Enterprise interns take up residence
Posted on 19 July 2011
The Enterprise Internships scheme is providing the prospective entrepreneurs – who represent six start-up businesses – with a place to work and enough money to meet their immediate living costs over the three months of summer vacation, allowing them to develop their business ideas.
The eight students were chosen from over 25 applicants and represent a diverse range of potential new businesses.
Nina Roussakoff recently graduated with a degree in Sociology and is working on a female-friendly computer games business, Dreamgate. She has been developing the idea since 2009 and hopes it will become her main occupation. Her aim during the summer is to finalise and launch her first game Steamgirl, which is already 70 per cent complete.
At the official opening of the student enterprise facilities in the Ron Cooke Hub in January, Nina tested her ideas with BBC’s online ‘Dragon’ and venture capitalist Julie Meyer, who confirmed that her ideas were worth pursuing.
Nina Roussakoff, aged 26, said: “Steamgirl is a game about a young woman discovering her talent for invention during the Steam Age. Like Steamgirl’s passion for gadgets, I have always had a passion for games and wanted to make them since I was 10 years old. When I presented my business plan, I never imagined it would get so much interest! Thanks to the University I am now able to fund music and artwork for the game and really give this project some spark.”
All Enterprise Interns have agreed to keep a record of their experiences over the summer and, of course, we will also be working closely with them to offer any assistance we can
Andrew Ferguson, Director of the University’s Careers Service
The other research interns are Peter Spence, an Economics student, who is working on a range of productivity related applications for smart phones, PhD Biology student Joanna Banasiak, who is developing recycling options for laboratory waste, and Alex Winch, an Economics and Language and Linguistic Science student, who is working on an idea to provide healthy meal ingredients for next year’s intake of students.
A three-strong team of students from the York Management School is working on an online property site for people seeking short term rented accommodation which would benefit landlords and tenants. Meanwhile Camille Sainsbury, who recently graduated with a degree in History of Art, is using her connections with Malaysia to establish a service for budget travellers interested in working in conservation projects, potentially aiming at the gap year market.
Andrew Ferguson, Director of the University’s Careers Service, hopes other students will benefit from the interns’ experience.
He said: “All Enterprise Interns have agreed to keep a record of their experiences over the summer and, of course, we will also be working closely with them to offer any assistance we can. We are hoping to share their learning, both the good and the bad bits, with future students considering the option of starting their own businesses while at University. These real life case studies are likely to be much more effective in presenting the realities of getting an idea off the ground than any text book.”
The Enterprise Interns are based in the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Enterprise (CETLE) in the Ron Cooke Hub building at the centre of the £750 million Heslington East campus expansion. CETLE enables students to develop enterprise skills so that they are equipped to make an impact in the future as social entrepreneurs, enterprising employees and successful business owners.
Established as a White Rose initiative between the Universities of York, Sheffield and Leeds in 2005, CETLE at York hosts a micro-incubator in which students can start and base their own businesses. Equipped with the latest hardware and software, the facilities offer students and staff the space to be creative, enterprising and productive.
Since its launch, CETLE has provided workspace and encouragement to a wide range of student entrepreneurs and is the base for the student society York Entrepreneurs, which with 1,400 members, is one the largest societies on campus. CETLE provides small grants to promising business concepts and thanks to its support, a number of former York students have gone on to run their own businesses.
The University’s Careers Service is involved in a range of activities designed to widen the employability skills of York students. These include programmes such as York Students in Schools, which places over 600 students into the classroom, and the Student Internship Bureau which places students with York businesses to deliver high value adding projects.
Notes to editors:
- For further information on CETLE visit www.york.ac.uk/enterprise/cetle
- For more information on the Careers Service visit www.york.ac.uk/careers
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