Submissions will be accepted online at: http://go.vcu.edu/submitauctus through the deadline of March 15th.

Performance & Visual Arts Submission Guidelines:

We accept all media, including but not limited to: music compositions, dance performance documentations, fashion design, sculpture, photography, paintings, prints, illustrations, crafts, graphic arts, film and kinetic imagery. Please include the title, dimensions and medium of the original piece. Please send us individual files in .jpg, .mov, or .mpg file format. A single submission may contain one piece or a series of pieces that are interconnected. All visual and performance art submissions must be accompanied by a supplementary one-page, double-spaced description of the research involved in creating the work as well as a description of the work itself. Any scholarly sources should be cited in MLA format.

Creative Writing Submission Guidelines:

We accept literary fiction, non-fiction, and poetry that experiments with the form and function of the genre or, in other ways, investigates the creative process. Works that combine media or genres are encouraged. A single submission may contain one piece or a series of pieces that are interconnected. For prose pieces, there is no maximum or minimum word count, although we typically publish pieces of 1000-6000 words in length. Please include your entire submission in one file. Acceptable file formats include .doc and .rtf.

Auctus’ Creative Works editors are looking for depth of thought, creativity, originality and outstanding talent in both the creative work and written description.

For more information, please visit http://www.auctus.vcu.edu/submission/index.html or email one of the Auctus Creative Works co-editors, Sterling Toppings at toppingssw@vcu.edu or Hannah Rumsey at rumseyhe@vcu.edu.

What does this mean for you? Not a whole lot.

If you are an Undergraduate Certificate student who has already taken ARTS 121, MGMT 121 or ENGR 121—those credits will still count towards the completion of your certificate. If you have not taken one/any of the required non-discipline electives, you will—they’ll just be called something different now.

• ARTS 121 is now INNO 221: Introduction to Arts & Design Principles
• MGMT 121 is now INNO 223: Introduction to Business Principles
• ENGR 121 is now INNO 225: Introduction to Engineering & Technology Principles

Scheduling made simple

In an effort to provide an outstanding experience to all Certificate students, the VCU da Vinci Center will also begin offering its courses on predetermined days and times. This will allow for better course planning and open the door for many more students across VCU to participate in this truly unique program.

• INNO 200 will be offered every semester  on Monday evenings from 5:00-6:00pm 
• INNO 221 will be offered in the fall semester only on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:00-10:20am
• INNO 223 will be offered in the spring semester only on Wednesdays from 6:00-8:40pm
• INNO 225 will be offered in the spring semester only on Thursdays from 6:00-8:40pm
• INNO 460 will be offered every semester on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30-5:00pm

Virginia Commonwealth University engineering student Luca Terziotti is hoping to put his education to use designing innovative products for mountaineering and rock climbing, a passion of his.

Catherine Gellatly, a craft and material studies student and a VCU crew team member, wants to design better boating products. Samantha Testa, a business administration major, thinks she can bring innovative ideas to the hospitality industry.

All three are honing their skills at VCU’s da Vinci Center for Innovation, an interdisciplinary program that brings art, business and engineering students together to collaborate on projects, including solving problems for real-world businesses.

Now the da Vinci Center, established in 2007, has received a financial boost from corporate giant Altria Group Inc.

Henrico County-based Altria will donate $1.5 million to the center to help support and expand its mission of producing students who can think across disciplines and bring creative ideas and products to market.

The center “really develops students in a way that makes them attractive to any business — not just ours — because it makes them more well-rounded,” Jack Nelson, Altria’s executive vice president and chief technology officer, said at an event at VCU to announce the donation Monday.

Altria is the parent company of Philip Morris USA, the nation’s largest cigarette maker.

The da Vinci Center has 51 students enrolled in an undergraduate product design and innovation certificate program. Ten graduate students are enrolled in a master’s of product innovation program, the first such graduate program in the United States.

“Our intent is to continue to grow the program,” said Kenneth Kahn, a professor of marketing and director of the da Vinci Center. The donation “helps us to go from good, to great, to remarkable,” he said.

Kahn said the goal of the program is to create “T-shaped individuals,” or graduates who are well-anchored in their core subjects of business, arts or engineering, but who are also able to bridge the gap and communicate effectively in other disciplines.

The donation of $300,000 a year for five years will support plans to enroll more students and buy equipment, such as a 3-D printer for the center’s product design lab.

The donation also will support a program in which VCU students help to teach local middle schoolers about science, technology, engineering and math at the Science Museum of Virginia.

Nelson said Altria made the donation because it sees the da Vinci Center as a resource. The company recruits employees heavily from VCU, but it also sees the graduate program in product innovation as an opportunity for current employees, he said.

“It is a resource for our current employees who want to enhance their skills and capability, and it is also a resource for us to recruit employees,” he said.

Testa, the business student, said the da Vinci Center program is a “vacation away from my everyday grind,” studying administration and management.

