Entrepreneurs, innovators and Heidelberg University alumni will come together on March 23-24 for the School of Business’s Conference on Fostering Entrepreneurship. Guest presenters over the two-day event will actively engage students in the exploration of the venture creation process.
The on-campus conference also will feature Heidelberg alumnus Dr. Raul Cuero, a researcher, scientist and inventor, as the spring Entrepreneur-in-Residence.
Cuero, a 1971 Heidelberg graduate who resides in Texas, specializes in the areas of biotechnology and synthetic biology. He is the founder and research director of the International Park of Creativity in his native Colombia, which aims to produce young inventors. He is an international consultant on biotechnology and the author of several books on creativity. Cuero’s doctorate is in microbiology from Strathclyde University in Glasgow and his master’s degree is in plant pathology from The Ohio State University.
As a research microbiologist in the Cooperative Agricultural Research Center at Prairie View A&M University, Cuero has studied, taught and lectured about microbial biotechnology, microbial control, food safety microbiology and environmental microbiology research. With several patents and 11 inventions to his credit, in 1995, he developed a method for increasing levels of beta-carotene in plants, thus increasing crop yields, plant growth and fruit size. He also developed an enhancement for the purification of crude oil.
As part of the conference, Cuero will deliver a keynote address at 11 a.m. Thursday, March 23, titled “How Invention Drives Job Creation & Sustainable Economic Prosperity.” He will also lecture in several classes in the School of Business.
Throughout the two days of the conference, alumni entrepreneurs from around the country will converge to talk about the process of innovation in business. In all eight successful Heidelberg alumni will be joined by six successful entrepreneurs to share their expertise with the Heidelberg community. They will present on topics ranging from chiropractic medicine to pharmaceutical industry, food distribution to equity investing and web marketing to construction management.
For additional information about the conference, email the School of Business at hsb [at] heidelberg.edu.