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George Mason entrepreneurs win big at the 2025 Patriot Pitch Competition

Greg Johnson — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 15:34:46 +0000

George Mason entrepreneurs win big at the 2025 Patriot Pitch Competition Greg Johnson Wed, 04/23/2025 - 11:34

鈥淟et me be clear, innovation has always been, and will always be, the solution to the world鈥檚 challenges,鈥� said Patriot Pitch emcee Patrick Soleymani, associate dean for outreach and strategic engagement at 海角社区's Costello College of Business. 鈥淚nnovation transforms potential into power and drives us forward as an institution, community, and ultimately a civilization.鈥�聽

Patriot Pitch emcee Patrick Soleymani addresses packed house in the Johnson Center Bistro. Photo by John Boal Photography

As emcee of the 2025 Patriot Pitch Competition, presented by 22nd Century Technologies Inc., Soleymani addressed the packed house. Eight final teams鈥�two from each track鈥�had been refining their business models with their mentors and practicing their pitches for several weeks in preparation for the afternoon鈥檚 competition.聽

Housed within the Costello College of Business, the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) led the programming efforts and organized the final pitch event on Thursday, April 10. Ajay Vinz茅, dean of the Costello College of Business, reiterated the importance of entrepreneurship and what it meant to the college鈥檚 namesake.聽

鈥淚n 1976, Donald and a partner founded Century Stair Company, which grew to become one of the largest stair manufacturers on the East Coast,鈥� he said. 鈥淗is passion for entrepreneurship is here with us, in spirit. Today, we are honored to have his trusted former business partners, Joe and Peg Contrucci, with us in the room.鈥澛�

海角社区 President Gregory Washington was also in attendance, along key stakeholders from the George Mason entrepreneurial ecosystem.聽

After Ava Uppal, BS Marketing 鈥�19, interviewed technology founder and executive Sid Banerjee (founded Clarabridge that was acquired by Qualtrics in 2021 for over $1 billion) in an illuminating keynote discussion, the competition commenced鈥�this time with a record amount of prize money.聽

Mason's Choice Award winners. Photo by John Boal Photography

One by one, finalist teams in the STEM, Social Impact, General Entrepreneurship for Undergraduate Students, and General Entrepreneurship for Graduate Students and Recent Alumni tracks took the stage to make their pitches to four judges鈥�subject matter experts chosen for each track鈥�and to the audience of George Mason community members. Following each 5-minute pitch, the presenting team fielded questions from the judges. Students in between classes quickly filled the back of the Johnson Center Bistro as they cheered on their classmates and friends.聽

Anticipation filled the air as another Costello alumnus and community leader, Jason Howell, BS Accounting 鈥�97, took the stage to announce the winners:聽

STEM聽聽

First place: Barty AI (Sahil Jagtap)聽
Second place: Q Haven (Caden Green)聽

Social Impact聽聽

First place: CarbonSecure (Maddie Gray, Maha Raja, Ryland Plodpluang, Juan Zambrano-Lozano)聽
Second place: The Allocated at Delia鈥檚 House (Marisela Zelaya Delcid, David Osorto)聽

General Entrepreneurship Undergraduate聽聽

First place: Valor (Caleb Fink)聽
Second place: NOVAFoam (Ethan Ford, Trevor Geissler, Mikhail Ivanov, Stephano Barra)聽

General Entrepreneurship for Graduate Students and Recent Alumni聽聽聽

First place: Viralbite (Emmanuel Nwokeabia)聽
Second place: EchoPods (Raghu Manjunatha, Pooja Manjunatha Swamy)聽

George Mason Emmanuel Nwokeabia presenting Viralbite. Photo by John Boal Photography

Following each track of presentations, audience members scanned a QR code on the screen to vote for the separate Mason鈥檚 Choice Awardees. The winners were The Allocated at Delia鈥檚 House and Viralbite.聽

Emmanuel Nwokeabia, a 2024 graduate of the Costello College of Business, received the most prize money鈥�$13,000 between his two awards. 鈥淭his was more than a win鈥�it was a powerful encouragement to pursue my vision. I encourage anyone with an idea to take that bold step, and see how the world responds,鈥� said Nwokeabia.聽

The 2025 Patriot Pitch Competition showcased the entrepreneurial spirit of the Costello College of Business and 海角社区. Approximately 250 audience members attended to watch the innovative concepts and products being pitched.

2025 Patriot Pitch participants

In This Story

Patrick Soleymani

Jason Howell

Learn more about the Costello College of Business

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Strategic Direction

George Mason alumnus launches AI software startup for law enforcement training

Greg Johnson — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 16:05:48 +0000

George Mason alumnus launches AI software startup for law enforcement training Greg Johnson Wed, 02/26/2025 - 11:05

Delivering immersive, voice-driven simulations for law enforcement through building skills, gaining real-time feedback, and preparing for real-world scenarios, Kaiden AI is a software startup co-founded by its CEO Ali Aldubaisi, BS Neuroscience 鈥�21.聽

Ali Aldubaisi

Aldubaisi had begun studying neuroscience at George Mason with the intention of going to medical school. However, the distance learning forced upon by COVID led him to think outside of the box and start his first company vRealm, an online tutoring platform. 聽

After a few years working on the project, he co-founded Kaiden AI with his vRealm partner, Ali "AJ" Aldjaei. 鈥淲hen we first started, we were focused on the higher education market,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e initially built the AI platform for grading and evaluation. Like most startups, you build where you initially think is the right fit, and that鈥檚 going to be the market for you.鈥� Throughout the process of building his startup and attracting investors, he would find each day bringing surprises.

