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Office of Engaged Learning Office of Engaged Learning - Entrepreneurship Student Academic Engagement & Success

Big iDeas Spotlight: Ryland Adzich’s Mission for Literacy and Community Impact

The Big iDeas program empowers students to transform their entrepreneurial ideas into impactful ventures. We recently caught up with Ryland Adzich, a first-year student at SMU who jumped into her co-curricular journey early — not only as a Big iDeas participant but also as an Engaged Learning Fellow. Ryland shared the inspiration behind her philanthropic organization and gave us a glimpse into the meaningful work she is implementing across the DFW metroplex. 

In Fall 2024, Ryland was the top winner of the Big iDeas Pitch Competition, earning $1,000 from the Big iDeas Program, along with an additional $1,000 Boost Award from the Spears Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership for having the “Most Inspiring Idea” of the competition. In the upcoming academic year, Ryland will serve as the President of the Women’s Innovative Network – a new student organization and network that empowers women to innovate, connect, and support each other in their entrepreneurial and research endeavors. 

Q: You’re wrapping up your first year at SMU! Tell us about what why you chose SMU in the first place. 

Being invited as a Dedman Scholar, it was nice to feel wanted by a community and wanted by SMU as much as I wanted them. The research opportunities with faculty as an undergraduate student was another big one. I also love Dallas. I love the community of people and the students here. I really feel like people are trying to work together to uplift students to succeed on a national and international level. 

Q: What is the organization you started and what inspired the social impact element of it? 

The Creative Destination is a philanthropic organization that works to create literacy spaces in underserved communities and in laundromats. Think books, shelves, and posters — essentially a mini library. The reason why we chose laundromats was because those can be everyday spaces to children. Many times, children are spending significantly more time in those “everyday spaces” than in the classroom. So if we can encourage reading and parent-to-child communications, that will increase success in and outside of the classroom. 

While I was in high school, I worked with a professor at the NYU Steinhardt School of Education in one of my tech labs in school. She had introduced this idea about literacy spaces in laundromats on the East Coast, but I wanted to adapt that so it would make sense for The Creative Destination and underserved communities in California. I was already thinking about my idea before the tech lab, but seeing this on a smaller scale on the East Coast gave me inspiration to go through with it. 

Q:Tell us about your recent partnership with The Creative Destination and The Hockaday School  in Dallas? 

The Hockaday School already has an Institute for Social Impact. I was interested in mentoring younger students but also getting feedback for The Creative Destination. I get to work with girls who are already interested in giving back to their community. If I can enhance that and help them hold on to that through having them help me build these literacy spaces in laundromats across the city, then that’s important to me. 

Ryland speaking and doing an activity at The Hockaday School in Fall 2024.

Q: What has been the most rewarding part about starting your own philanthropic organization from the ground up? 

Getting to work with other data-driven people has been very exciting. Also, getting to see the benefits to people that are frequenting these laundromat spaces. Whether that be customers, or laundromat owners seeing their spaces be improved by encouraging reading, I just go back to how important building community to me. Laundromats can be a great place of building community. You know, you’re sitting there for maybe an hour and a half waiting for your clothes to dry and maybe talking to people. Hopefully just a little bit of time every day to read instead of being on a phone or a tablet can encourage kids to keep reading. 

Q: What have you been able to do with the award money you received from The Big iDeas Program?

That funding has been helpful because we have been able to fund 5 new literacy spaces in laundromats across the country. Four will be in Dallas and one will be in California. Some of the girls that I’m mentoring at The Hockaday School are helping me with the Dallas spaces. I’m hopeful for next year as I continue to establish myself more in Dallas to grow my laundromat network. 

In the next three months, I hope to give The Creative Destination a fresh new look. I want to use some of the funding to do logo and media updates to prepare for the upcoming year. I highly recommend bringing your ideas to the Big iDeas Pitch Competition. 

What advice would you give to a first year student, specifically a student in Dedman, who is wanting to build their business when they come to SMU? 

I would say don’t box yourself into one set way to think about a business. Business principles can be applied to organizations, programs, and initiatives that are outside of a traditional business framework. Operating The Creative Destination as a business is something that I want to continue to work on. Also, I would encourage students to just have fun on campus. Time really does fly, so take stock and enjoy all of the resources on campus. It’s all at our fingertips and we can make so many different connections. 

Interested in bringing your ideas to life? Learn more about Big iDeas and other opportunities through The Office of Engaged Learning by visiting our website.

