FIELD EXPERIENCE
During the summer, Crocker Fellows will work for early-stage or innovative companies, or pursue their own innovative projects. Generally, we recommend that students pursue a (paid) internship with an early-stage company in order to experience first hand the issues discussed in class. Individual projects may include lab work, businesses development, or development with faculty in the Schools of Engineering, Life Science, or Math and Physical Science.
Near the end of the summer, every student in the Utah ecosystem will host an open house at their place of employment where we will meet as a class to discuss the business and the issues they face. Ideally, students should plan on inviting the CEO or CTO, investors, and mentors to join the open house and discuss the firm and its approach to innovation. In the case of Crocker Fellows working in a lab situation, the discussion would be led by the student and faculty member leading the research team. Where appropriate, we would invite leaders from the University’ Technology Transfer Office to join the discussion.
The purpose of the summer class is to allow Crocker Fellows learn first-hand about the opportunities and challenges of innovation and development under the real world constraints of the market competition, consumer demands, financial limitations, and technological considerations.
The cross-fertilization from this experience will be one of the most essential take-aways from the Crocker initiative. Students will also have the opportunity to begin networking with the innovation community.
"The fellowship gave us three crucial things. First, they helped us form a diverse team of creative minds. Second, they gave us mentoring from some of the most innovative professors at the Y. Third, they gave us just enough money to get to the next step. The Crocker Innovation Fellowship was the perfect environment to realize our vision for Owlet."
Kurt Workman - Founder of Owlet Baby Monitors
INTERNSHIPS
Crocker Innovation Fellows represent some of the finest university students in the world. We encourage employers to contact the Crocker Innovation Fellow administration at crockerfellows@gmail.com to learn more about employing Crocker Innovation Fellows. Specific guidelines about employing interns are available at the website. However, in general, Crocker Innovation interns should be paid and given a role which interfaces with innovation within the company. It is also beneficial to provide a senior mentor to guide them. But it is most important to remember that often students return to their summer intern employers after graduation to become valuable contributors.