The George Kozmetsky Memorial Student Challenge is an interdisciplinary program that links students from any major/or year in teams to address relevant community problems. The program begins each Fall and generally engages 150 students across the campus. Teams are given problems, research possible solutions, and submit presentations. Top 10 presentations pitch to judges and $15K in prize monies are presented to top solutions. Solutions are shared with communities.

Hacking For Defense (HFD) is an undergraduate course sponsored by the National Security Innovation Network, a problem-solving network under the Department of Defense. In H4D, teams of students apply lean startup principles to validated and curated problems presented by organizations within the US military and intelligence communities. Students work collaboratively with national security professionals to rapidly address the nation’s emerging threats and security challenges.

At the Herb Kelleher Entrepreneurship Center, our dedicated focus is on fostering the growth of entrepreneurial skills and empowering Longhorns to embrace this mindset in their careers, whether through starting their own businesses or driving innovation within established industries. UT founders can tap into the HKEC’s wealth of entrepreneurial resources through our networking and funding opportunities, interactive speaker events, one-on-one mentorship, pitch competitions, and our semester-long practicum, the Forty Acres Founders Program.

The Center for Integrated Design offers approximately 30 design-based courses each year. We offer the most cutting-edge innovation and creative practices that companies are demanding. Our courses are open for any enrolled student at UT Austin, and provide a range of offerings from Introduction to Design Thinking, skills like sketching and storytelling, and advanced coursework in partnership with Austin Design companies. Specific courses can be found on our website.

The James D. Pippin Veteran Entrepreneurship Award is a $1,000 prize awarded to one of the top teams in the Texas Venture Labs Investment Competition with one or more U.S. military veteran cofounders. The award is named after James D. Pippin, a Retired Command Sergeant Major in the U.S. Army who served with RideScout co-founder and CEO Joseph Kopser. Sergeant Major Pippin is the only active duty serviceman to have conducted three airborne combat jumps.

Texas Venture Labs works campus-wide across disciplines to transform graduate students into entrepreneurs and business leaders, take their innovations to market, and accelerate startups in our ecosystem. We do this through our Practicum course and Fellows program that provide experiential learning for grad students, our Investment Competition, and our Accelerator. Let us help you build your skills while launching your dreams.

The Kendra Scott Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute (KS WELI) supports creatives, founders, leaders, and allies by redefining leadership and entrepreneurship. KS WELI equips and empowers students of all backgrounds through engaging programming and events, spotlighting women-led businesses through the FoundHER Program, and sponsoring interdisciplinary courses within the McCombs Entrepreneurship Minor. Since its founding, KS WELI has become a force on UT’s campus to grow and support the number of women-owned and women-led businesses.

The LaunchPad at UT Austin is a resource hub that helps all undergraduate and graduate students explore entrepreneurship at UT. We help students identify where they are in their entrepreneurial journey – Explore, Ideate, Create, or Scale – then educate and connect them to resources across campus and in Austin. LaunchPad resources include events, coworking space, funding, bootcamps, accelerators, and other programs. We are a proud member of the global Blackstone LaunchPad Network of 46+ campuses.

Longhorn Startup Lab is a joint program with Capital Factory that allows student entrepreneurs to work on their startup under the guidance of successful mentors and provides students with a vast network they can use to accelerate growth. The Longhorn Startup Seminar is a semester-long class that brings guest speakers in to introduce students to the world of entrepreneurship. It is designed as a beginner course and students do not need a startup idea to be involved.

March Economic Madness is an interscholastic competition, building on our internal student challenge, that provides university students an opportunity to form teams and compete across universities to develop fitted and beneficial solutions for real community problems. A two-tiered selection process is used, first at each university, then between universities for top teams. Presentations will be delivered online with no need for travel. Cash awards are provided to top teams.