A mechanical engineering student at the University of Bristol has been selected as one of the country’s most promising young entrepreneurs. George Mills, aged 22, was one of only eleven students in the UK to have been awarded a place on the prestigious Flying Start Global Entrepreneurs programme, which includes mentoring from some of America’s leading entrepreneurs.
Flying Start Global Entrepreneurs, which is funded by the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship, includes a six month internship and education programme in the US and aims to take the best entrepreneurial talent from UK universities and link them with the entrepreneurial environment in America.
George was shortlisted from 75 candidates from UK universities for this award. Applicants were asked to put together a science or technology-based business idea, and were required to have a letter of recommendation from their tutor.
George will spend the first six months of his fellowship at Bristol University’s Centre for Research and Enterprise Development, developing his technology-based business idea and will gain support from the NCGE’s Flying Start team. Following this, he will spend six months full-time in the US as a Kauffman Global Scholar receiving world-class entrepreneurship education, spending time in leading US universities such as Harvard, MIT and Stanford. Global Entrepreneurs also spend 12 weeks as interns in leading innovative companies such as Google, Sprint and Cisco.
George said: “I am thrilled to have been given this opportunity. I caught the enterprise bug while studying at Bristol and was closely involved in the Bristol Entrepreneurs Society. I hope that this will be an experience that will stand me in good stead for the next year."
The Flying Start Global Entrepreneurs programme is made possible by collaboration between the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship in the UK and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City, Missouri, US. The purpose of the Fellowship is to encourage UK graduates to develop high impact businesses.
University of Bristol Vice-Chancellor, Professor Eric Thomas, said: "We have some fantastically enterprising students at Bristol, and George is clearly a wonderful example of that. We will follow his future career with interest and wish him every success during his time in the United States.
“The University of Bristol has an excellent, and developing, relationship with the NCGE and the Kauffman Foundation. This world-leading entrepreneurship programme is something of which they should be very proud.”