"Students will be at the core of the Blue Sky incubator program, which is centered on applied learning," said Didier Rousseliere, director of business incubation and global partnerships at the University of South Florida Polytechnic. Speaking at USF Polytechnic's Information Technology Colloquium Sept. 16 he told the audience, "The incubator will be a learning laboratory at the heart of the learning process as we redefine the twenty-first  century university."

In his presentation, Rousseliere outlined plans for USFP's new business incubation facilities - Blue Sky West in Lakeland and Blue Sky East in Winter Haven.

Designed to bolster startup companies, Blue Sky West seeks "the crazy ones, the round pegs in the square holes," said Rousseliere. Blue Sky East will serve as an accelerator for more mature companies and foreign companies wanting a soft landing to do business in the United States.

According to Rousseliere, Blue Sky is in synch with the mission and vision of USF Polytechnic.

"Through Blue Sky we will create opportunities for people to meet, learn and exchange ideas. It will be driven by collaboration in an open research environment with a global perspective, which is essential for us as Florida's first polytechnic."

Besides creating opportunities for learning, Blue Sky will play role in the region's economic development through job creation.

"Blue Sky will benefit students, the university and the local community," said Rousseliere. "Students will provide services, which will benefit them and entrepreneurs, and we hope to see student entrepreneurs emerge. Our goals are to foster a culture of entrepreneurship, develop university-industry partnerships, increase economic opportunities and create global opportunities."

Targeted industries include information technology, healthcare, telecommunications, logistics, flavors and essences, and business services. At full capacity both incubators could host 16 firms.  

"Blue Sky is the first step toward a larger incubator on our new campus," said Rousseliere. "The Blue Sky is the limit!"

For more information on Blue Sky, including an application, visit poly.usf.edu/bluesky.

Sponsored by USF Polytechnic's IT department, the IT colloquium series, established in 2002, features programs designed to expand the scope of traditional computer science education. For more information on the colloquium series contact Ray Hawat at 863-667-7090 or rhawat@poly.usf.edu.