About InnovationX

What defines us

Entrepreneurship for all Majors

InnovationX, the Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, is Oregon State’s hub for student entrepreneurs, innovators, designers and change-makers. We provide the resources, education and community that can help students capture, share and test ideas and turn them into reality.

InnovationX delivers programming that allows students to explore entrepreneurship, participate in entrepreneurship activities, test new business ideas and launch new ventures. The academy also builds an inclusive culture of entrepreneurship across the institution so that every OSU student has access to entrepreneurship resources and feels welcomed into the entrepreneurship community. Read more about our approach, as well as how we measure our success.

Programs include workshops, networking events, business idea competitions, startup support, coursework and degrees, community outreach and more.

 

 

  

Faculty & Staff

  

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Ken and Joan Austin in 1985 (on the right).

Our History

Student entrepreneurship programming at OSU was seeded by Ken Austin in 2004 with the launch of the Austin Entrepreneurship Program (AEP), a living-learning residential program for first-year College of Business students interested in entrepreneurship. AEP served the 300 students residing in Weatherford Hall until 2015.

As the college grew, limiting the living-learning residential program to only Weatherford Hall residents was causing many students to miss out on the amazing opportunities offered by AEP. In 2015, it was determined that AEP should grow into a program that could serve all students in the College of Business.

The success of AEP led to the college's expanded Innovation Nation living-learning community, where all first-year College of Business students live in Weatherford or Poling Halls and have a dynamic learning environment. Courses and activities optimized for student engagement and success. Meanwhile, the academic aspects of AEP — the focus on teaching students about the entrepreneurial process — have evolved into an integral part of the Innovation Nation experience, where students learn how to create revenue-generating microbusinesses.