{"id":223959,"date":"2025-01-28T07:15:26","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T12:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=223959"},"modified":"2025-02-19T11:20:40","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T16:20:40","slug":"innovation-quest-turns-students-into-entrepreneurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2025\/01\/innovation-quest-turns-students-into-entrepreneurs\/","title":{"rendered":"Innovation Quest Turns Students into Entrepreneurs\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

If there is one thing that Gaofei Zhang learned from a night-time equestrian class at UConn on a bitter cold evening is that a warm, comfortable pair of boots is one of life\u2019s necessities.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that night, I tried a lot of brands of boots,\u2019\u2019 says Zhang, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Allied Health Sciences in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources(CAHNR<\/a>). \u201cThey either weren\u2019t warm or weren\u2019t waterproof, or they were slippery or stiff or hard to clean. I didn\u2019t understand why you\u2019d call them \u2018snow boots\u2019 if they aren\u2019t good in the snow!\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Zhang has a home in Mongolia where the temperature drops as low as minus-30 degrees. The locals create warm and comfortable work boots, but they aren\u2019t stylish. Zhang thought she could adopt their footwear expertise and merge it with something fashionable, including multi-colored fur and beads.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an international student, I didn\u2019t know anything about how to start a company and I was not brave enough to create it on my own,\u2019\u2019 she says. Last year she brought her idea to Innovation Quest (iQ),<\/a> a UConn entrepreneurship program and competition that helps students develop their ideas into thriving startups. IQ provides workshops, mentoring, and startup funding for the most promising ideas.<\/p>\n

Today, Zhang\u2019s unique, handcrafted boots, marketed under the name MOGSki,<\/a> are ready to go to market, and the 15 styles of boots and apres-ski accessories are drawing interest from many boutiques. Elegant and chic, they are made of sheep, mink, or cow hide and lined with shearling for added warmth.<\/p>\n

Innovation Quest Workshops Begin on Feb. 4; Students Vie for $30,000 in Funding\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zhang is one of more than 2,500 UConn students who have participated in iQ since its inception 14 years ago.\u00a0\u00a0The program is open to UConn graduate and undergraduate students from any field of study.<\/p>\n

IQ is run by Kevin Gardiner \u201906 MBA, an adjunct professor in business and engineering. He has held management positions at both startups and long-established companies, including Macy\u2019s, Oracle, and Welcome Commerce.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re definitely looking for someone who has grit, someone who isn\u2019t going to give up,\u2019\u2019 he says. \u201cAs an entrepreneur, you get far more ‘no’s’ than ‘yeses,’ and that\u2019s something that you have to accept. I also look for someone with a passion for the problem they are tackling. When the iQ judges see that, they know they\u2019ve got an entrepreneur whom they can bet on.”<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s event will begin with a kickoff workshop at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb, 4, followed by workshops on Feb. 12, Feb. 26, and March 5. All the workshops are virtual for the convenience of students. Participants may sign up at innovationquest.uconn.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n

IQ had a 22% increase in participation last year, over 2023, and that\u2019s a trend that Gardiner hopes to see continue.<\/p>\n

Previous participants have created everything from stuffed animals to clothing to personal care items to businesses engaged in environmental cleanup. Gardiner says that in recent years, students seem particularly interested in health tech, mobile apps, and AI-related companies, but all good idea are welcome.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s first-place award went to Ph.D. candidate John Toribio, whose company Zemi Labs is creating wearable garments that provide biomechanical data, including heart and muscle performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cUConn continues to provide more and more opportunities for student entrepreneurs, and we continue to evolve this program,\u2019\u2019 Gardiner says. \u201cWe welcome students who just want to dip a toe in the water, as well as those who are fully committed to creating a business.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

The iQ program has more than 50 expert mentors and more than half of them have been associated with the program since the beginning. Every year, iQ adds new advisers, all passionate about working with students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want all students to feel welcome,\u2019\u2019 Gardiner says. \u201cWe have four virtual workshops to help students understand entrepreneurship. Are you ready to launch a business? If not, what do you need to get ready? We want anyone, even those with a more remote interest, to attend and learn.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

After the workshops are completed, students can submit a formal application to enter the competition and compete for a share of $30,000 in funding. Final presentations are April 12 in Storrs and the top three startup companies will be announced on April 14.<\/p>\n

Many of the previous participants have gone on to start their companies or to pursue an entrepreneurial career.<\/p>\n

Zhang Developed Business Expertise, Confidence<\/strong><\/p>\n

For Zhang, the last year has been enormously gratifying, both personally and professionally.<\/p>\n

\u201cIQ has been an incredible journey for me. It\u2019s not only helped sharpen my presentation skills but also expanded my knowledge across so many areas\u2014product positioning, sales, marketing, tax, finance, IP, law, storytelling, and more,\u2019\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe competition broadened my perspectives, strengthened my courage and determination, and provided invaluable mentorship and networking opportunities,\u2019\u2019 she says. \u201cIt\u2019s truly been one of the most impactful milestones in my entrepreneurial journey, directly pushing forward the progress of my startup.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

She says she would tell anyone considering entrepreneurship to give it a try.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would tell other entrepreneurs to be fearless in exploring new ideas and to use your own experiences to solve problems,\u2019\u2019 she says. \u201cBe adaptable, build a network, find mentors, be persistent, and be open to both failures and successes.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New CEO Gaofei Zhang hopes her boot company will make cold, wet feet a thing of the past\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":223960,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2296,2224,1731,2459,156,1862,99,1875,2235,2306,2227],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2105],"class_list":["post-223959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-allied-health-sciences","category-cahnr","category-entrepreneurship","category-graduate-students","category-profile","category-busn","category-student-life","category-grad-school","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-voices","category-uconn-edu-homepage"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-10 22:44:31","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223959"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":225898,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223959\/revisions\/225898"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/223960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223959"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=223959"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=223959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}