Managing Director Doug Neal

About CFE

CFE is Impact Driven - we shape entrepreneurs who want to have a positive impact on society – with disruptive ideas that are scalable and meet a societal need. CFE supports these entrepreneurs and connects them with the Michigan entrepreneurial network.

Founded in 2008, the Center grew out of the University of Michigan College of Engineering's Committee on Entrepreneurial Environment and Programs (CEEPS), a group of faculty that released its recommendations in the report "Empowering Entrepreneurial Students." (Read the report.) The Committee recognized that young innovators can help stimulate the state's economy. It also recognized that there were a large number of aspiring entrepreneurs already at the University of Michigan, but that these individuals were unconnected and did not feel empowered to pursue their entrepreneurial ideas. While the College already had entrepreneurial faculty, alumni, facilities, and corporate partners committed to inspiring and guiding young entrepreneurs, it was lacking a focal point capable of coordinating these resources. Thus, the Committee recommended the creation of a Center for Entrepreneurship within the College of Engineering.

Among its many accomplishments, CFE is responsible for:

• Launching brand new courses and formal academic programs focused on entrepreneurship;
• Co-managing the TechArb student startup accelerator;
• Helping students launch their own ventures through mentorship, micro-grants, networking opportunities, and office space;
• Coordinating Entrepreneurial Experience trips to Chicago, the Bay Area, and other locations.

CFE Mission Statement

CFE is Impact Driven - we shape entrepreneurs who want to have a positive impact on society – with disruptive ideas that are scalable and meet a societal need. CFE supports these entrepreneurs and connects them with the Michigan entrepreneurial network.

The Center provides a range of resources that enables it to:

• Connect current students with Michigan Engineering alumni who work in the start-up community
• Provide grants for students to pursue their own ideas for companies and products
• Support, simplify and clarify student intellectual property transfer processes for students and the broader community
• Develop and maintain entrepreneurship-focused academic programming so that students can take courses in innovation and business from U-M professors or members of the broader entrepreneurial community.
• Coordinate these activities with entrepreneurship student groups on campus