During the week of January 9 – 13, 2023, a team of UTM and USM professors, accompanied by the members of the Future Technologies Activity (FTA) project, participated in the 5 days intensive Bootcamp „Berkeley Method of Entrepreneurship” (BMoE), organized by Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (SCET) of the University of California, Berkeley, USA, under the FTA project, funded by USAID and Sweden.
UTM team was represented by Viorel BOSTAN, rector of UTM, Professor, Dr. Hab.; Dumitru CIORBA, dean of the Faculty of Computers, Informatics and Microelectronics, PhD, associate professor; Nina PUȚUNTEAN, head of the International Relations Service, PhD, associate professor; Rina ȚURCAN, head of the Department of Economics and Management, Ph.D., associate professor, and Natalia BURLACU, head of the Software Engineering Program, Ph.D., associate professor.
The experience of the University of California, Berkeley, USA is unique in the field of entrepreneurship teaching and start-up development, as this university consistently tops in the best world university rankings. Motivating interactive techniques, highly experienced conference speakers and mentors, founders, co-founders and experts in creating start-ups from Silicon Valley, business angels and investors – altogether form an exclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem that ensures high performance.
The BMoE Bootcamp was organized in an interactive and dynamic pace by Gigi WANG, SCET industry fellow, BMoE Program Chair, who is a leader in global entrepreneurship and innovation and has valuable expertise and experience in the field of start-up development. The event was attended by UC Berkeley students, guided by world-class industry fellows, mentors, start-uppers, speaker coaches, course coordinators, and professional investors, who ensured a productive, innovative and exciting learning environment, creating synergies aimed at cultivating the development of entrepreneurship, supporting and motivating young people to develop innovative ideas, to create new enterprises with intercultural interdisciplinary teams from around the world.
The Bootcamp program facilitates multi-faceted learning approach for new venture creation, including lecture sessions and interactive game-based exercises focused on cutting-edge approaches and methods for training global technology entrepreneurs and providing a global entrepreneurial learning experience tailored to existing realities.
During the visit, Moldovan delegation had the unique opportunity, as well as the particular pleasure to meet Professor Dr. Randy SCHEKMAN, world-renowned scientist, professor of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley, 2013 Nobel Laureate in Medicine and Physiology for contributing to the discovery of the genetic basis of vesicle transport in cells, who has his origins in the North of Moldova (Lipcani). Professor Dr. SCHEKMAN mentioned that he intends to visit our country this year and, respectively, to accept the invitation of Mr. Rector Viorel BOSTAN to honor us with his presence at UTM. This would be the first return of a member of his family in about 100 years.
The experience gained during the BMoE Bootcamp organized by SCET of the University of California, Berkeley, USA will be implemented through the development of entrepreneurship, innovation, management and start-up courses, in partnership with SCET representatives, for the benefit of all UTM students.
