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Entrepreneurship is at the heart of QUT, and the foundry is where it beats loudest.
QUT's foundry communities at Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove are a place to connect with like-minded individuals who are interested in the world of entrepreneurship.
The foundry is a dedicated, student-centered entrepreneurship space that also offers the opportunity for alumni to participate in events, work out of the collaborative spaces, and share their wisdom through mentoring students.
With the Gardens Point foundry having recently undergone a renovation, the QUT Executive Director of Entrepreneurship, Professor Rowena Barrett, sees the newly created space as a home to help build entrepreneurial careers.
“There are opportunities to talk and work with others, to attend events, for students to find a mentor, work with entrepreneurs-in-residence, and build the skills and networks to help turn ideas into something more tangible," she said.
The foundry has existed in various forms at QUT for three years. The new space illustrates the appetite of the university community for a start-up zone and QUT's preparedness to meet the demand.
In building QUT's entrepreneurship community, the foundry will host speaker series, hackathons, and start-up weekends. The space will also help to showcase entrepreneurship through open days and orientation week.
QUT Entrepreneurship also aims to build entrepreneurship capacity in students through programs outside of the university curriculum.
“For example, there may be an engineer with an idea for a product or a business but with no knowledge of how to set up a company. We can help fill the gaps and look at who we can connect them with,” said Professor Barrett.
Student entrepreneurs can also explore their eligibility for course credit - applied to either a unit in their degree or as part of QUT's work-integrated learning program.
The foundry at Gardens Point is not the sole home of entrepreneurship at QUT. Another space is being developed at Kelvin Grove and a third at The Precinct in Fortitude Valley. The latter facilitates mature student teams, staff, and research students to embed themselves in an innovative business environment close to the Office of the Queensland Chief Entrepreneur.
The foundry has a team led by community manager Graham Fellows, assisted by Angela Young and Vibhor Pandey.
Its expertise is boosted by entrepreneurs-in-residence Wes Huffstutter, Aaron Birkby and Peta Ellis, and adventurer-in-residence Eleanor Carey.
How to get involved
Become a mentor
If you are interested in spending some time mentoring students and helping them bring their entrepreneurial ideas to life please get in touch at foundry@qut.edu.au.
Work from the foundry spaces
To discuss working out of the foundry spaces please contact the foundry community manager, Graham Fellows at graham.fellows@qut.edu.au.
Find out more
Visit the QUT foundry website to find out more about entrepreneurship communities, locations, and membership.
Story by David Fagan for QUT Entrepreneurship