McGuire Summer Academy 2016

In June 2016, The McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship sponsored the Second Annual McGuire Summer Academy (MSA), a program dedicated to teaching and encouraging entrepreneurship among young people. Partnering with Mr. Ed Eisele and other local businesses and entrepreneurs, the McGuire Center has been able to bring entrepreneurship education to underserved high school students in Tucson through MSA, a weeklong program focusing on experiential learning both in and out of the classroom.

Juniors and seniors from seven different high schools stay at the University of Arizona for one week and develop their entrepreneurial venture. They work in teams and, with the help and consultation of entrepreneurs, business coaches, faculty, business executives and their peers, transform their idea into a business plan.

On the final day of camp, the teams enter the “shark tank” and compete for prize money sponsored by Sunrise Rotary Club. This summer the winning team was “Mind over Mass,” a fitness app designed to calculate the weight and force required for maximum effectiveness based on the size and weight of the individual athlete. The runner-up was “G-Helmet,” a device that would fit into a football helmet and monitor impact and force of hits to the head providing real-time data to coaches, parents and training staff allowing them to make informed decisions to protect the health and welfare of the athlete.

For more information about MSA, contact Ted McGuire, Community Relations Coordinator.