Wednesday night the Duke Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative debuted its new downtown Durham home.
The space’s location on the third floor of the Imperial Building marks an effort by the University to promote collaboration between innovators at Duke and local entrepreneurs who may not have previously had Duke affiliations. Sitting a mile from East Campus, the space could also serve as a way of enticing students to interact with the Durham community earlier in their Duke experience and eventually provide the opportunity to attend classes downtown.
“It’s really an exciting time in Durham and it’s an exciting time for Duke I&E,” said Eric Toone, vice provost and director of the Duke Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative. He explained that the space will serve as a community where students will be able to work, collaborate and host programs and workshops.
In his brief remarks at the event Toone emphasized the intellectual value in having such a space, but also the other advantages the location of the space can bring for students such as its close proximity to downtown bars and restaurants.
Several students expressed enthusiasm about the possibilities the space could offer.
“I think it’s pretty awesome that Duke has office space in Durham that helps connect with people,” freshman Derek Hill said.
Freshman Jackie Xu noted that she did not think of Durham as a haven for start ups, calling the space’s open layout a “Silicon Valley poser”, but she praised the University’s efforts to expand and make more entrepreneurial opportunities available to students.
The layout of the office is intended to foster a collaborative working environment. It has an open floorplan with offices and glass windows encircling the cubicles. Exposed brick and air ducts give it a feel that is similar to Smith Warehouse, several students remarked.
In 2012, David Rubenstein, chair of the Board of Trustees, gave $15 million to the I&E initiative in addition to providing funding for the new space, Toone noted. Rubenstein and President Brodhead will join Toone at the ribbon cutting ceremony which will officially mark the space’s opening Thursday.
Nancy Knowles, director of strategic communications for the I&E Initiative, said the Imperial Building facility will hold classes starting in the 2016 spring semester, in addition to hosting other workshops and alumni networking events. She explained that the I&E program will still maintain its maker space—an engineering innovation space—in the newly renovated basement floors of Gross Hall.
Since the space is about a mile from East Campus, Knowles acknowledged that transportation is a factor that could pose a challenge for undergraduate students looking to use the space. She explained, however, that students can use the free Bull City Connector and get off at the stop on the corner of Morris and Main streets.
She also added that the University will sponsor a Duke bus that will make stops at the Imperial building once classes are offered at the facility. The I&E initiative is also in the process of negotiating student discounts with Uber for their first trip to the building, Knowles added, emphasizing the importance of getting undergraduates to use the space.
Undergraduates filled the space Wednesday night thanks in part to shuttles which provided transportation from East and West Campuses to the Imperial building. The event featured food and beverages from several well-established student favorites like Monuts Donuts and Locopops. True to the theme of the event, however, several start up brands were also represented, including Mati—a healthy energy drink created by Duke alumna Tatiana Birgisson, Trinity ‘12.
Several students spoke about returning to the space after Wednesdays event.
“It seems like a really good place for students to come and work,” said Shruti Gupta, a masters in engineering management graduate student.
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