Four UNSW students are among the first group to experience learning at the Sydney School of Entrepreneurship, which encourages new ways for students to collaborate and innovate.
Four UNSW students have mapped Sydney’s "entrepreneurial ecosystem" as part of the first group to complete a learning unit at Sydney School of Entrepreneurship (SSE).
SSE is a partnership between 11 universities and TAFE in NSW, which brings together highly motivated students to collaborate and innovate.
Esmond Ye, Linda Truong, Patricia Sullivan and Harrison Chen were part of a group of 40 students from across NSW who took part in online and face-to-face study to gain a deeper understanding of the entrepreneurial mindset.
Students participated in an experiential tour called the Massive Ecosystem Scavenger Hunt (MESH) to tap into the Sydney start-up community, an innovative approach used at SSE.
Fourth year Bachelor of Vision Science and Computer Science student, Linda Truong, is a Community Ambassador at UNSW who has developed a passion for entrepreneurship and innovation.
She didn’t hesitate to take the opportunity to enrol in the SSE core unit as part of her studies and found the contact she had with people in the start-up space motivating.
“I’m really inspired by all entrepreneurs and their journey, so I leapt at the opportunity to take part in SSE. I’m always searching for new ways to learn, collaborate and immerse myself in the entrepreneurial space and this course has definitely delivered,” she said.
“I’d one day love to develop my own social enterprise and being able to talk to so many inspirational people has given me a lot to think about, and a drive to go out and build.”
Linda and her team also took out first place in the SSE “Hack for the Homeless," a social impact hackathon to help solve the social, technical, cultural and behavioural challenges of homelessness.
Nick Kaye, CEO of SSE, said the interdisciplinary nature of the SSE unit encouraged collaboration between students.
“Our students represent a variety of disciplines, including medicine, botany, engineering, design, law and technology to name a few. With a thirst to learn and support one another, they have been a true reflection of SSE and our value in cross-disciplinary learning,” he said.
“This first cohort has attracted students from all 11 of our member higher education institutions and it’s been inspirational to see such diverse and talented students from right across the state.”
When fully operational, at least 1,000 students will participate in SSE courses and activities as part of their degree or TAFE program every year.
There will also be opportunities for students to take part in co-curricular activities such as workshops, hackathons, educational boot camps and networking events.
SSE is a not-for-profit program that was established with cornerstone investment from the NSW Government.