 

 

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News Office of Engaged Learning Office of Engaged Learning - Entrepreneurship Student Academic Engagement & Success

Big iDeas, Bigger Impact: Spring Pitch Competition Sets Stage for What’s Ahead

The Office of Engaged Learning held its first Spring Big iDeas Pitch Competition on Friday, April 11, where 10 student teams pitched their new idea to a panel of judges in 90 seconds.

Congratulations to the four winners of the Spring 2025 Pitch Competition:

Caroline Edgerton, Amigo

Sophia Vasylyeva, FocusPass

Travis Pryor, Focus Path

Yaw Boateng: InfoSavvy

You might be wondering why the Office of Engaged Learning is hosting a Big iDeas Pitch Contest in the spring semester instead of the fall. We are excited to share what is changing and why!

As Big iDeas program continues to evolve, we’re expanding our collaboration across the SMU entrepreneurship ecosystem— including The SMU Impact Lab, The Spears Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership, and others. These strategic partnerships are helping us refine our focus: supporting students at the earliest stages of ideation and positioning them to move forward with confidence. Our goal is to guide students in shaping bold new ideas and prepare them to pursue advanced funding and specialized coaching through these next-level programs.

We are also embracing a new model for our pitch competition cycle. Instead of offering only one opportunity per academic year to pitch an idea, students will now have the opportunity to pitch an idea once in the fall and once in the spring semester.

Additionally, we are moving the Big iDeas Business Plan Competition to SMU Family Weekend! This exciting new timing gives us a chance to showcase our most advanced student ventures to a wider audience — including families, alumni, and the full SMU community.

A special thanks to our judges for this competition: Jake Batsell, Justin Childress, Jennifer Ebinger, and Marissa Heyl and the SMU Impact Lab for sponsoring an additional $500 award to Focus Path for having a creative social impact edge on their idea.

To learn more about the Big iDeas Program, visit us at smu.edu/bigideas.

 

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News Office of Engaged Learning Office of Engaged Learning - Entrepreneurship Student Academic Engagement & Success

SMU Big iDeas Students Make Their Mark at ACC InVenture and TCU Values and Ventures

The start of April was a big one for SMU Big iDeas students, who showcased their ventures on two national stages of collegiate entrepreneurship.

At the ACC InVenture Prize Competition, hosted by the University of Notre Dame, the TIMIO News team – Josh Baier, Abbie Ellermeier, and JustusWoods – represented SMU as they pitched their venture alongside student teams from 12 other ACC universities.

Left to Right (Abbie Ellermeier, Justus Woods, Josh Baier)

Josh Baier (’24), CEO and Founder, said, “My favorite part of the ACC InVenture was meeting a community of young entrepreneurs. It was incredible to meet other people my age living through the same ups and downs of the entrepreneurship cycle.”

Abbie Ellermeier, Lead Designer, said, “My favorite part was seeing all the innovative ideas the other groups presented. It was so fun to be around so many bright, young minds all trying to make the world a better place.”

Justus Woods, Lead Campaign Manager, said he enjoyed “getting to meet so many world changers who wanted to make a positive impact in the world. Their creativity and perseverance was incredibly infectious.”

Back in Texas, Senior Jude Lugo and Junior Ryland Robb took the stage with 41 other finalist companies from all over the world at the TCU Values and Ventures Competition in Fort Worth to pitch LectureLogger, an app that tracks attendance and promotes student wellness for colleges and universities. 

Left to Right (Ryland Robb, Jude Lugo)

Lecture Logger had an exceptional showing at the competition. After pitching in the lightning rounds, they advanced to place in the top quarter of participants over the weekend.

Judges praised the team’s strong engagement, confident delivery, and clear grasp of both the facts and the business model. The pitch was visually compelling, and both presenters brought a sharp, business-focused approach.

They also recognized Lecture Logger’s broad value for students – supporting wellbeing and academic success – and, interestingly, highlighted its specific relevance for student-athletes as a cost effective way to track attendance and ensure NCAA compliance.

A big congratulations to all of our Big iDeas students making their mark all across the country!

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Office of Engaged Learning Office of Engaged Learning - Entrepreneurship Student Academic Engagement & Success

Vote for TIMIO: ACC InVenture People’s Choice Award

SMU Alumnus Joshua Baier (’24) and his team, Justus Woods and Abbie Ellermeier, are set to take the stage at the ACC InVenture Prize Competition on Wednesday, April 2nd.

