The University that is a Start-up Incubator
View(s):Swinburne students and alumni who are budding entrepreneurs are given an extra helping hand. From enrollment, the students are taken through an industry informed and industry engaged curriculum, readying them for post-graduation success.
What makes the programs at Swinburne special is that they are designed together with industry experts, and are delivered by a faculty who have the best academic expertise together with industry experience. This ensures that students have practical knowledge and the soft skills needed.
The university that is a start-up incubator
With two successful start-ups and 10 years as an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley under her belt, Dr Elicia Wong wants Swinburne to be a productive start-up incubator.
In 2017, as Director of Research Innovation and Entrepreneurship, she launched the Entrepreneur in Residence mentoring program, which is bringing international mentors to Melbourne to help researchers develop potentially scalable companies.
Proven results
Already on board is Kostas Anagnostakis, the founder and CEO of Niometrics, a Singapore-based start-up that has had 500 million people subscribe to its multi-faceted data analytic software programmes in the last 10 years. In 2009, Anagnostakis started with five engineers in one Singapore office. Niometrics now operates in eight locations around the world, and has around 120 employees.
Mentors to hand hold entrepreneurs
Most successful tech titans have founders who were mentored, explained Wong, who also had a mentor when she was at Oxford University as a Postdoctoral Fellow. After her postdoc, she commercialised sensor ensembles and, later, organic semiconductor-based sensors for life science industries, launching two start-ups in Silicon Valley.
“As an accessible coach, these mentors are expected to share their business know-how and insight on global trends in all sorts of industries from biotech, fintech, medtech, hightech and social enterprise,” said Wong.
She believes the start-up economy is poised to play a huge role in the national strategy for economic diversification and growth. She adds that the program is “attractive to established entrepreneurs as it provides a new route for exploring businesses and connections in the Asia Pacific region.”
Nawaloka College of Higher Studies
Established with the mission of bringing the best of global education at an affordable rate, NCHS is on a mission for continuous greatness in local education. NCHS offers world class education qualifications in collaboration with the prestigious Swinburne University and numerous California State Universities at the central campuses in the heart of Colombo and Kandy.
The flexible degree structure at NCHS provides students with access to a wide range of subjects across different fields. With over 60 Bachelor’s Degrees to choose from on completion of the pathway programs in the Business, IT and Engineering streams, students can combine major and minor studies to graduate with a deeper understanding of the subject areas that they are interested in. The flexible course structure combined with a wide range of subjects will provide students with the opportunity to shape their degree program to suit their goals, interests and ambitions.
To explore and discover how you can plan your future with a prestigious Swinburne University qualification contact NCHS on 077 7 899 998 or
email info@nchs.edu.lk