Unique Cross-Faculty Student Project

Unique opportunity for students from different faculties to work together as Student Academic Partners in collaboration with a Birmingham based social enterprise, URA Star Enterprise, and the Birmingham City Council.

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Bridging the gap between University and entrepreneurship with Future Focus

The scheme covers a wide range of business fundamentals and particularly proves beneficial for those green to the trade, looking at a wide range of topics including entrepreneurship, sponsorship, PR, and evaluation.

Aspire For You Aspire For You

Smart Volunteers Wanted for Oxygen Accelerator

Would you like to start your own Tech company? If yes then look no further than Oxygen Accelerator!

Oxygen Accelerator Oxygen Accelerator

Business simulation game sees Birmingham City University crowned champions

Business minded students from Birmingham City University have been crowned champions in the UK heat of the European Business Master Cup competition, a business simulation game open to all university students.

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Students’ Union Best New Society, 2011 – The BCU Entrepreneurship Society

The BCU Entrepreneurship Society is pleased to announce that it has been awarded the plaque for the Best New Student’s Union Society, 2011 award!!

Roland Ruhumuriza, BCU Entrepreneurs President, receiving the Best New Students Society Award, 2011 Roland Ruhumuriza, BCU Entrepreneurs President, receiving the Best New Students Society Award, 2011
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Unique Cross-Faculty Student Project

October 31st, 2011 Roland R.

Calling all students interested in working with other students from different faculties, on a University-wide initiative.

There is a unique opportunity for students from different faculties to work together as Student Partners in collaboration with a Birmingham based social enterprise, URA STAR Enterprise, and the Birmingham City Council.

Selection of the Student Partners will take place on the 4th November 2011 at the City North Campus, Perry Barr.

Rationale for the Project

The University-wide initiative will foster the development of a Cross-Faculty student academic learning community with 24 Student Partners, working in collaboration with Birmingham City Council and URA STAR Enterprise (www.urastarenterprise.com) to design, develop, manage and launch the ‘Stars in the City’ fun run and festival of events. These are scheduled for the 15 of July 2012, at the Star City complex. This date coincides with the launch of the London 2012 Olympics and the arrival of the American and Jamaican Olympic teams in Birmingham. URA STAR Enterprise have been negotiating the participation of Triple Olympic and World Champion, Usain Bolt as well as four other world renowned athletes.

Although the main event is not until next year in July, the successful Student Partners will be involved in organising and planning all the different aspects leading to the main event.

What we are looking for

To support the development and successful implementation of this project we are seeking to fund 24 Student Partners from different faculties who would work collaboratively with Birmingham City Council and URA STAR Enterprises.  Each of these student partners will bring their Faculty’s specific skills and capabilities to ensuring the success of this project.

The successful student candidates will be employed on a part-time basis, working a maximum of 125 hours (£10.00/hr), spread throughout the duration of the project.

Some of the student partners’ functions will include, but not limited to:

  • Web design and development
  • Filming and Animation
  • Administration
  • Internal Communication
  • HR and Volunteers coordination
  • Photography
  • Graphic Design
  • Accounting
  • Fundraising and Sponsorship
  • Live music and Entertainment
  • Marketing and Public Relations
  • Procurement and Logistics
  • Social Media Management
  • Sales and Business development
  • Insurance and Legal Advise
  • Health and Safety
  • Stage Design and Lighting

If you are a BCU student and are interested in taking part in this unique project, please complete the attached form below and return it to either Roland Ruhumuriza via roland.ruhumuriza2@mail.bcu.ac.uk or Warren Chughtai via warren.chughtai@bcu.ac.uk no later than Wednesday 2/11/2011 by 12:00 noon. You will then be invited to the selection process on the 4 November 2011 at our City North Campus, Perry Barr. The exact time and venue will also be confirmed in their follow up email.

 

Aspire For You

Bridging the gap between University and entrepreneurship with Future Focus

August 8th, 2011 Roland R.

The percentage of students completing university with a degree and struggling to find a job in their desired field is on a steady increase with new research stating employers are receiving an average of 83 applicants for each job, double that of two years ago.

 

Social Enterprise Aspire4u CIC have aimed to address this issue with a new scheme entitled ‘Future Focus’, providing the strategic support required for all graduates and in particular focuses on Business BA and MA students and is designed to offer fast track career development.

 

The scheme aims to help graduates and aspiring entrepreneurs develop their business and commercial acumen. Graduates will acquire the practical and professional skills needed to meet a changing business environment and develop industry identified expertise.

 

So how does the scheme operate and how are such skills delivered? The Future Focus 12 month scheme is run in the form of workshops commencing on the 10th August.

 

The scheme covers a wide range of business fundamentals and particularly proves beneficial for those green to the trade, looking at a wide range of topics including entrepreneurship, sponsorship, PR, and evaluation.

 

The core focus of the sessions is the development of entrepreneurial values and business development and planning. The sessions will also look at how to identify customers and attract them, providing the relevant principles for pre-start up businesses as well as business graduates. Initial funding is essential for anyone starting a business and cost effectively is discussed along with bid writing and sponsorship, funding searches and applications.

 

It is now essential to enter the professional industry with hands on experience as well as academic qualifications for even a remote chance to succeed in an ever increasingly competitive graduate market. The project is run by Daniella Genas who herself after graduating was motivated by her business aspirations and now is a successful entrepreneur, events manager and public speaker.