After seeing limited traction in higher education, Aldubaisi and his team built a small-scale simulation demo to test a new direction. Among the first to see it was Steve Gladis, a senior scholar at George Mason鈥檚 Center for the Advancement of Well-Being and a former FBI special agent. He immediately recognized its potential for law enforcement training and encouraged Aldubaisi to explore that path.聽

鈥淲e put the MVP [minimum viable product] in front of police chiefs and academy directors, and their reaction was completely different from our earlier demos,鈥� says Aldubaisi. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 when we knew we had to double down.鈥�

Now, Aldubaisi and his team partner with law enforcement agencies and regional academies to implement their simulation platform, with organizations like the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Academy currently piloting the technology. Recently closing a $1 million pre-seed round, Kaiden AI鈥檚 investors are venture capitalists largely outside of the law enforcement space.

Ali Aldubaisi (right) at the 2024 Patriot Pitch competition. Photo by John Boal Photography

Even though his current work does not appear directly related to neuroscience, Aldubaisi recognizes the value of his degree. In fact, he still keeps up with neuroscience journals, seeing the relevance between that field and running his company. Developing hypotheses and constantly experimenting has helped Aldubaisi and his team refine and optimize Kaiden AI, from its initial concept in January 2024 to its current phase today.

鈥淎 lot of the concepts mirror each other,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hat goes into marketing, how to understand people, how people learn.鈥澛�

In 2024, Aldubaisi led the keynote discussion at the Patriot Pitch Competition, an event organized by the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to support ideas and early-stage business ventures from George Mason students and recent alumni. He is now in talks with Rebecca Howick, the center鈥檚 director of operations and engagement, about getting more involved with their efforts.聽

鈥淗aving a center where somebody in whatever discipline that they鈥檙e studying can articulate or put together an idea or experiment on ideas is so crucial,鈥� says Aldubaisi. He knows there are many intelligent people with brilliant ideas who may be hesitant to pursue their ventures because they don鈥檛 know how they鈥檙e going to get the funding or backing.聽

Having gone through that process, Aldubaisi offers crucial advice to aspiring entrepreneurs that reflects his scientific background. 鈥淗aving the courage to focus on that one thing that you鈥檙e trying to prove out is probably the biggest thing,鈥� he says. 鈥淪econd thing is always look at what your idea is as an experiment, and the goal is to prove or disprove as soon as possible.鈥澛�

By following these guidelines, Aldubaisi and his team have surpassed fundraising milestones and are excited to put Kaiden AI into the hands of many more law enforcement students and officers.聽

In This Story

Rebecca Howick

Learn more about AI research at George Mason

Topics

Center for Advancement of Well-Being

entrepreneurship

Artificial Intelligence

Alumni

Ambitious management and marketing student leads in many organizations across campus

Greg Johnson — Wed, 15 May 2024 13:10:51 +0000

Ambitious management and marketing student leads in many organizations across campus Greg Johnson Wed, 05/15/2024 - 09:10

After two years of studying management and marketing at the Costello College of Business and the Honors College at 海角社区, Rakibul Alam鈥檚 academic credits have put him a semester ahead of schedule.

Rakibul Alam

Now planning to graduate in December of 2025, Alam has been working at an accelerated rate both inside and outside of the classroom. He saw how many opportunities George Mason had to offer, and he was keen to take advantage of as many of them as possible. Among his accolades so far are being named an Honors College Professional Development Fellow, co-founding the Collective Organizations of South Asia, serving as senator in the George Mason Student Government, being a student ambassador for the Costello College of Business, receiving the Shrivastava Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship, and being named the Schwartzstein First-Year Research Award Finalist for his research project, 鈥淐oastal Bangladesh: the Effect of High Soil Salinity & Sustainable Agriculture.鈥�

Coming in his freshman year as a commuting student, Alam wanted to learn about the student body and find ways in which he could immediately get involved and feel at home at George Mason. The first group he joined was the Bengali Patriots Association, where he quickly became the freshman representative and most recently the treasurer. 鈥淲ithin the first two weeks, I also learned there was an election for student government,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 ran for election, and I won and have served as senator the past two years. Everything kind of spiraled from that.鈥� Through the student government, he was also appointed as a student ambassador for the Costello College of Business. As a Costello College of Business ambassador, he鈥檚 interacted with and presented to students, prospective students, community partners, and even the Board of Trustees. The position has empowered him to build and expand on his skillsets as he showcases what it means to be a Costello College of Business student. Recently, he鈥檚 shifted his ambassador focus to marketing and has been creating social media content to engage the student body, reaching nearly 50,000 views.聽

This past April, Alam鈥檚 startup company, Project Hope, co-owned and established by management and entrepreneurship student Naila Ahsan, was awarded the top prize in Social Impact at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship鈥檚 Patriot Pitch Competition. 鈥淥ur campaign endeavors to furnish annual provisions of safe, sustainable, reusable sanitary napkins to marginalized communities,鈥� he says. 鈥淚n Bangladesh, 85% of the menstruating population cannot afford necessary menstruating products. Therefore, we are on a mission to end period poverty.鈥� Presenting the prize check to Alam and Ahsan was Sumeet Shrivastava, MBA 鈥�94, an individual whom Alam now considers a mentor. Always proactive in getting involved and making connections, Alam connected with Shrivastava and Christine Landoll, director of business engagement at the Costello College of Business, at several events across the university. Receiving the Shrivastava Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship opened even more doors for him. The scholarship is awarded to students who are contributing to diversity and inclusion through their leadership roles. Rakibul Alam is an exemplary Shrivastava Diversity and Inclusion scholar.

