CMU-Q welcomed 42 high school students from 16 local schools to Young Entrepreneurs on January 21, 2017, a new outreach workshop for young people who are interested in starting businesses.

Led by George White and Tom Emerson, both distinguished career professors of entrepreneurship at CMU-Q, the workshop introduced students to the concept of becoming an entrepreneur. White and Emerson shared their own stories of building ideas into businesses, and outlined other leaders who grew their ideas into successful ventures.

“The impact of entrepreneurship is still relatively small in Qatar, but its importance to becoming a knowledge-based economy is enormous. Each year the start-up community is growing. The range of ideas was impressive today, and coming from young people still in high school. I think students who are younger and younger are beginning to see entrepreneurship as a great career option,” said White.”

Students brainstormed ways to grow their ideas into established businesses and then gave a short “elevator pitch” to the other students. Ideas included a combination stress reliever and water bottle, a custom-fit clothing app, do-it-yourself mobile phone covers, and an app for finding sustainable office supplies.

CMU-Q runs workshops to introduce high school students to the fields of biological sciences, business administration, computer science and information systems. Learn more about outreach workshops.