BETS

My name is Edmond H. and I am in my second year of the Math/CPA program and am currently on my first co-op work term through the Bridging Entrepreneurs to Students (BETS) program.

“What is the BETS program?”, you might ask. Well, the BETS program is a specialized co-op program offered through the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business that allows engineering, mathematics, and School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) students to gain experience working for startup companies. The program pairs teams of two entrepreneurial co-op students with companies for a 12-week project placement.

When SWIRVE transitioned from a Capstone design project into a full-time startup as Vena Medical, there was an endless amount of work to do. Between product development, contractor and vendor management, business planning and grant applications, the founding team—two mechanical engineering graduates—knew they needed co-op students to get the job done. When their Conrad mentors Wayne Chang and Emily Peat approached them about the BETS program, they decided to take a chance on it.

Vena Medical could not be happier with how well the BETS program worked out.