While Alam has taken advantage of the myriad opportunities at George Mason, like with Project Hope, he has also identified and worked toward introducing new solutions and initiatives where he sees a need. He did this when he co-founded the Collective Organizations of South Asia. 鈥淭he South Asian community was so strong, but it was very dispersed, and our goal was to unify under the organization,鈥� he says. 鈥淥ur main objective was to provide scholarships for South Asian students.鈥� He is currently their vice president of internal affairs.

In addition to the organizations where he is an active member, Alam enjoys participating in events put on by others across campus. 鈥淕oing to so many different cultural events helps make you a global leader,鈥� he says. 鈥淐ompanies are very represented all over the world, so having that global understanding is very important.鈥� From the get-go, he came into George Mason with a vision of using the university鈥檚 diverse resources to make his student experience as rewarding as possible. Furthermore, this summer he will be interning at the Pentagon with the United States Department of the Navy as a financial management intern. Only two years in, he has a resume stacked with accomplishments, a network connecting him with esteemed business leaders, and the drive to put all of his goals within reach.

Topics

Costello College of Business Students

diversity

Learn more about Student Organizations at the Costello College of Business

In This Story

Sumeet Shrivastava, '94

Christine Landoll

Winning teams are selected at the annual Patriot Pitch Competition

Greg Johnson — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 19:21:12 +0000

Winning teams are selected at the annual Patriot Pitch Competition Greg Johnson Thu, 04/18/2024 - 15:21

Led by the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) within the Costello College of Business at 海角社区, the Patriot Pitch Competition supports early-stage business ventures and ideas from Mason students and recent alumni. On April 11, the finalists made their final pitches on the Fairfax 海角社区.聽

Patrick Soleymani

Before the finals commenced, 16 semifinalist teams, their mentors, and 16 semifinalist judges participated in the semifinal round via Zoom, providing them the chance to develop the skillset to pitch their ideas virtually to stakeholders. These semifinalists represented six colleges and schools from across Mason, including College of Engineering and Computing, Schar School of Policy and Government, College of Education and Human Development, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Science, and the Costello College of Business.

After narrowing down the field to eight finalists, two teams in each competition track, the Johnson Center Bistro filled with spectators to watch and vote on the final pitches. In addition to earning $6,000 for first place and $3,000 for second place in each track, teams were eligible to be voted as Mason鈥檚 Choice Awardees by the audience members, receiving another $1,000 for each track. The tracks were Public Engagement, STEM, Social Impact, and General Entrepreneurship.聽

Seth Goldman and Ali Aldubaisi '21

Emceed by Patrick Soleymani, associate dean of outreach and strategic engagement at the Costello College of Business, the competition was proceeded by a keynote discussion with Seth Goldman, co-founder of Eat the Change, Just Ice Tea, and Honest Tea; and recent Mason alumnus entrepreneur Ali Aldubaisi, BS Neuroscience 鈥�21. Aldubaisi asked Goldman about his challenges and triumphs as an entrepreneur, setting the stage perfectly for the next generation of entrepreneurs ready to make their pitches.

Each finalist team was given five minutes to make their pitch, followed by five minutes of answering questions from the panel of judges. The panels of finalist judges comprised Mason stakeholders, faculty, alumni, and other successful entrepreneurs, who were experts in the given competition track.

In all four tracks, the first-place winner was also voted the Mason鈥檚 Choice Award Prize winner, awarding each team a total of $7,000. For the Public Engagement Track, UR2CLOSE was selected as the top pick for their following distance indicator to be mounted on the rear license plate of a car to prevent rear-end collisions.

In the STEM Track, FlightCommand Pro was selected as the first-place winner. FlightCommand Pro鈥檚 mission is to provide better products and systems for drone operations, including drone deliveries flying with more certainty when beyond the visual line of sight. 鈥淎s a part of my systems engineering senior design project, my team and I performed a context analysis and a stakeholder analysis to find the performance gaps for a case study about drone delivery to an island located in the Chesapeake Bay 鈥� Tangier Island,鈥� says Diana Machuca, a senior studying systems and industrial engineering. 鈥淭o bridge the gaps, we designed the Drone Range Dynamic System and came up with a business plan for the project.鈥� Mason alumnus Scott Hine, BS Decision Science 鈥�85, mentored the team, advising them to emphasize the humanitarian aspects of the product to appeal to people鈥檚 hearts. The team is looking forward to using their winnings to test their system using a real drone.

Project Hope, established by Naila Ahsan, a senior studying management and entrepreneurship, and Rakibul Alam, a junior studying management and marketing, was chosen as the top pitch in the Social Impact Track. In Bangladesh, where 85% of the menstruating population cannot afford the necessary menstruating products, Project Hope endeavors to furnish annual provisions of safe, sustainable, and reusable sanitary napkins to those most in need. 鈥淚n 2016, I was hosting a warm clothes drive during winter, and I came across a young girl who was banished from her shack in the slum area,鈥� says Ahsan. 鈥淭o my surprise, I was shocked to see how she was struggling in the cold. But due to lack of access to period products and prevailing stigma, she was banished due to her periods!鈥� Alam says, 鈥淚 joined the venture to engage and partner with corporations and NGOs to accelerate the business鈥檚 growth.鈥� Alam and Ahsan plan to convert their prize money into Bangladeshi taka and invest into the fast-growing business.

