COLLEGE PARK, Md.-Students across the University of Maryland campus will soon have a chance to join millions of other young people across the world in a quest to embrace innovation and creativity, and turn their ideas into reality.

This quest begins Nov. 17-23 with a university-wide celebration of Global Entrepreneurship Week led by the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech), a unit of the A. James Clark School of Engineering, and the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. The two will jointly offer speakers, programs and activities designed to spark the imagination and fan the spirit of entrepreneurship. The week is co-sponsored by the University of Maryland Network for Entrepreneurs (UM-NET) which facilitates campus collaboration across the units of the university, and the Office of Research Administration and Advancement.

"Global Entrepreneurship Week highlights a vibrant portfolio of well-established, successful programs in entrepreneurship at the university," says C. D. (Dan) Mote, Jr., president of the University of Maryland. "These initiatives promise life-changing and life-saving creations with significant potential to impact our life and economy."

Read more here about entrepreneurship education and initiatives at Maryland.

University of Maryland Global Entrepreneurship Week activities include:

Nov. 17: Catch a Rising Star: Business Idol Competition at the University of Maryland . CustomInk co-founder and president Marc Katz will tell the story of his entrepreneurial journey in an event co-sponsored by the Maryland Undergraduate Society of Entrepreneurs (MUSE). Contestants will pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges that includes Katz.

Nov. 18: Lunch with Kären Olson, CEO, BioMarker Strategies LLC. Olson, an entrepreneur-in-residence at the Dingman Center, will host a lunch-time conversation about how to start a life sciences company. This talk is part of the College of Chemical and Life Sciences Entrepreneur Office Hours (www.eoh.umd.edu).

Nov. 19: Made at the University of Maryland: Student Entrepreneur Marketplace. Just in time for holiday shopping, this marketplace will feature a variety of products from student-run businesses at the University of Maryland.

Nov. 19: Get it in Writing: Provisional Patent Writing Workshop . Patty Campbell, University of Maryland School of Law associate professor and director of the Maryland Intellectual Property Legal Resource Center, hosts a discussion about how to prepare a detailed invention disclosure that can form the basis of a provisional patent application.

Nov. 19: Global Entrepreneurship--The View from China . Students will present their findings on doing business in one of the world's most vital economic powerhouses. A group of Smith students recently traveled to the other side of the globe to participate in the Dingman Center Delegation to China. Students met with Chinese business leaders and aspiring entrepreneurs.. They will discuss their experiences and what they learned.

Nov. 20: Keys to Building a Successful Company, by Phil Gross, first CFO of AOL . Attendees will learn the keys to building a successful venture from Gross, AOL's first CFO and current managing director of the DC Metro office of Expense Reduction Analysts, Inc.

Nov. 21: Pitch Dingman Competition . Students are invited to pitch their ideas to the DingmanCenter. Guest judges will award $2,500 and audience members will be invited to give a $250 People's Choice Award to their favorite presenter

Nov. 21: Ninth Annual University of Maryland $75K Business Plan Competition Kick-Off Lunch-time Speaker and Networking Event . Adil Wali, chief executive officer of Rich Applications Consulting, will discuss his company's roadmap for building a successful venture. Attendees can network with potential teammates and learn how to enter the University of Maryland $75K Business Plan Comptetition.

About Global Entrepreneurship Week

Global Entrepreneurship Week is a global initiative founded by the Kauffman Foundation in the United States and Make Your Mark in the United Kingdom. It encourages participants to pursue entrepreneurial thinking and opportunities through activities supported by entrepreneurs, government officials, non-profit leaders and educators from Nov. 17-23, 2008. Thousands of activities are being planned in more than seventy countries from around the world. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private nonpartisan foundation with more than $2.4 billion in assets founded by late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman. The organization works to harness the power of entrepreneurship and innovation to grow economies and improve human welfare. For more information about University of Maryland Global Entrepreneurship Week, visit: www.eweek.umd.edu .

About the University of Maryland's Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute
The mission of the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech) is tri-fold: educate the next generation of technology entrepreneurs; help technology entrepreneurs create successful technology-based ventures; and connect Maryland companies with university resources to develop new products and to help them succeed. Founded in 1983, Mtech has had a $17.02 billion impact on the Maryland economy through its programs. Mtech is a unit of the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland.

About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business

The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 13 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and part-time MBA, executive MBA, executive MS, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations on three continents -- North America, Europe and Asia.

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