SAN JOSE, CA, May 16, 2012 – Brocade Communications Headquarters was teeming with entrepreneurial buzz on May 11 as Infuse Program held its 2nd Annual Symposium of Ideas. Brocade and Infuse Program teamed up this year to provide students from Andrew Hill High School a venue to present their product-based business ideas to a panel of judges and mentors. Six teams competed for scholarships and internships.
The event is a culmination of the 8-month Entrepreneurial Academy held at Andrew Hill High School for the 2011-2012 Academic School Year. Students were challenged to develop a product-based business that solves a social or economic issue geared towards green and clean technology. “This program provided the opportunity for students to see entrepreneurship as a vehicle to create, innovate and inspire each other and the world around them.” said Infuse Program Founder AJ Thomas.
Jeff Rangel, Brocade’s Senior Manager of Corporate Affairs said, “Infuse Program’s goals align very nicely to Brocade’s commitment to active community involvement, education, and entrepreneurship. We were eager to support such a fantastic grassroots event.” Brian Pototo, Director of Talent Acquisition at Brocade also added, “The students were refreshing – their ideas, which we noticed were all geared towards health or helping others, were really interesting and well thought out. They all demonstrated great teamwork and an organized approach – valuable skills for when they enter the workforce!”
Daniel Brusilovsky of Teens in Tech provided the Keynote Speech. The panel of judges included Treb Ryan, CEO of OpSource; Paul Whitney, SVP of Human Resources at DataDirect Networks; Amie Gray, Partner at DataKey Consulting; Kevin Sitzes, COO of Moonblink Communications; Ian MacDonald, VP of Product Line Management at Infinera Corporation; and Darlene Tennes, Founder of CasaQ. Teams Tech-O and Cedgm were 2nd and 3rd placers, respectively. First Place Winners, Young Entrepreneurs, are on their way to graduate high school and patent their winning product.
Symposium of Ideas 2012 Judges
2012 Infuse Program Students after the Event
For more photos from the event check out our Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/InfuseProgram.