Taking the top prize for the General Entrepreneurship Track was Zachary Suh with ElderlyEats. Suh, a freshman studying marketing, created ElderlyEats to provide senior citizens with meal plans that are diverse, customizable, and nutritious. The idea came to him when his grandmother developed health conditions that made it difficult for her to digest food. 鈥淥ur team of dieticians and chefs have carefully curated traditional meals elders are used to and incorporated common nutritional needs elderly people deal with, past just vegan and gluten free and accommodate common dietary conditions, such as Alzheimer鈥檚 and dysphagia,鈥� he says. Suh is planning to use the prize money to develop meals vetted through dieticians and stronger customer discovery.

Sumeet Shrivastava, MBA 鈥�94

Sumeet Shrivastava, MBA 鈥�94, donor of the CIE鈥檚 Shrivastava Family Refugee and Immigrant Success through Entrepreneurship (RISE) program, announced the event鈥檚 winners, track by track, and welcomed them to the stage. External representatives from each competition track presented giant checks to their respective winners. The representatives were Beth Young, PhD Education Policy 鈥�18, president of Quality Information Partners, Inc. and Commissioner of Fairfax City Economic Development; Gurdip Singh, divisional dean of the School of Computing in Mason's College of Engineering and Computing; Anil Sharma, CEO of 22nd Century Technologies Inc.; and John Hoeveler, manager of national business investment at Fairfax County Economic Development Authority.

Dean Ajay Vinz茅

The 2024 Patriot Pitch Competition was a culmination of months, and sometimes years, of hard work, starting from the initial idea to the polished pitch in front of a room of audience members. For a month leading up to the semifinals, the teams met with their mentors and attended entrepreneurship training sessions with Costello College of Business faculty. The experience of the participants and the feedback they received will serve as a launching pad to becoming successful entrepreneurs. The event is another triumph of inclusive entrepreneurship for the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Costello College of Business.

Thank you to the event鈥檚 sponsors: 22nd Century Technologies, Inc.; College of Engineering and Computing at 海角社区; Fairfax City Economic Development Authority; Costello College of Business Women in Business Initiative; Costello College of Business Management Advisory Council; Fairfax County Economic Development Authority; and the Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting at the Costello College of Business.

The CIE team led the organization of the event, helping make it an outstanding experience for all those involved.

If you are interested in being a mentor, judge, or sponsor of the Patriot Pitch, please email ciemason@gmu.edu to learn more.

2024 Patriot Pitch Competition Participants

Lead Event Organizers: CIE Team

Topics

Costello College of Business Students

entrepreneurship

Learn more about the Patriot Pitch Competition

In This Story

Costello College of Business

Patrick Soleymani

Sumeet Shrivastava, '94

Rebecca Howick

Mason鈥檚 research is best in Virginia in multiple EduRank rankings

Sarah Holland — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 16:41:23 +0000

Mason鈥檚 research is best in Virginia in multiple EduRank rankings Sarah Holland Wed, 04/03/2024 - 12:41

Eighteen 海角社区 programs are ranked the best in Virginia in a new report by EduRank that focuses on performance in research.

Students enjoy the cherry blossoms on the Fairfax 海角社区. Photo by Eduardo de Souza/Office of University Branding.

Topping the list is Mason鈥檚 entrepreneurship ecosystem, which for the second consecutive year was ranked No. 1 among all public institutions and No. 2 among all institutions nationally.

Best-in-Virginia programs were spread across the university and included those from the Costello College of Business, the Schar School of Policy and Government, the College of Engineering and Computing, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS), the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, the College of Visual and Performing Arts, the Antonin Scalia Law School, the College of Education and Human Development, and the ROTC.

That research is supported by entities such as the Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact, which has overall responsibility for Mason鈥檚 research enterprise and support of entrepreneurship and innovation. And Costello College鈥檚 Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship lets students dig into entrepreneurship, from the theoretical to the experimental.

Mason鈥檚 entrepreneurial ecosystem is anchored by the university and reaches out into the broader community. Mason Enterprise, a division of the Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact, is a strategic collection of 24 programs that support entrepreneurs and small business owners across Virginia, and conducts more than 1,500 training programs and more than 30,000 hours of one-on-one counseling with entrepreneurs in the community and from universities each year.

It is that environment of research, discovery, and innovation, which is a main contributor to Mason鈥檚 R1 designation from the Carnegie Classification of Higher Education as one of the nation鈥檚 top research universities.

And though the EduRank rankings focus mainly on research performance, they are an indicator of the quality of the programs from which that research is produced.

鈥淢ason is committed to accelerating the translation of research into practice by leveraging university talent, infrastructure, and partnerships to create solutions for societies鈥� toughest challenges at speed and scale,鈥� said Andre Marshall, Mason鈥檚 vice president for research, innovation, and economic impact. 鈥淚t is a credit to our faculty and students that Mason is a place where we can put theory into practice.鈥�

Added Paula Sorrell, Mason鈥檚 associate vice president of innovation and economic development, 鈥淢ason was originally created by the business community to serve its needs, and for 50 years it has been doing just that. In the past four years, we鈥檝e significantly amped up our tech entrepreneurship to support and mirror the rapidly growing tech economy, adding 16 new programs and counting.鈥�

Research is the bedrock of entrepreneurship, Costello College dean Ajay Vinz茅 said.

