Executive Entrepreneurship Certificate Program

Unleash the energy of creating technology business

The most successful companies a decade from now will be selling products and services unimagined today. The Executive Entrepreneurship Certificate Program gives you the power to be one of them.

The course is presented in Doha by Carnegie Mellon University, a recognised worldwide leader in business education, in partnership with Qatar Science & Technology Park. If you are a manager seeking to create new technology-based business for your company, or an entrepreneur thinking of starting your own company, this course can make it happen.

The inaugural class runs from September 2007 to May 2008. The next class will commence in September 2008.

To be a business leader tomorrow, learn to innovate today. Join the Executive Entrepreneurship Certificate Program and unleash the energy of technology business.

About the Organisers

The Tepper School of Business of Carnegie Mellon University is one of the world's top business schools. In 2006 the Wall Street Journal ranked its MBA program third best internationally. The school's entrepreneurship centre has graduated thousands of successful students including Sunil Wadhwani, founder of the $400 million iGate Corporation.

In 1972 Carnegie Mellon became one of the first academic institutions to offer formal courses in entrepreneurship. These programs were consolidated in 1990 when Donald Jones, a successful entrepreneur and venture capitalist, endowed the Donald H. Jones Center for Entrepreneurship within the Tepper School of Business. The center was soon recognised as one of the world's top entrepreneurship centers and has been offering exceptional graduate, undergraduate and executive education programs ever since.

Qatar Science & Technology Parkis a home for international companies from around the world and an incubator of start-up technology businesses. It aims to develop Qatar's knowledge economy, and a key way of doing this is by providing people with the skills and resources to commercialise technology. The science park has partnered with Carnegie Mellon to bring the Executive Entrepreneurship Certificate Program to the Middle East for the first time.

Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar and Qatar Science & Technology Park are both members of Qatar Foundation, located at Education City in Doha.

About the Course

The Executive Entrepreneurship Certificate Program teaches the process of how great business ideas are generated, evaluated, and put into practice in the real world. It covers business essentials such market positioning, building competitive advantage and strategic planning.

Importantly, the program also teaches the personal skills that are critical to business success such as leading teams and pitching to investors. By the end you will have created a fully developed project plan and be ready to launch new technology ventures.

The program comprises four courses:

Entrepreneurial Thought & Action
Entrepreneurial Business Planning
Technology Commercialization Strategy
Technology Commercialization Workshop.

Format

Each of the four courses is seven weeks long, together spanning September to May, with one intake per year. The first class started September 2007 and runs until May 2008.

The courses involve one week of intensive hands-on classes and weekly videoconferences with the Tepper School of Business in Pittsburgh. These are held at Education City in Doha, outside of business hours.

With its decades of experience Carnegie Mellon has built a worldwide network of successful entrepreneurs, managers and investors, who conduct guest lectures in Doha and provide students with valuable personal advice.

The timeline of a typical course is:

	Activity	Format
Wk 1	Introduction, lectures and project kick-off	One week of full time classes
Wk 2	Project discussion	Videoconf. and in-class
Wk 3	Case study	Videoconf. and in-class
Wk 4	Visiting entrepreneur	Videoconf. and in-class
Wk 5	Project discussion	Videoconf. and in-class
Wk 6	Case study	Videoconf. and in-class
Wk 7	Visiting entrepreneur	Videoconf. and in-class

Who is it for?

The Executive Entrepreneurship Certificate Program is for people wanting to learn how to build new technology-based business, either for themselves or within an existing company. It is open to managers and employees of large and small companies, government agencies, and individuals.

You will need to be located in Doha to attend the classes. It is preferred but not mandatory to have a university degree. The course is taught in English.

Fees

Each course costs $3,000, making $12,000 for the whole program. If you are based in Qatar or the GCC, and are working with or propose to start a technology company in Qatar, you will be entitled to a 50 percent discount and complete reimbursement of the fee if you successfully complete the course.

How to Apply

Applications for the 2007-08 program have closed. To enquire about the 2008-09 program please contact programs@qstp.org.qa

The homepage of the program is at www.qatar.cmu.edu/exed.