 

For more information on Future Focus visit aspire4u.co.uk

 

Oxygen Accelerator

Smart Volunteers Wanted for Oxygen Accelerator

July 29th, 2011 Roland R.
Hopefully some of the buzz around out new Birmingham initiative Oxygen Accelerator won’t have escaped your attention. Oxygen Accelerator is a 13-week intensive mentor led bootcamp for technology startups that culminates with a series of investor days where we will help teams pitch to a large, carefully selected group of Angel investors, VCs and Private Equity groups for next stage funding. We select just 10 teams who will be based at Birmingham Science Park Aston from 2nd Sept – 30th Nov 2011. This initiative is only the second of its kind in the UK.

So – we are looking for really sharp volunteer interns who can help 10 startup tech companies go from idea through to investment in just 13 weeks. This is an excellent and unique opportunity to see a startup build their product from the very beginning, and get great hands-on experience in a variety of areas. You will use your degree skills to help one or two of our teams with day to day operational tasks. The tasks will be dependent on what the team needs doing and what your skills are.

What’s in it for me?
The main benefit for Oxygen volunteers is that you will have the rare opportunity to watch a start up grow from the very beginning, witnessing all the highs and lows and actually even helping them to make that first sale. The scheme will be fast-paced to say the least, so volunteers are highly likely to get a range of experiences and test out different roles. There’s more…
- Opportunity to see how a startup works from the inside
- Pick up lots of new skills from the team members and mentors
- Build experience for your CV that employers are looking for
- We will provide references
- It’s flexible – from 1 month to 4 months, whatever suits you
- Lots of teams go on to hire the good interns, so potentially a job at the end of it
- If you have other interviews to attend while you are with us that is no problem
- We will cover your travel expenses
- Get to work in an interesting environment with creative entrepreneurs
- You could be helping create the next Facebook or Groupon.

What are the details?
- You can start any time from August through to October.
- Ideally be able to volunteer for a minimum of 1 month
- You need to be able to get to Birmingham Science Park Aston daily

So how do I apply?
If what’s written above appeals to you, then we want to hear from you. Just send an email to simon@oxygenaccelerator.com and introduce yourself.
@oxygenaccel
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Business simulation game sees Birmingham City University crowned champions

June 30th, 2011 Roland R.

Business minded students from Birmingham City University have been crowned champions in the UK heat of the European Business Master Cup competition, a business simulation game open to all university students.

Hosted by Birmingham City University for the second year running, the event saw almost 30 students from Birmingham City University, Aston University and the University of Liverpool battle it out to become UK champions and represent UK universities in the international finals being held in Stuttgart early next year.

Facilitated by Stuttgart Media University (HdM) each team had to control the fortunes of a fictitious company making alternative low energy cars, defending their market position against the other teams in a series of simulations designed to develop their business and team skills.

Professor David Tidmarsh, Vice-Chancellor of Birmingham City University, opened the event.  He said: “This is a great opportunity for students to develop and practice their business skills in a safe environment and is an example of how we are assisting our students with their employability in an ever competitive market.”

Over the course of five ‘periods’ the teams had to make decisions to maximise their opportunities based on the information given to them at the start of each period. With changing conditions the teams had to build on their decisions from earlier periods, cumulating in a presentation to a panel of judges.

In a very close contest, Birmingham City University were declared the winners, and will now go on to represent the UK at the EBMC Finals which take place in January 2012 in Stuttgart.  They will take on teams from Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Scotland Sweden and Switzerland.

Ron Brown, Innovation Development Manager from Research Innovation and Enterprise Services (RIES) at Birmingham City University, organised the competition.  He said: “This is a great result for our university in our second year of competing for the whole team to be invited to the final.”

The winning team of Birmingham City University students from Birmingham City Business School (BCBS) and the Faculty of Technology Environment and Engineering (TEE) were consistent throughout the two days and received some very favourable comments from the judging panel on their final presentation and the facilitators on their performance throughout.

On winning the competition student Anderson Banda said: “It’s been a tough couple of days but I’ve learned a lot, really enjoyed it and am looking forwards to the finals.”

Guy Jones, guest judge and Sales and Marketing Director for MG Motors and Head of UK and European Operations, added: “I’ve seen many presentations from sources at all level and I was very impressed with the content covered by the teams especially as most of the students have little experience of this sector.”

Professor Paul Bowker, Associate Dean at Birmingham City Business School and fellow judge, was delighted that a team with BCBS students won the competition and Dr Steve Harding, Head of Policy Development within RIES commented: “this is just another example of the work that the university is doing in building up our links with other universities in the UK and abroad.”

Birmingham City University is collaborating with Stuttgart Media University (HdM) and the University on Nantes on the European Cluster of Creativity and Enterprise (ECCE) Innovation programme.

For further information about the EBMC competition contact Ron Brown, Innovation Development Manager, Research Innovation and Enterprise Services at Birmingham City university  on 0121 331 5342 or email ron.brown@bcu.ac.uk

 

Roland Ruhumuriza, BCU Entrepreneurs President, receiving the Best New Students Society Award, 2011

Students’ Union Best New Society, 2011 – The BCU Entrepreneurship Society

May 26th, 2011 admin

The BCU Entrepreneurship Society is pleased to announce that it has been awarded the plaque for the Best New Student’s Union Society, 2011 award!! The announcement was made a few days ago, following a Students’ Union meeting that resulted to a unanimous decision to give this award to the BCU Entrepreneurs Society.

Michael Gale, Student Development Coordinator, when asked why the Entrepreneurship Society won, he said: “It was pretty obvious, not only has the society been very active but it’s also engaged students, staff members and successful entrepreneurs.”  The award was received on behalf of the society by  the BCU Entrepreneurs president, Roland Ruhumuriza.

The challenge is for the Entrepreneurship Society to continue the great work towards its mission to encourage support and promote entrepreneurship at Birmingham City University and beyond.

 

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