WORTH SUPPORTING
Andy Kessler 80 See larger image
Kessler fellowships give engineers hands-on skills in ways of marketplace
If you build a better mousetrap and expect to earn a profit, you have to understand how the marketplace functions.
A select group of Cornell engineering students with an interest in entrepreneurship are getting hands-on experience in learning the skills to take their own ideas to the marketplace. The Kessler Fellows Program was established in 2008 thanks to a gift from Andrew Kessler '80, a former hedge fund manager and author who writes opinion columns about technology and the marketplace for The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and Wired, among others.
Kessler, who earned a degree in electrical engineering, says he was motivated in part because he felt unprepared for the business world after he graduated.
"I thought that maybe we could take some of the very smart, very motivated engineering students and prepare them … to understand mechanisms of how technology can change the world," says Kessler, "how they can take all that knowledge and not just be part of what's happening, but to drive it, make it happen themselves."
This past year, the Kessler Fellows Program awarded fellowships to 10 students. Joey Zwicker '10, a mechanical engineering major, spent his summer working for Anybots Inc., a robotics company in Mountain View, Calif.
"I'm hoping to do a graduate degree in robotics. It sounded like a good opportunity; the summer before I worked at a small startup company, and I really enjoyed it," Zwicker says.
Trevor Blackwell, chief executive officer of Anybots, was impressed: "Joey took on a wide range of roles: designing mechanical and electrical parts, developing a process to produce a key aesthetic piece of the robot, organizing our production process and inventory, and contributing to design and marketing discussions about the product."
A company interested in offering an internship to a Kessler fellow must provide the intern access to a senior-level manager, even if another employee supervises the intern. The company must also assign work that will "allow the student to demonstrate his or her innovation and creative skills."
Peter Jai Bin '10, a materials science engineering major, interned with Hybrid Silica Technologies, a nanotechnology company founded by Ulrich Wiesner, professor of chemistry and chemical biology; Hooisweng Ow, Ph.D. '05; and Kenneth Wang '77. Bin worked closely with Wang, the company's C.E.O., to draft a business plan for a subsidiary Hybrid Silica is trying to spin off.
"In materials science, there's a lot of new technology being developed right now," says Bin. "I just wanted to learn how existing startups take their technology into the marketplace."
Hybrid Silica's leadership was more than pleased with Bin's performance, which took place while the company relocated from Ithaca to Cambridge, Mass.
"Entrepreneurs need to juggle many tasks, so we provided Peter with responsibilities across a broad range of activities to give him a realistic impression of what is involved during the startup phase of a technology-driven company," says Wang. "We were delighted to have Peter be such an active part of our team and thank the Kessler Fellows Program for making it possible."
From left: Kessler fellows Baskhar Garg 10, Joey Zwicker 10 and Thomas Murray 10 (pictured here during a trip to Yosemite) each had summer internships with startup companies in Silicon Valley in 2009.