Flying start for Kauffman Fellow

28 January 2008

One of our graduates has embarked on a six-month fellowship in the US to boost his business acumen.

BU graduate James Reed is one of just 14 of Entreneurship Fellows selected this year for a six-month fellowship by the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE) and the US-based Ewing Kauffman Foundation.

The 2006 Computer Aided Product Design graduate is currently working with our commercialisation experts to develop his concept for a unique space-saving outdoor furniture system called ‘Complico’.

He follows in the footsteps of fellow BU graduate Simon Phelps, who took part in last year’s Fellows' programme. Simon is now back in the UK working alongside BU to take his ‘Floodstop’ modular flood barrier further forward.

James begins his secondment in Kansas City where the Kauffman Foundation is based. He said: “The Fellowship is an outstanding opportunity for me to start learning all I need to know about the business world and how I can make my idea a reality.

“I’m excited to work with the NCGE and the Kauffman Foundation to gain a clear understanding of what it will take for my business to succeed and to start taking those steps.”

Now in its second year, the Fellows' programme takes the best entrepreneurial talent from UK universities and links them with leading scholars and thinkers, policy leaders, innovative researchers and business founders in the US and UK.

The experience is aimed at developing the commercial know-how of Fellowship recipients as well as building potential new business contacts at home and abroad.

Ian Robertson, Chief Executive of the NCGE, congratulates James on being selected as part of this year’s Fellowship programme. “During the application process, James demonstrated commitment to his business idea and the determination needed to succeed,” Robertson recalls.

“Many of last year’s participants are now well on their way to running established businesses, and we expect this year’s talented group will follow suit.”

BU Graduate to Explore Entrepreneurship in the US