Troy, N.Y. — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship hosted the fifth annual Women in Entrepreneurship Symposium on Oct. 24. The symposium, “Entrepreneurial Women Designing the Future,” featured rising stars who are making their marks on higher education, business, government, and the international landscape. The annual symposium is part of the Severino Center’s effort to spark the interest of young women to pursue entrepreneurial ventures and careers in science, engineering, and technology.

“The symposium provides an important networking opportunity for women entrepreneurs in the region and beyond,” said David Gautschi, dean of the Lally School of Management and Technology at Rensselaer. “We believe hearing the personal experiences, challenges, and ideas about the ways that women entrepreneurs and women in entrepreneurial enterprises are shaping and redefining the workplace, business networks, institutions, and our culture can inspire others — especially young women — to pursue endeavors they never before imagined.”

The symposium was held on Rensselaer’s Troy campus in the Russell Sage Dining Hall. The audience included Rensselaer students, faculty, and staff, along with students and faculty and staff from area colleges and youth organizations. Area business leaders also were invited to attend the symposium. 

The panelists included Sakina Arsiwala, international manager, YouTube; Ashleigh Cho, co-founder, Enter the Studio; Sunny Oh, head of consumer product marketing, Asia-Pacific, Google; and Kim Lloyd, vice president of marketing, Flatburger/Bright Hub. Gina O’Connor, associate professor and associate director of the Severino Center, national consultant, and academic director of the Radical Innovation Research Program, served as the program moderator.

The program culminated with a ceremony that honored and celebrated 28 female high school juniors. The students are the second group of recipients of the Rensselaer Paul and Kathleen Severino Future Leaders Award for their academic excellence in mathematics and science, and leadership, service, and devotion to their respective schools and communities. Last year, 15 students received the first award.

In addition, Rensselaer’s Office of Enrollment Management will award the students with a $5,000 per year merit scholarship that is guaranteed for four years (five years for the School of Architecture program) for each student who is accepted and chooses to enroll at Rensselaer. The students are drawn from the following states: California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, and Washington D.C. 

For more information about the 2007 Women of Diversity — Entrepreneurship Symposium, go to the event Web site.

About the Severino Center
Established in 1988, and centered in the Lally School, the Severino Center lies at the core of the school’s mission to educate future entrepreneurs in the conversion of technical ideas into new businesses, products, services, and solutions.  The center provides a broad-based platform for entrepreneurs to make the transition from concept to company and serves as an intellectual gathering point for the study, research, and exchange of ideas regarding critical issues in the field of entrepreneurship studies. The center is named in honor of Rensselaer trustee Paul J. Severino ’69 and his wife, Kathleen M. Severino.

About Rensselaer’s Lally School
Rensselaer’s Lally School of Management and Technology was founded in 1963 as an integral part of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the nation’s oldest degree-granting technological university. Building on Rensselaer’s heritage of more than 182 years of leadership in science and engineering, the Lally School is dedicated to advancing business through innovation. The Lally School’s curriculum is designed to produce leaders who combine creative passion with the ability to integrate technology across business functions. The faculty emphasizes the value of hands-on experience available through campus resources such as the Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship and the nation’s first on-campus business incubator. Rensselaer’s Lally School offers graduate and undergraduate degree programs in management, doctoral programs in management and technology, an Executive MBA program, and a joint Sino-U.S. MBA for companies operating in China. For more information on the Lally School, go to www.lallyschool.rpi.edu.