About

The Albert J Simone Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship exists to help RIT students fully realize their entrepreneurial goals from start to finish.

Established in 2007 and named after RIT President Emeritus Albert Simone, the Center’s resources and faculty expertise are open to all students, regardless of discipline and year level. Through a three-pronged approach, students are shown how to take an idea from the beginning stages all the way through to commercialization.

The Simone Center’s approach entails:

Interdisciplinary Entrepreneurial Curriculum

• Entrepreneurship minors and concentrations within various departments on campus
• Innovation and commercialization minors and concentrations within various departments on campus
• Courses in entrepreneurship, innovation, strategic growth and business creativity

Experiential Learning

• For-credit and co-op opportunities for students to advance a business concept through the Applied Entrepreneurship class and RIT's Student Business Incubator Program
• For-credit opportunities for students to consult with pre-seed and startup ventures
• Student co-op education opportunities with startup companies

Entrepreneurship Events

• Programs - NSF I-Corps, Student Incubator, Entrepreneurship Minor, Saunders Summer Startup, Innovation Challenge Grant, Studio 930, Co-Up, DiscoveRIT
• Competitions - Tiger Tank, Innovative Access Technology Product Competition, Business Plan Competitions including RIT, Regional and NYS
• Activities - IdeaLab, Tables Have Turned, Entrepreneurs Conference, Innovators Hour, Speaker Series, Workshops

For more information contact Dr. Richard DeMartino.