The university鈥檚 top rankings 鈥渁re in many ways reflective of our approach to business education and the business of higher education,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ur approach鈥攂uilt on the foundation of a rich university-wide entrepreneurial ecosystem, powered by a growing body of faculty research across multiple fields of study鈥攊s changing the arc of higher education expectation and delivery as we prepare the next generation of leaders.鈥�

Costello College is a contributor to the top entrepreneurship ranking, along with the Schar School and the Mercatus Center, all of which produce volumes of research, articles, and papers for an abundance of publications.

Schar School dean Mark J. Rozell called entrepreneurship research 鈥渁 very distinguishing feature for a public policy and government school.鈥�

Its research at the Center for Micro-Economic Policy Research (CMEPR), for example, is focused on diversity and disadvantaged groups among entrepreneurs, especially those who are Black, immigrants, and female. It also looks at job creation by minority entrepreneurs in minority and low-income communities.

鈥淭he center brings an unusual contribution to research on entrepreneurship by focusing on these issues,鈥� said John Earle, the center鈥檚 director and a Distinguished University Professor, who has published more than 60 articles and scholarly papers. 鈥淲hile the typical focus for entrepreneurship studies is for performance, especially for firms receiving venture-capital support, CMEPR research analyzes a much broader range of businesses, and how public policies affect the entry, growth, and survival of those owned by minority entrepreneurs.鈥澛�

At the College of Engineering and Computing, Dean Ken Ball noted that CEC faculty garnered more than $119 million in research awards in 2023.

Dean Alpaslan Ozerdem's Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution class. Photo by: Ron Aira/Office of University Branding.

鈥淚鈥檓 proud that our research has informed and strengthened our academic programs and led to innovation and economic growth that benefits society,鈥� Ball said. 鈥淢ason has consistently been a national leader in cybersecurity, data analytics, software engineering, aviation, and web development. These rankings reflect the impact CEC researchers have in areas of engineering and computing that are relevant to everyone, as well as our leadership position among Virginia鈥檚 public universities.鈥�

CHSS dean Ann Ardis said her college鈥檚 contributions to research in best-of-Virginia areas such as criminology, broadcasting, law enforcement, journalism, and political economy 鈥渁re a testament to the scholarly excellence of our faculty. We take immense pride in our researchers鈥� contributions to Mason鈥檚 growing reputation nationally as a comprehensive R1 institution with strengths across a range of research areas.鈥�

For Alpaslan 脰zerdem, dean of the Carter School, the ranking in conflict resolution 鈥渇uels our dedication to shaping a more peaceful and understanding world.鈥�

脰zerdem noted that the school has been at the forefront of teaching, researching, and implementing conflict resolution for four decades.

鈥淪o being recognized as the premier institution for conflict resolution in Virginia deepens our pride and reaffirms our vital role within the broader conflict resolution ecosystem of the commonwealth,鈥� he said.聽

Here are the programs ranked the best in Virginia, with ranking among public institutions and overall national ranking; best in Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland (DMV) where noted:

Aviation: 8, 11 (best in the DMV)

Broadcast Journalism: 40, 58

Cinematography: 29, 48 (best in the DMV)

Conflict Resolution: 15, 28

Criminology: 19, 26

Cybersecurity: 聽21, 33

Data Administration: 19, 29

Entrepreneurship: 1, 2 (best in the DMV)

Human Rights Law: 9, 28 (best in the DMV)

Intellectual Property Law: 6, 18 (best in the DMV)

Law Enforcement: 5, 10 (best in the DMV)

Military Science: 33, 47

Political Economy: 14, 28

Public Policy Administration: 17, 29 (best in the DMV)

Radio & TV Broadcasting: 37, 55

Remote Sensing: 29, 39

Software Engineering: 11, 15

Web Development: 12, 18

See EduRank鈥檚 methodology here.
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College of Engineering and Computing

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

College of Visual and Performing Arts

Antonin Scalia Law School

Office of Research Innovation and Economic Impact

Schar School of Policy and Government

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Schar School News for April 2024

Costello College of Business leads the way in entrepreneurship research

Jennifer Anzaldi — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 15:37:47 +0000

Costello College of Business leads the way in entrepreneurship research Jennifer Anzaldi Thu, 03/21/2024 - 11:37

In This Story

Toyah Miller

Heather Vough

*This article was originally published in the January 2024 edition of Impact magazine.

The college that now bears Donald G. Costello鈥檚 name is a fitting testament to his entrepreneurial legacy. This extends not only to coursework and outreach programs, which have long stressed entrepreneurship, but also to the faculty鈥檚 research expertise. Indeed, a number of Costello College of Business professors were key contributors to 海角社区's being named the #2 university for entrepreneurship research in North America by independent ratings agency EduRank.

Here are just a few examples of researchers who have made meaningful contributions to the field in recent years:

Mahesh Joshi

MAHESH JOSHI
Associate Professor, Management

Mahesh Joshi鈥檚 more than 30 peer-reviewed publications mostly focus on fostering qualities and skills essential to entrepreneurial success, both within and outside large organizations.聽
For Joshi, good entrepreneurs are primarily defined by how they think and what they do. Start-up founders and small business owners share a problem-solving skill set with change agents working in big corporations.

