Start here to bring your ideas to life
Want to be a leader in social change? Or maybe have a business you want to start? Or a product you want to market? With Start Something, you’ll find support and resources designed to help you nurture your ideas and bring out your inner innovator and entrepreneur.
In the College of Design, we’re specifically focused on interdisciplinary innovation and entrepreneurship with an emphasis on social and civic change. It’s our dean’s charge and we call it Design for Social Change. This is how you’ll get opportunities to give voice to those who’ve been excluded by design.
Our civic growth mindset is based on collaboration, diverse perspectives and social justice. Design for Social Change requires embracing mistakes, the power of learning, practices of engagement and an openness to our complex human existence.
With Start Something’s academic opportunities including project-oriented courses, hands-on research, product development assistance, internships with design changemakers and more, you’ll be able to start anything you want. And make a difference in the world while doing it.
- Immerse yourself in innovation.
- Start a business.
- Get hands-on research experience.
- Inspire future Cyclones.
Start Something Network
Iowa State’s recently introduced Start Something Network spans six Iowa State colleges so students can tailor their education experience to meet their unique needs and interests. It’s how we’re connecting the innovation and entrepreneurship efforts happening across campus, and at our ISU Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship, under one name.
Part of something bigger
Start Something is just one of the many ways you can be part of Iowa State’s inclusive culture focused on interdisciplinary collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurship. We call it Innovate at Iowa State.
Included in this culture are two centers where you can collaborate with students across disciplines and find opportunity after opportunity to hone your innovative side.
- Student Innovation Center — At our $84 million crown jewel of innovation, you’ll find state-of-the-art maker spaces where you can explore everything from food science to 3D printing to engine testing and much, much more.
- ISU Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship — CyStarters. CyBIZ Lab. ISU Startup Factory. College-by-College Pitch Off. ISU Innovation Prize. It’s easy to see that the ISU Pappajohn Center is your place when you want to learn how to start your own business.
Questions about how to get started?
Ana Luz
Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
analuz@iastate.edu
