A new centre to encourage entrepreneurs of the future has been launched at the Mile End campus.
QUBE, is a new purpose built media suite in the Francis Bancroft building, which has been set up to help entrepreneurial spirited students at the university. The facility includes 11 state-of-the-art iMac computers, with the latest industry-standard design and editing software.
Professor Simon Gaskell officially opened the centre. He said: “The student experience is much more than just delivering lectures; it’s also about employability prospects, and QM sees entrepreneurship as a key component of this agenda. The success of QUBE depends on student involvement, so we want to encourage as many people as possible to make use of this facility. We hope that some great success stories can emerge from this initiative and I look forward to charting the progress of future entrepreneurs who have emerged through and been supported by QUBE.”
Laura Heijink, is president of the QM Entrepreneurs (QME) Society. She added: “QUBE will also enable students to receive coaching from private companies and mentors to accelerate their business ideas. QUBE is also an excellent way for external companies to tap into a talented pool of people.”
Professor Peter McOwan, Vice-Principal for External Partnerships and Public Engagement, and head of QM’s Centre for Public Engagement, said: “Enterprise and entrepreneurship is an important thread of QM’s public engagement remit. It’s important that we support our students and their work with external partners, be they businesses or the wider public, ensuring that this achieves a positive social and economic impact.”
Two important sponsors of QUBE which are helping to develop QM’s prospering entrepreneurial community are Santander and Unltd. QM is a member of the Santander Universities Network and receives generous support for a range of entrepreneurship activities.
UnLtd is the leading provider of advice to social entrepreneurs in the UK. QM Enactus, which promotes social enterprises on campus, QM Careers and the Enterprise Centre have recently partnered with Unltd to launch a seed fund to promote social enterprise and are currently taking submissions – please see www.careers.qmul.ac.uk/enterprise.
The centre's name was actually chosen by QM students. The concept behind naming it QUBE is that it started out as a little room - a box, a cube... and then the Q was added for obvious reasons.
If you would like to get involved with QUBE, then please contact busman-enquiries@qmul.ac.uk. Reservations are required at least one week in advance. QUBE is open from Wednesday to Friday 10am to 10pm.