To vote for TIMIO for the People’s Choice Award, text “SMU” to 415-965-7445. The voting will open at 12:01am on Monday, March 31st and will close approximately at 6:45PM CST on Wednesday, April 2nd.

The competition will begin at 6:00pm CST on Wednesday, April 2nd. To watch the competition live, use this link.

Download TIMIO today from the app store or as a Chrome extension!

 

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News Office of Engaged Learning Office of Engaged Learning - Entrepreneurship Student Academic Engagement & Success

SMU’s Top Entrepreneurs are Heading to the ACC InVenture Prize Competition

Some of SMU’s best and brightest innovators are set to represent the Hilltop at the ACC InVenture Prize Competition this April – an innovation competition where undergraduate teams from each ACC university pitch their inventions or businesses for the chance to win $30,000 in prizes for their company.

This year, SMU will be represented by TIMIO News, a set of AI tools that identify fake news and recommend articles with different viewpoints, empowering users to navigate the news media landscape with confidence. The team is led by Founder and CEO Josh Baier ’24 (left), alongside Campaign Manager Justus Woods (middle), and Lead Designer Abbie Ellermeier (right). The team was selected after winning an internal SMU pitch-off at the beginning of January.

This year will mark SMU’s second year competing in the ACC InVenture Prize Competition. In 2024, SMU was represented by SteadiSpoon, founded by Raleigh Dewan (’23) and VP of Operations Mason Morland (’24).

Stay tuned to follow TIMIO’s journey as they represent SMU on a national stage! You can download TIMIO now as a mobile app or chrome extension. More details to come on how to stream the live event and vote for People’s Choice Team on Wednesday, April 2nd.

 

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Honors and Scholars News Office of Engaged Learning Office of Engaged Learning - Entrepreneurship

Congratulations to the winners of the 2025 Big iDeas Business Plan Competition

The Office of Engaged Learning held its annual Big iDeas Business Plan Competition on Friday, February 14 where 11 student teams pitched their business plan to a panel of expert judges in 4 minutes.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2025 competition:

Justus Woods, Abbie Ellermeier, and Josh Baier, TimioNews

Jude Lugo, LectureLogger

Wade Hunter, Sandra

Amar Khoja, Jonathan Zanzuri, Dorm Room Cleans, Inc.

Benjamin Omoregbe, InternSurf

Special thanks to our judges Carson Gibbons (Founder of DallasMeetup), Jenica Oliver (CMO of Blueprint Marketing Group), Michael Kelly (Chief Strategy Office at Mozee), and Dr. Sara Rana (VC & Investor Relations, Capital Factory).

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News Office of Engaged Learning Office of Engaged Learning - Entrepreneurship

Spotlight on Big iDeas Alum Josh Baier: Founder of TIMIO News LLC

We are excited to highlight the entrepreneurial journey of SMU alum Josh Baier (’24), founder of TIMIO News LLC.

TIMIO News, set to fully launch soon, is an innovative platform designed to provide users an unbiased news feed using GenAI to analyze news articles from across the web. Baier’s journey began while he was a student in the SMU Big iDeas program, where he developed foundational components of his business and honed his skills in innovation and leadership.

As an SMU student, Baier found the Big iDeas program instrumental in shaping his path, providing resources and capital that fueled his entrepreneurial drive. Now, with a team that includes other SMU Students (Abbie Ellermeier, Isabella Fleet, Justus Woods), TIMIO is inspiring other team members to take part in Big iDeas – including Big iDeas Pitch Contest winner, Isabella Fleet.

The Office of Engaged Learning recently sat down with Josh for an interview to discuss more about his vision for TIMIO and his insights on building a successful startup while being a collegiate entrepreneur. To hear more about Baier’s story and the upcoming launch of TIMIO, watch the full interview here.

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Office of Engaged Learning Office of Engaged Learning - Entrepreneurship Student Academic Engagement & Success

Upcoming Business & Entrepreneurship Roundtables

The Office of Engaged Learning has two virtual events this month that will provide insights from experienced professionals and peers into the world of business and industry. The events are open to all faculty, staff and students at SMU. Please join us and encourage students you know who may be interested in attending!

