The cohort visited with new companies such as Rivian, Beyond Meat, SpaceX, coco delivery, Tastemade and Everytable as well as met with more established companies such as the NFL Network, Apple, Paramount and Dreamscape Immersive to learn what new innovations they are pursuing.

“As a non-business student, I found that this course helped shape my perception of innovation and entrepreneurship,” said Claudia Risner ’25. “I left feeling very inspired by the innovative spirit in Los Angeles, and enjoyed learning about how different industries practice innovation in unique ways, and interact with each other. This helped me expand my definition of innovation and begin thinking about how I can incorporate these concepts in my own future, as well as how society can use innovation to help solve some of the problems we face today.”

During the Winter Term experience, the students were hosted by organizations such as LACI, AltaSea, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab to study green tech, blue tech, space tech and were lunch guests of the Annenberg Foundation to learn more about the region’s commitment to diversity in tech and entrepreneurship through Pledge LA.

The class sat in on a very innovative class at the University of Southern California called Lives Not Grades and taught by faculty members Dan Durhora, Brad Cracchiola and David Gerber, who has produced an Emmy-winning documentary. Joined by a Swiss delegation of government officials, the students had a wonderful visit to USC’s Vterbi Startup Garage in Marina Del Rey where they learned more about its incubator and met with several of the entrepreneurs who are engaged in its co-working space.

The class examined social entrepreneurship through volunteering at The Valley of Change, a new nonprofit, and spent one morning at Homeboy Industries, which is the largest gang rehabilitation program in the world and provides training and support to formerly gang-involved and formerly incarcerated individuals through the pursuit of entrepreneurial enterprises.

Daniela Lopez ’23 shared that her favorite visits were those to organizations focused on social innovation and sustainability, such as  Beyond Meat, LACI and Homeboy Industries.

During a trip to Santa Barbara, they learned about innovation in organic farming, cannabis and retail fashion as well as paid a visit to UC Santa Barbara to meet with Professor JoAnn Kuchera-Morin and her team for a firsthand look at the Allosphere, a three-story research facility that uses multiple modalities to represent large and complex data, including immersive visualization, sonification, and interactivity.

During their time on the west coast, students met with entrepreneurs including those in aerospace, fashion, “world-building,” technology and more, as well as visited several co-working spaces such as Blackbird House and Second Home, among others. They met an Elon alumna Mia Ginae’ Watkins and other gamers from Riot Games and Julianne Katz, an Elon alumna who works in innovation for Anheuser-Busch. Finally, they met with venture capitalists to explore the state of venture finance in southern California.

Amazingly, this entire trip occurred during the torrential rains of early January but that didn’t dampen the energy of the group, which ended up meeting with 34 companies in a three-week span.  Visiting regions including Santa Monica, Pasadena, downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood and Santa Barbara, the students gained an appreciation for the region and its role as an engine of innovation.

“As a bio major, I did not know much about entrepreneurship, innovation, startups, or venture capital,” said Lauren Culp ’24, “but I have had the unique opportunity to experience all of these firsthand during my trip to LA. The course focused on different aspects of innovation, such as sustainability, affordability, improving communities and the well-being of others, and finding new and better ways to improve our lives while also keeping in mind our impact on the environment.

“In small groups we focused on companies with these goals, one being beyond meat. I learned how detrimental the meat industry is, not only to the environment but to us as well,” Culp added. “This inspired me to become a ‘flexitarian’ and only eat meat couple of times a week instead of every day. I learned about the work of venture capital and its investments in startup companies. I also learned all of the steps to becoming a successful entrepreneur, and have found myself inspired to be an entrepreneur myself one day, knowing that I have many connections in my field of interest that will help me succeed one day.”

Martina planned this course over several months, with the support of Elon faculty members Mark Kurt and Matt Ryan, The Isabella Cannon Global Education Center, as well as Love School of Business Dean Raghu Tadepalli and others in the school.

“I created a similar course based in San Francisco, New York and Israel, but because Los Angeles is so vast, it was perhaps the most challenging,” said Martina.

She loved working on the course, including reaching out to hundreds of companies, social ventures, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and industry experts as she started to develop the course and travel itinerary. Martina added that it was a very rewarding experience to see the course come together and witness the students’ curiosity and deeper understanding of innovation.

“Los Angeles is home not only to entertainment and aerospace but a host of other industries that drive innovation and entrepreneurship and I wanted my students to experience the breadth of innovation in LA,” Martina said.

Martina worked with J McMerty, the director of the Elon in LA program as well as with Cierra Seawright, program coordinator for Elon in LA and Professor Kai Swanson who taught the Sundance film course. Many Elon alumni helped out with the course, sponsoring company visits, or leading panel discussion. Martina is very grateful to the 15 amazing alumni in Los Angeles who took the time to meet with the students in her class.

Even with time zone barriers, the three Elon seniors all maintained communication and ensured that Nate’s Cookies not only survived but thrived in the fall 2021 semester.

Nate’s Cookies is a cookie purveyor with unique flavors and combinations that have served the Elon community since 2021. It has gained a reputation as a popular sweet shop vendor at Elon with a mission to help raise funds for suicide awareness and prevention. A portion of the proceeds is donated to various charities relating to this cause.

So how did they manage with one of their co-owners over 4,000 miles away?

“It was pretty hands-off from my end. Kevin and Paris, the two other owners, really stepped up and did a lot of work,” Moskowitz said.

