toxicology, Texas Tech
Drs. Boyd and Valentine’s new course entitled, From Early Innovations to Entire Industries: Case of how basic science can lead to big business will be focused on the Nobel-prize worthy early scientific discoveries that eventually led to commercial success either in the form of new products or new industries.
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Stephen Valentine
Assistant Professor, Chemistry PhD, Predictive Physiology & Medicine, Indiana
Drs. Boyd and Valentine’s new course entitled, From Early Innovations to Entire Industries: Case of how basic science can lead to big business will be focused on the Nobel-prize worthy early scientific discoveries that eventually led to commercial success either in the form of new products or new industries
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Darko Velichkovski
Director, Music Industry Program BA, Julliard School of Music, MA, City University of New York
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Kenan Hatipoglu
Assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at WVU Tech
Dr. Hatipoglu is an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at WVU Tech. He completed his master's degree at the University of Louisville, Kentucky in 2008 and his Ph.D. from Tennessee Tech University in 2013, both in electrical engineering.
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Lauren Prinzo
Assistant Professor and Specialist in Community and Economic Development with WVU Extension Service
Lauren Prinzo is an Assistant Professor and Specialist in Community and Economic Development with WVU Extension Service. Through this fellowship, she will work to infuse innovation and entrepreneurship into existing Extension programming.
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Colleen Moretz
Associate Professor of Fashion, Dress & Merchandising
Ms. Moretz proposal is to modify an existing course, Apparel Design Studio III, to incorporate the 3D Virtual Prototyping & 2D CAD/CAM software into a sustainable apparel design final prototype.
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Nilanjana Dwibedi
Assistant Professor, School of Pharmacy
Dr. Nilanjana Dwibedi will create a new course on’ Entrepreneurship and Intrapreneurship in Pharmacy’.
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Craig Nelson
Teaching Professor of Consumer Product Design
Craig Nelson brings over 25 years of experience in corporate and freelance design to WVU. His products have been sold in over 120 countries worldwide and have been featured in major print and media campaigns, celebrity endorsements and multiple Super Bowl commercials.