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A Program that Values Your Time as Much as Its Content

When I first heard of the Leadership Academy at UC Davis, I thought, Great: another conference where we hear the same textbook information on how to lead productive teams and how to work with difficult employees. I'm happy to say I was wrong.

We've all been to them, and in fairness sometimes there is a catch phrase that is new and insightful that we incorporate to our bag of tricks when working through certain situations. But something novel about the UC Leadership Academy almost immediately caught my attention, and I'm forever thankful it did!

Meet Our 2023 Big Bang! Finalists

The 23rd annual UC Davis business competition drew students and alumni from across campus, as well as from colleges and universities throughout California.

The 2023 Big Bang Business Competition's 17 finalist teams all have a co-founder affiliated with an institution of higher education in California. This year UC Davis, UCLA, Cal Poly–San Luis Obispo and the University of Southern California are represented.

The Power of Networks

New, radical, disruptive ideas have long been considered the foundation of innovation; but, according to Professor Andrew Hargadon, ideas need a network to be successful.  

Startups Make a Splash at Big Bang!

The UC Davis campus is always full of fresh ideas, but innovation was at an especially high pitch last Thursday during the 22nd annual Big Bang! Business Competition awards ceremony. Held in person for the first time since 2019, the ceremony presented over $100,000 in prize money and in-kind awards to early-stage startups in the food and agriculture, health, energy/sustainability, and social enterprise sectors. 

Ambercycle Receives $21.6M in Investment

Former Big Bang! winner AmberCycle has announced a $21.6 million investment to help convert end-of-life textile ‘waste’ into new yarns for apparel brands and manufacturers.

Congratulations, 2022 Big Bang! Finalists

Congratulations, 2022 Big Bang! Finalists Our 22nd annual business competition drew students and alumni from across UC Davis, as well as from colleges and universities throughout California. 

Meet our 16 finalist teams, which will vie for $90,000 in prizes. We'll announce the winners at the Awards Ceremony on May 26. 

UC Davis Health Chef Supports Aggie Community

Santana Diaz, executive chef for UC Davis Health who will lead next month’s Tower Bridge Dinner, sat down for a chat on Face to Face with Chancellor May. Diaz, who oversees the production of more than 6,500 meals each day, has served as the head chef for the Golden 1 Center and Super Bowl 50. Watch the video>

2021 Summer Launch

Check out our special summer issue of Launch for the latest in Aggie Innovator news. Grow your entrepreneurial skill set and expand your network at the UC Entrepreneurship Academy, Leaders for the Future fellowship program, Berkeley Skydeck acceleration program and UC Davis Office of Research Venture Catalyst’s latest Knowledge Exchange webinar. Read the issue > Sign up for the newsletter > 

Five Insights from the National Veterinary Entrepreneurship Academy

"Keep the voice of the customer in every stage to remain relevant and provide the most value to those who purchase your product or service”—Dr. Jennifer Ogeer

UC Davis recently wrapped up the National Veterinary Entrepreneurship Academy. Faculty, graduate students and researchers from veterinary schools across the world learned from leaders in academia and the corporate world who have experience taking innovations to market. Read the article>

‘Moore’ Face Time with the Chancellor

Mahiri Moore Jr., a sophomore who founded Moore Truth More Change to engage Black and Latinx youths, talks with Chancellor May in the latest episode of Face to Face, a new UC Davis video show featuring #AggieInnovators. They met last winter, when the chancellor was Mahiri’s debut guest on his new podcast. Watch the video >

 

Japa Hits Its Post-Pandemic Stride

Mathew Magno, co-founder of Japa, shares the startup’s accomplishments during the pandemic in Sacramento Business Journal. Japa developed an app to help companies, universities and cities manage their parking assets—and help drivers quickly find an empty parking space. Big thank you to Sacramento Business Journal for continuously supporting local startups.