The three collaborated on key issues, but the day-to-day operations were handled by Coelho and Taliadouros back at Elon.

“A lot of the overarching general decisions were left to me and Paris,” Coelho said. “I always handled the financial and operational side of things. But, I managed the weekly orders, pop-ups and mostly everything else. We only contacted Nathan when something was actually changing the company. Whether it was a new partnership, a new group of people that we were working with or a new vendor we were selling to. It was just updating him with summaries of things but managing the business certainly fell to me and Paris.”

Time zone barriers were also something to consider, with Taliadouros adding, “We pretty much had to figure everything out by ourselves because with the time difference, Nathan would most likely be asleep.”

Coelho and Taliadouros focused on collaborations with Elon Dining, Oak House, Marketplace Under the Oaks (now Oak Originals), Greek Life and professors. Additionally, they had to give people what they really wanted – cookies.

“Twice a week, Paris and I would bake cookies on Tuesday and Thursday nights spending five, six hours making all of the cookies,” Coelho said.

“When we were in the kitchen, we would prepare everything that we needed. Sometimes a challenge would arise, or we would mess up because neither of us were bakers or worked in culinary,” Taliadouros said.

But, the two were determined to make a great product and their determination paid off.

“I believe I was prepared for when Nathan went abroad just because besides managing other things, I was still doing the job I was doing beforehand. I will say there was a lot of extra and added work as far as the cookies go and the process of making them,” Coelho said.

The two sold cookies at Homecoming, Family Weekend and many other pop-ups  during the fall 2021 semester at the Doherty Center. Additionally, they continued growing their business, collaborations and employees.

“I am proud of what Kevin and I have accomplished during the time that Nathan was abroad. To be honest, we did not think we could handle it but we did,” Taliadouros said.

With all three owners back on campus and ready for their senior year, what’s next for Nate’s Cookies? Nate’s Cookies leaders are looking forward to continuing what they know best and serving the Elon community. “This semester we are really focused on being the most efficient well-oiled machine,” Moskowitz explained.

As for after graduation, Moskowitz, Coelho and Taliadouros aren’t 100% sure about the direction Nate’s Cookies will go.

“We are unsure what we want to do. We have to start thinking about it and coming up with a plan. But as of right now, we are just trying to grow as much as possible,” Taliadouros said.

With communication, expectations and a determined group, Nate’s Cookies is standing strong at Elon and the surrounding community. The Doherty Center, Oak Originals and Elon are looking forward to seeing, and tasting, Nate’s Cookies this coming year.

Karl Sienerth, professor of chemistry at Elon, has been an influential committee member on the Elon Innovation Challenge for the past six years, serving as its chair each year.

Sienerth has been a professor, mentor and scholar at Elon since 1998 when Elon was still known as Elon College. He enjoys ľĂľĂČČ chemistry in several courses, such as sophomore seminar, an advanced course on chemical instrumentation, and chemistry lab. He’s become a sought-after mentor for chemistry students while also a helpful leader for ambitious, non-science majors.

What drew his connection to an entrepreneurial-based challenge? Sienerth credits Alyssa Martina, the director of the Doherty Center for Creativity, Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

In fall 2016, Sienerth was chair of the chemistry department, and Martina worked tirelessly to attract students from every discipline to get involved with innovation and entrepreneurship. Businesses and ideas require many perspectives and positions with various valuable skill sets are always required. In many cases, a scientist is also needed.

However, when asked what his biggest challenge as the Elon Innovation Challenge chairperson has been, Sienerth shared that it was his lack of experience in business and entrepreneurship. “When judging teams, I can offer thoughts on whether I think something is practical and useful, but I have no real basis to make hardcore judgments on marketing or funding models,” Sienerth said.

While he relies on other committee members to share their expertise on these matters, his experience and knowledge of chemistry are certainly put to use in many other ways in the challenge.

The annual competition has taken many different forms in the years since Sienerth has been chairing the event. The challenge introduces a new theme each year and in the past has covered important topics including the environment, mental health, creative entrepreneurship and recycling.

In 2021, the Elon Innovation Challenge focused on the universal experience of how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted small and mid-sized businesses with a longitudinal competition that focused on helping these companies survive during the pandemic. In other years, it’s been a weekend hackathon or an event occurring over a several-week period.

Projects generated through the Elon Innovation Challenge range have been able to accomplish a range of functions, from detecting date-rape drugs in beverages to minimizing waste in Elon’s waste stream, two that Sienerth notes are among his favorites.

The winning entry isn’t the primary focus of the competition but rather the ľĂľĂČČ of design thinking and entrepreneurial skills to solve a unique problem.

“For me as a scientist, it’s a learning experience every year, seeing how the students tackle that year’s EIC theme and come up with amazing ideas with really fleshed-out marketing and execution strategies. Of course not every team makes a home run, but I am never not amazed by the creativity our students show,” Sienerth said.

The theme has yet to be announced for the upcoming Elon Innovation Challenge, but Sienerth did hint at a focus that would in some way be STEM-related.

“In order to celebrate the new Innovation Quad, the EIC theme this year will likely have a STEM flavor. But we don’t want that to turn off students who believe that science and math are just not their strong suits,” Sienerth said, ensuring that all Elon students will be encouraged to take part.

As Sienerth and Martina have emphasized, teams need various perspectives which all have a role in solving problems and developing a new venture. Teams that have a breadth of diverse majors and teammates represented are in the best position to develop a viable idea whether the theme is involved in STEM, the creative arts, or the environment.