鈥淔or long-term success of corporations or start-ups, every person has to think like a change agent,鈥� Joshi says. 鈥淎nd that change agent鈥檚 approach comes through understanding certain variables like risk-taking, innovativeness, and how to handle the political situation whether you have autonomy or not. And if we do that, we are building the whole toolkit of corporate entrepreneurship or regular entrepreneurship.鈥�

For example, Joshi鈥檚 co-authored 2015 paper in Decision Sciences elaborates on the delicate balance between proactiveness and innovativeness within technology-based services firms. With too much proactive change agency, strategy execution (which contributes to innovativeness) suffers. Joshi found that a formalized organizational structure can moderate the tensions between these two factors, while helping firms reap more innovative benefits from risk-taking.

Most recently, Joshi has been looking at how entrepreneurship education can be most effective in driving students鈥� behavior once they graduate, especially for groups that have been historically excluded from entrepreneurship. His co-authored 2022 paper in Journal of Enterprising Communities suggested a new potential method to narrow the well-established gap in 鈥渆ntrepreneurial intention鈥� between male and female students. He found that for entrepreneurship students from four universities in India, entrepreneurial intention was linked to a sense of career-readiness. Where that sense was present, the gender gap in intention disappeared.

Career readiness (鈥渁 proxy for confidence,鈥� as Joshi terms it) is emotional and subjective, and is not something that can be learned from a book. Therefore, Joshi advises policymakers and pedagogues, 鈥淛ust classroom education is not enough鈥f educators want to create an entrepreneurial mindset free of gender bias, they have to create an environment where there are co-curricular activities like pitch competitions and site visits.鈥�

Toyah Miller

TOYAH MILLER
Professor, Management
Serving as research director for the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Toyah Miller is a leading thinker in the burgeoning field of social entrepreneurship research. Where the standard entrepreneur strives simply to maximize profit, social entrepreneurs attempt to solve a difficult social problem while keeping their business viable. Miller鈥檚 published research delves into the unique motivations and challenges involved in social entrepreneurship.

In a 2013 paper for Academy of Management Review, Miller theorized that compassion and caring served as a joint catalyst for social entrepreneurship activity, and thus not all entrepreneurs fit the mold of rationally self-interested businesspeople. Although her view validates entrepreneurs seeking to make the world a better place, it also suggests that the primacy of 鈥渉eart over head鈥� could lead social entrepreneurs to take on undue business risks.聽

In an ongoing research study, Miller looks at how the idealism of entrepreneurs affects their crowdfunding pitches to potential investors. Surveying more than 200 Kickstarter creators, she finds that idealistic creators posted fewer informative updates on their campaign pages, and as a result were less likely to get funded. In Miller鈥檚 view, this provides yet more evidence of heart-based entrepreneurs making sub-optimal choices, in this case by overestimating potential backers鈥� willingness to help and underestimating their need to be convinced.

Cognitive biases such as idealism are not limited to entrepreneurs. Another one of Miller鈥檚 in-progress studies examines the types of feedback given to start-up founders within accelerators and incubators. Generally, entrepreneurs were more likely to take negative feedback on board when it came with concrete recommendations. When feedback was more abstract, urging change with no specific alternative mentioned, it was less influential on decision-making. Therefore, the framing of feedback could, in some cases, make the difference between success and failure for entrepreneurs whose venture is in need of a pivot.

Heather Vough

HEATHER VOUGH
Associate Professor, Management
One of Heather Vough鈥檚 chief research specialties is professional identity. Her 2023 paper for Academy of Management Discoveries considers the effects of entrepreneurship鈥檚 cultural centrality鈥攁s reflected in hit shows such as Shark Tank and movies like Wolf of Wall Street鈥攗pon actual practitioners鈥� sense of themselves.

Through multiple rounds of exhaustive interviews with 29 entrepreneurs from North America and Australia, the authors discovered that while founders readily self-identify as entrepreneurs, they are reluctant to present themselves as such in social situations. Instead, they will use substitute self-descriptors such as job titles or company names鈥攂asically, anything except 鈥渆ntrepreneur.鈥�

Analyzing interview responses alongside existing research on professional identity, the authors posit that founders decline to call themselves 鈥渆ntrepreneurs鈥� because: a) they fear they would be misunderstood; and/or b) they believe the label would make them seem unrelatable to nonentrepreneurs. In other words, the cultural and economic emphasis on entrepreneurship has backfired to an extent. By flooding the zone with misleading or ambiguous impressions (e.g., entrepreneurs are all rich Silicon Valley 鈥渂ros鈥�), entrepreneurship鈥檚 exponents have inadvertently turned the term into a social liability.

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Costello College of Business Faculty Research

entrepreneurship

Research

Mason is No. 1 among public institutions for research performance in entrepreneurship

Colleen Rich — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 18:48:55 +0000

Mason is No. 1 among public institutions for research performance in entrepreneurship Colleen Rich Wed, 11/01/2023 - 14:48

海角社区 is No. 1 among public universities for research performance in entrepreneurship, and No. 2 overall nationally, in the latest report from EduRank.

Students at work in the MIX. Photo by Evan
Cantwell/Office of University Branding

The rankings were determined by analyzing 1.8 billion citations received by academic publications and the popularity of recognized alumni, according to EduRank鈥檚 website.

