by Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo
Students in local businessman Paul Shirley's class will get more than a good grade if they do well on their final presentations - they'll also get money.
Shirley's class, which was split into five teams, presented startup business plans Monday in the SUB. The plans ranged from affordable, personalized coffins and urns to a translating machine.
Shirley, CEO of startup company Qynergy, will distribute $1,000 between the teams that had the best presentations.
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Shirley teaches the eight-week seminar at UNM titled "Entrepreneurial Innovation and Creativity." The seminar was part of University College's Sophomore Seminars in Career Awareness series. Instructors in the series volunteer their time.
Andrew Trever, a student in the class, said every student should take one of the seminars.
"It should be something that we're required to do," he said. "I stumbled across it. But it's definitely the best thing I've done all semester."
Students receive one credit for the course.
Shirley said teaching the class appealed to him for several reasons.
"I've been very interested in economic development and education for some time. I've started several businesses, but I wanted to get involved a step lower in the mix," he said. "At the end of the day it's about people. I get a chance here to not only share some of my ideas, but I very intentionally structured the class so I could get ideas back from the students."
The proposed product had to be something that would promote personal or community well-being, Shirley said.
The seminars are meant to help students decide what major and what career to chose, said Mary Thomas, coordinator of the program.
"Students need a little bit of experiential mentoring before they chose a major. Some people don't have that mentoring, and make the decision cold without a lot of realistic ideas," she said. "People make mistakes in choosing their major, sometimes because they don't have enough information before they make that decision."
Shirley's class has 11 students.
Between Fall 2005 and this semester, about 230 students have participated in 25 different classes, Thomas said. Mayor Martin Ch†vez taught a class last semester as part of the series.
Sophomores are given preference for getting into the classes, but other students are welcome to enroll, she said.
"Pretty much anyone who wants to get in has been getting in," she said.
David Johnson, a senior in mechanical engineering, said the class provided valuable insight.
"Almost all my friends that have graduated are getting jobs at Boeing or Lockheed or Sandia - all these huge engineering companies," he said. "I kind of wanted to try something different. So when I heard of this class I thought it was a unique opportunity to see an engineering market that is not just a big bureaucratic monstrosity."
Qynergy develops new kinds of long-life batteries.
Shirley said he wants students to leave his class with the idea that they can accomplish anything if they try hard enough.
"Each of us are in a position to basically decide what we really want our lives to be about," he said. "So by taking personal responsibility and understanding that at the end of the day the buck stops here - by looking within and finding what our strengths really are, we can be just about anything we want."
