Joe DiNunzio, a senior executive with three decades of creative, technical and business leadership, has joined the Mike and Renee Child Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship as executive director, effective July 1, 2018. He will lead the institute’s strategic direction, program development, fundraising and relations with relevant academic programs at UC Davis as well as its network of partners, donors and sponsors.

Blog Post by Denise Bronner, UC Davis Postdoctoral Research Fellow and 2017/18 Business Development Fellow

The annual Ignite Conference brings together students, CEOs and business leaders—and attendees get to see concepts learned during class in action. Over the course of four days in March, I toured four amazing companies, listened to thought-provoking talks from industry leaders and created connections that will last long past Ignite.

18 teams receive $500 microgrants in first of three competitions

Thirty teams of UC Davis students from across the academic spectrum tested out their business ideas on December 7, 2017, in the first of three Little Bang! Poster Competitions.

The UC Davis Big Bang! is an annual business competition that calls on students and the public to bring their innovative ideas and entrepreneurial spirit to the bustling college town of Davis, Calif. Participants gain access to valuable resources, seasoned entrepreneurial mentors—and the chance to win big. This year, the prize money is upwards of $90,000 and growing.

Promising startups showcase ventures in UC Davis business competition

Medical device startup Raydiant Oximetry Inc., maker of a fetal pulse oximeter that keeps mothers and babies safe during childbirth, won the $10,000 first prize in the 17th annual UC Davis Big Bang! Business Competition on Thursday, May 25.

“Backing an innovation isn’t a single decision. It’s a web of choices and actions to which everyone in the company must commit,” says Professor Andrew Hargadon, founder and faculty director of the UC Davis Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Read the article >

Big Bang! Business Competition Blog: Record $50,000-plus awarded to promising startups in annual UC Davis business competition

PlayPatch, maker of a wearable, natural alternative to birth control pills, took the $20,000 first prize and won the $2,500 People’s Choice award in the 16th annual UC Davis Big Bang! Business Competition on Thursday, May 26. The first prize includes $10,000 cash and $10,000 in in-kind services from Davis Roots, a local startup incubator with ties to both the university and the city of Davis.

Anpac Bio-Medical Science Co. has pledged $50,000 to the UC Davis Child Family Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to underwrite student fellowships and support the annual Biomedical and Engineering Entrepreneurship Academy. Read the article >

Q&A with Professor Andrew Hargadon on building an innovation factory, the surprising truths about how breakthroughs happen, and his new book, Sustainable Innovation. Read the article >