鈥淭here are so many ways to think about academia as being isolated and away from the real world,鈥� said Stefanie Haeffele, a senior research fellow at Mason鈥檚 Mercatus Center. 鈥淏ut all of the departments and different programs at Mason are connected to how we understand people and interact in the world. It鈥檚 great to see the recognition and that intention leads to really good things.鈥�

The ranking comes on the heels of a $50 million planned gift to Mason鈥攖he largest school naming gift in the history of the Northern Virginia-based university鈥攖o name the Donald G. Costello College of Business. The planned gift establishes an endowment that will provide scholarships to undergraduate and graduate business students to help them prepare for successful careers as entrepreneurs.

The ranking also coincides with the establishment of Mason鈥檚 new Entrepreneur-in-Residence program that will be housed at Fuse at Mason Square and bolster the startup market and opportunities in the Washington, D.C., area and across Virginia.

That rich environment of innovation is a main contributor to the university鈥檚 R1 designation from the Carnegie Classification of Higher Education as one the top research universities in the nation.

Harsha Rajasimha presented Jeeva Informatics at Mason's venture capital conference, Accelerate 2022, in October. Rajasimha took part in Mason's I-Corps program. Photo by Max Taylor Photography

It also fosters a business and entrepreneurship ecosystem at Mason that is committed to solving the world鈥檚 grand challenges by nurturing fearless leaders and thinkers.

Dynamic educational platforms in the School of Business include the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which provides several ways for students to dig into entrepreneurship, from the theoretical to the experimental.

At the Mason Innovation Exchange (MIX), students, faculty, and staff can use makerspaces, media labs, and incubators. The National Science Foundation I-Corps program works on exploratory business ventures started by faculty, staff, students and recent alumni.聽

The Office of Research Innovation and Economic Impact has overall responsibility for Mason鈥檚 research enterprise and to support entrepreneurship and innovation. And the boots-on-the-ground Mason Enterprise in 2022 provided鈥攎ostly free of charge鈥�40,000 hours of one-on-one counseling to 10,000 small businesses.聽

鈥淎 No. 1 ranking in this space is what鈥檚 possible when you have a president [Gregory Washington] and a vice president for research [Andre W. Marshall] who understand the importance of playing an economic development role in the region and the state,鈥� said Paula Sorrell, who is associate vice president for innovation and economic development at Mason and oversees Mason Enterprise.

Research is the bedrock on which entrepreneurship is built, said Zoltan Acs, professor emeritus in Mason鈥檚 Schar School of Policy and Government and a renowned expert in the field.

The research can include the study of the cognitive nature of individual entrepreneurs and their companies, how entrepreneurship impacts employment and productivity, and how it impacts people鈥檚 lives.

鈥淎nd if you really think about what [Mason] did in the classroom and in the laboratory in terms of research,鈥� said Acs, now a research fellow at Mathias Corvinus Collegium in Budapest, who has written more than 200 articles and 30 books about his inquiries, 鈥渨e were really an A or A-plus institution.鈥�

Mason research includes reams of papers from faculty published in top journals such as Research Policy, Small Business Economics, Journal of Business Venturing, and Entrepreneurship and Regional Development.

鈥淔or entrepreneurship, innovation is very important, so we want to improve the area,鈥� said Lei Gao, associate professor of finance in the School of Business, whose Mason research has been published in the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Research Policy, and the Journal of Banking and Finance.

鈥淏reakthroughs in technology and innovation are necessary to push a whole company to grow fast,鈥� Gao said. 鈥淪o what kind of factors lead to more effective innovation?鈥�

Haeffele鈥檚 Mercatus research includes how communities respond and recover after disasters, and her paper, 鈥淓ntrepreneurship During a Pandemic,鈥� was published in the Journal of Law and Economics.

鈥淭he role of entrepreneurship in society matters,鈥� said the Mason alumnus, MA Economics 鈥�10, PhD Economics 鈥�16. 鈥淭o be at a place where we care about putting theory into practice, and being recognized for that, is really great.鈥澛�

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Strategic Direction

Fairfax City and Mason come together to spur economic growth and student success

Colleen Rich — Mon, 02 Oct 2023 14:06:58 +0000

Fairfax City and Mason come together to spur economic growth and student success Colleen Rich Mon, 10/02/2023 - 10:06

Fairfax City mayor and 海角社区 alumna Catherine S. Read, BA 鈥�84, and Mason's School of Business Dean Ajay Vinz茅 signed a partnership agreement on Oct. 2 aimed at promoting economic growth in the city while giving students access to experiential learning opportunities that will benefit local businesses and students.

Students get hands-on retail management experience at Fairfax Ace Hardware. Photo provided

This partnership will extend the walls of the business school鈥檚 classrooms into the local business community, by affording business students with the opportunity to learn and practice leadership skills across several industries in the 鈥渃lassroom beyond the classroom.鈥�

鈥淥ur collaboration with the 海角社区 School of Business is about investing in our future, and being open to change and innovation,鈥� said Read. 鈥淏y welcoming Mason students and faculty into our business community, we鈥檙e bringing fresh faces and new ideas to city planning in support of our vision for a vibrant commercial district.鈥�

鈥淭he School of Business emphasizes student experience and career readiness via public, private, and academic partnerships,鈥� said Vinz茅. 鈥淲e see Mason as your hometown university, and this partnership is an exciting opportunity for us to invest in the growth and economic development of this wonderful city, while providing our students with a hands-on learning experience that will prepare them for successful careers in business.鈥�

Experiential learning opportunities in Fairfax are expected to draw Mason students from each of the business school鈥檚 four centers of excellence鈥�Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE), Center for Real Estate Entrepreneurship (CREE), Center for Retail Transformation (CRT), and the newly named Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting.

a CIE-led vendor management experience for students with retailers in the Old Town Fairfax Business Association (OTFBA)/FCED 鈥淲ander In鈥� retail incubator,
a CREE site plan analysis for determining best use options of commercial real estate sites in the Northfax Small Area Plan and other areas of Fairfax City,
an in-store retail management experience with CRT students and Fairfax City retailers, and
a study by students from the Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting, in coordination with the Mason Enterprise Center, to identify ways to improve business outcomes for small business federal contractors.

