Universidad Politécnica Receives Important Scholarship

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO (September 23, 2019) — The Universidad Politécnica de Puerto Rico (PUPR, its English acronym) was awarded an important scholarship, or grant, from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), an office affiliated with the federal government’s Department of Commerce.

This grant for $329,086 will offer the opportunity to establish a pilot program “Capstone Startup Skills Initiative.” This program will first offer the opportunity for various faculty members from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) to visit the island during the month of October to train professors from the Engineering Department of the Polytechnic University on evidence-based entrepreneurship (EBE), so that they may include the EBE methodology in their capstone courses or end-of-degree projects.

The professors from the PUPR then offer specialized capstone courses for the engineering students that will lead the students to present a final project that they could bring to industry, turning this business idea into a startup.

The head of the project from the PUPR is Dr. Angel E. González-Lizardo, in collaboration with Drs. Zayira Jordan-Conde, Carlos Alvarado-Diaz, and José A. Morales.

“At our institution we count on a faculty committed to offering our students a complete educational experience, and with these cutting-edge programs, we aim for the students to fully develop everything they have learned so that they are able to find success with innovative business ideas and that they can support the island’s economy,” said PUPR president Ernesto Vázquez Barquet.

“We look forward to continue working with Georgia Tech, which is a leader in evidence-based entrepreneurship and engineering, and applying that expertise and incorporating that learning into our programs”, finished Vázquez Barquet.