Intel gives B-school grant for e-business

By Autumn Kelly

For the Daily

Intel announced yesterday a $200,000 contribution to the University that will further develop its e-business program.

The company donated a similar grant to four other schools: Carnegie Mellon, Cornell and Harvard universities and Tsinghua University in Beijing. The one-time contribution totaled $1 million.

"The money will be used to develop a joint program on electronic business, most likely among the Schools of Information and Business and the College of Engineering," Business School Dean B. Joseph White said in a written statement.

The grant aid in developing programs focusing on e-commerce by creating labs and curricula.

Intel spokesman Miguel Salinas said there were strict criteria for choosing the five universities.

"Our main focus was the emphasis on interdisciplinary programs," Salinas said.

"The University of Michigan proposal had a strong collaboration between the computer science, electrical engineering and business programs." The University's highly ranked Business and Engineering schools also factored into the decision, Salinas said.

The e-business program is part of the Business School and allows students to specialize in e-business/e-commerce. Courses are frequently updated to match current trends in the industry, and allow for hands-on experience for students.

"Entrepreneurship has long been the most popular offering in the Business School," said Keith Decie, assistant to Business School Dean. Decie said e-commerce has also been among the more popular study options in this field.

Each year Intel's academic relations team "looks at programs for strategic business interests," Salinas said. It decides what trends are developing in universities that are in developing in universities that are in line with Intel's goals. This year the trend was e-commerce and e-business.

The University has been a target school for Intel for a long time, Salinas said. In the past Intel has donated equipment to labs and they recruit heavily from the school. This is partly due to the strength of the programs but also because of the strong presence of women and minorities in the programs, he said.

White is positive about the possibilities for the grant - and the e-business program itself.

"This will enrich our offerings to students in this emerging, high growth area of business," White said.