鈥淲hat makes this program unique among 鈥榗lassroom beyond the classroom鈥� partnerships is our collective focus on leveraging the short-term benefit of student employability into a longer-term relationship with our city and its business community,鈥� said Christopher Bruno, executive director and CEO of FCED. 鈥淥ne of the reasons we decided to partner with Mason is its track record of driving economic growth in the region鈥攃lose to 70% of its alumni live and work in a 50-mile radius of the Fairfax 海角社区鈥攁nd the confidence that gives us that many of the relationships we form now with Mason students and alumni are going to serve as a magnet for new businesses in the future.鈥�

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People Mentioned in This Story

She has ideas to bring Mason and Fairfax City together

鈥淵ou look at our downtown and where are the students, where is the activity, where is the energy?鈥� said Catherine Read, the first Mason alum, and first woman, to be Fairfax mayor. "What kind of things can we do between the campus and the city? That鈥檚 what we should be asking ourselves."

Learn more about her plans >>

New Fairfax City Partnership with 海角社区 School of Business to Promote Economic Growth While Affording Student Access to Experiential Learning Opportunities

Marianne Klinker — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 12:42:44 +0000

New Fairfax City Partnership with 海角社区 School of Business to Promote Economic Growth While Affording Student Access to Experiential Learning Opportunities Marianne Klinker Thu, 09/28/2023 - 08:42

Fairfax City Economic Development and 海角社区 Come Together to Spur Economic Growth and Student Success Through Experiential Learning

Fairfax City, VA鈥€� Fairfax City mayor and 海角社区 alumna Catherine S. Read (BA 鈥�84) and 海角社区 School of Business Dean Ajay Vinz茅 will sign a partnership agreement on October 2 aimed at promoting economic growth in the city while giving students access to experiential learning opportunities that will benefit local businesses and students.

Joining Mayor Read and Dean Vinz茅 for the signing ceremony, which will also include the presentation of a proclamation by the mayor, will be Fairfax City Government and Economic Development officials, along with 海角社区 School of Business leaders, faculty, staff, students, and alumni. 鈥淥ur collaboration with the 海角社区 School of Business is about investing in our future, and being open to change and innovation,鈥� said Mayor Read. 鈥淏y welcoming Mason students and faculty into our business community, we鈥檙e bringing fresh faces and new ideas to city planning in support of our vision for a vibrant commercial district.鈥�

FCED officials and representatives from the business school review the conceptual layout of the Northfax West development project.

鈥淭he School of Business emphasizes student experience and career readiness via public, private, and academic partnerships,鈥� said Dean Vinz茅. 鈥淲e see Mason as your hometown university, and this partnership is an exciting opportunity for us to invest in the growth and economic development of this wonderful city, while providing our students with a hands-on learning experience that will prepare them for successful careers in business.鈥� Experiential learning opportunities in Fairfax are expected to draw Mason students from each of the business school鈥檚 four centers of excellence鈥�Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE), Center for Real Estate Entrepreneurship (CREE), Center for Retail Transformation (CRT), and the newly named Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting.

Students get hands-on retail management experience at Fairfax Ace Hardware.

With some programs already underway and additional planning discussions on the horizon, both sides are looking forward to expanding the current collaboration in the spring. Among the projects slated to launch are a CIE-led vendor management experience for students with retailers in the Old Town Fairfax Business Association (OTFBA)/FCED 鈥淲ander In鈥� retail incubator, a CREE site plan analysis for determining best use options of commercial real estate sites in the Northfax Small Area Plan and other areas of Fairfax City, an in-store retail management experience with CRT students and Fairfax City retailers, and a study by students from the Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting, in coordination with the Mason Enterprise Center, to identify ways to improve business outcomes for small business federal contractors.

Fairfax City Economic Development鈥痠s a collaboration between the Fairfax City Economic Development Office and the Fairfax City Economic Development Authority, an independent agency administered by a commission appointed by the City Council to promote economic development activity within Fairfax. Fairfax City Economic Development helps attract businesses to the city, encourages and develops programs that foster connections between businesses, residents, and visitors of Fairfax, and spearheads innovative programs and strategies devoted to positioning Fairfax City as an ideal location to start, grow, and scale a business. It is a founding member of the Northern Virginia Economic Development Alliance. Learn more at fairfaxcityconnected.com.

海角社区 is Virginia鈥檚 largest public research university. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason enrolled over 40,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states for the fall 2023 semester. Mason has grown rapidly over the last half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity, and commitment to accessibility. Also in 2023, the university launched Mason Now: Power the Possible, a $1 billion comprehensive campaign to support student success, research, innovation, community, and sustainability. Learn more at gmu.edu.

Topics

Center for Retail Transformation

Center for Real Estate Entrepreneurship

Center for Government Contracting

Press Releases

Media Contacts

Chris Bruno聽
(703) 638-8031聽
christopher.bruno@fairfaxva.gov聽

Duane Bailey聽
(703) 283-2073聽
dbaile8@gmu.edu聽

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