“It is where I use my brain in completely different ways, working with engineers and artists,” she said. “I am getting a chance to not only work with other people, but to think like other people.”

jblackwell@timesdispatch.com (804) 775-8123

The Virginia Commonwealth University da Vinci Center for Innovation hosted the 2012 VCU Venture Creation Competition (VCC) and winners of the inaugural campus-wide competition were announced Friday, April 27, as part of VCU Student Research Week.

The competition began earlier this semester with 40 student teams submitting executive summaries of ideas, concepts and/or technologies for a business venture. These teams represented 87 individuals across nine of VCU’s schools. A panel of esteemed judges evaluated the summaries and selected 12 semifinalist teams, which then submitted business plans. Following another round of judging, five finalist teams gave 20-minute presentations to the judges on Friday.

The Quinn-Tyrell Corporation, comprising of VCU Brandcenter students Katie Acosta, Brian Jang, Jerry Roback and Mena Xiong, won $4,000 as the first place finisher in the 2012 competition. Their venture aims to elevate the in-home ice cream eating experience by introducing uniquely flavored ice cream cones.

CycleStay won $3,000 as the second place finisher. VCU School of Business students Austin Callwood, Justin Kauszler and Joshua Newton introduced a publicly accessible bicycle rack system with integrated locking, mobile communication and security features.

Fourpoint Art was the third place finisher winning $2,000. Led by a VCU School of the Arts graduate student, Owen Duffy introduced a virtual space and internet marketplace to help emerging artists showcase their work and connect with consumers worldwide.

Two other teams were awarded $1,000 each as finalists in the competition. Control, comprising of Brandcenter students Matt Fischer, Rajikumar Kuppuswamy, Anthony DiMarco, Jacqueline Rogers and School of Medicine student Jesse Swift, introduced a software and hardware system for helping asthmatics enjoy a more normal life. Gryffindor, comprising of School of the Arts students Angela Melito and Moria Pruefer, proposed a 24-hour art supply and print services store venture.

“The response to our inaugural VCU Venture Creation Competition has been very strong,” said Kenneth Kahn, director of VCU’s da Vinci Center and professor of Marketing. “It shows that there is truly an innovation and entrepreneurship spirit here in the VCU community. We aim to make the 2012 Competition the first of many annual VCU Venture Creation Competitions.”

Judges for the competition included the following individuals: Karen Adams, Chief Executive Officer of Hot Technology Holdings; Frank Ball, Managing Partner, New Dominion Angels; William Daughtrey, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Dominion Resources GreenTech Incubator; David Gallagher, Chief Executive Officer, Dominion Payroll Services; Darrell Jervey, Chief Executive Officer, Worth Products Group; Robert Lynch, President, Practice Management Associates; Mike McGinley, Managing Partner, New Dominion Angels; Dick Menendez, Chief Operating Officer, Motley’s Richmond Auto Auction; Tonya Mallory, Chief Executive Officer and President, Health Diagnostic Laboratory; Erik Milch, Partner, Cooley LLP; John Mills, Associate, Cooley LLP; Matt Rutherford, Associate Professor of Management, Virginia Commonwealth University; Brent Smith, Associate Professor of Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate, Virginia Commonwealth University; and Scott Tolleson, Head of Cable and Media Industries, Ericsson.

Premier sponsors for the event were the VCU Office of Research, VCU School of Business, MWV Foundation, and Motley’s Richmond Auto Auction.

VCU’s da Vinci Center for Innovation is a collaboration of VCU Schools of the Arts, Business, Engineering and Humanities and Sciences. Through its programs such as the undergraduate Certificate in Product Innovation and the Master of Product Innovation launching in fall 2012, the center catalyzes interdisciplinary innovation and entrepreneurship as it prepares students for the 21st Century workforce and supports development initiatives for partner organizations.

For more information, contact Kenneth Kahn at kbkahn@vcu.edu

Sign up for INNO 200 and find out. In this one-hour lecture course, you’ll discover the exciting and multidisciplinary world of product innovation. You’ll meet some of the top innovative leaders from right here in the Richmond community. It will pique your creativity and challenge your entrepreneurial spirit. Do you have what it takes?

With a limited number of spots available, register for this course today.

Below is the catalog description. No pre-reqs. Open to all VCU students.

INNO 200 Seminar in Product Innovation

Semester course; 1 lecture hour. 1 credit. A seminar series focused on the discussion of pertinent topics related to product innovation and “technopreneurship.” Students will be exposed to numerous topics through guest speakers supplemented by readings and class discussion. Topics include conceptualization, patents, capitalization, venture formation, commercialization, market assessment, project management and product life cycle management.

This opportunity is open to all undergraduate juniors and seniors in the Schools of Arts, Business and Engineering. More information about the course can be found here: THE WORK

The application deadline is April 6. (extended!)

What could you come up with in only eight hours? On Saturday, February 4, two interdisciplinary teams of students from the VCU da Vinci Center will be participating in a 8-hour InnoBlitz at the Science Museum of Virginia. Beginning at 8:30 a.m., the students will be given two innovation projects on which to work. What will they create? Will they work together? Can they finish?

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