Big iDeas is hosting a roundtable discussion “Developing Grit: The Key to Entrepreneurial Success” on November 12 from 4:30-5:30pm. In this session, we’ll dive into how resilience, perseverance, and a strong mindset can make all the difference in achieving your business goals. Whether you’re just starting out or scaling your venture, this discussion is packed with insights to help you thrive in the face of challenges. Speakers are Garrett Boone (co-founder of The Container Store), Michael Kelly (Chief Strategy Officer at Mozee), and Bhavna Kumar (Head of Startup Accelerator at the Spears Institute of Entrepreneurial Leadership at SMU).

Pathways to Business and Industry is hosting a Current Students and Alumni Panel on November 20 from 4:30-5:30pm. Students can hear from peers and alumni about their experiences exploring corporate and industry opportunitites. This is a great opportunity to ask questions or gain practical advice and inspiration to shape your professional journey.

Register on SMU 360 for the Zoom links:

 

 

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Academic Development of Student-Athletes (ADSA) Honors and Scholars Office of Engaged Learning Office of Engaged Learning - Entrepreneurship Student Academic Engagement & Success Student Academic Success Programs Student Success & Retention University Advising Center

The Rose Bowl Game Keith Jackson Postgraduate Scholarship

An exciting scholarship opportunity from the Rose Bowl for all undergraduate students attending ACC schools. Introducing The Rose Bowl Game Keith Jackson Postgraduate Scholarship!

This scholarship provides a $10k scholarship toward a postgraduate degree to one undergraduate student from a FBS school. The scholarship also includes a Rose Bowl Game experience. This year’s scholarship is open to undergraduate students who are in their final year of course study (with an intended graduation date on or before June 2025). The application and additional information on the qualifying criteria can be found online at www.rosebowlgame.com/scholarship/. The application period closes on October 25, 2024. 

Eligibility Requirements:  

  • Students from universities that are a part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) are eligible for the scholarship. These students must be in their final year of course study and have consistently demonstrated exceptional achievement in academics and civic service throughout their collegiate career. Specifically, a nominee must: 
  • Honorably represent an institution that is eligible to play in the 2025 CFP Quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl Game, exhibiting excellence in academics and civic service while displaying strong character and leadership skills. 
  • Plan to enroll in graduate or professional school within eighteen (18) months of graduation. 
  • Have a minimum GPA of 3.0 at the time of the application. 
  • Express an interest to pursue a career in the sports industry, specific to journalism, media relations, event operations, team operations, or marketing. 
  • Have an expected graduation from an undergraduate program in December 2024 or will graduate by June of 2025.

Any questions? Email the Selection Committee – Keith Jackson Postgraduate Scholarship scholarship@rosebowlgame.org. 

 

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News Office of Engaged Learning Office of Engaged Learning - Entrepreneurship Pathways to Industry

Congratulations Big iDeas Pitch Competition Winners!

On Friday, September 27, the Office of Engaged Learning hosted the annual Big iDeas Pitch Competition where 18 SMU inspiring undergraduate entrepreneurs pitched their ideas in 90 seconds to a panel of expert judges.

Our panel included:

  • Ayo Aigbe, Founder and CEO of Hangio
  • Dr. Helmuth Ludwig, Professor of Practice for Strategy and Entrepreneurship at SMU’s Cox School of Business
  • Carlos Martinez, founding partner of Clement Capital Partners LP and Fund Manager for the SMU Impact Lab
  • Dr. Seth Orsborn, Director of the Deason Innovation Gym
  • Josh Taylor, director of the William S. Spears Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership at SMU Cox School of Business
  • Morgan Stewart, Director of Programming at SMU Cox Spears Institute for Entrepreneeurial Leadership

We are thrilled to annouce the winners of this year’s competition! These innovative students captured the judges’ attention with their creative ideas:

  • Ryland Adzich, The Creative Destination
  • Yaw Botang, InfoSavvy
  • Zain Dhatwani, Apni Duniya
  • Mason Dierkes, Elusive
  • Isabella Fleet, TIMIO News LLC
  • Bryce Harper, Urban Crusader Technology
  • Kennedy Honors, Sallie’s Halo
  • Jude Lugo, Lecture Logger
  • Emiliano Hernandez Posada, Terra Social Impact
  • Anish Senthilkumar, The Active Mind Initiative
  • Gregory Speed, Speed’s Meats
  • Nrithi Subramanian, Mantra and Co.
  • Ephraim Sun, Fuselink.ai

Thank you to all of the family and friends who attended in support, and a huge thank you to our supporters-the SPEARS Institute, Deason Innovation Gym, SMU Impact Lab, and HI-TIE-for contributing funding to support these student startups.