Stitt Scholars Program
Stitt Scholars Offered Paid Internships
The Stitt Scholars Program provides students with experiential learning opportunities (paid internships) through deep collaboration with clients from the Dayton community.
The Stitt Scholars Program was started with a generous donation from Jim '71 (Chairman of Cutco Corporation and Chairman of Olean Business Development Corporation) and Carol Stitt for engineering, business, and other students to collaborate with startup companies and entrepreneurs at The HUB powered by PNC Bank.
Benefits and Commitments
Students in the program commit to one academic year (fall and spring) and take a two-credit-hour course (Elements of Innovation and Entrepreneurship) and a zero-credit-hour experiential learning course.
Stitt Scholars gain and enhance their problem-solving skills in innovation and entrepreneurship. They collaborate with the L. William Crotty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and the Entrepreneurs Center at The HUB to provide impactful experiential learning opportunities for the students during the academic year.
Stitt Scholars intern while taking fall and spring semesters classes. Thus, students gain employable skills without taking a semester off.
Stitt Scholars Program Cohort 2021-2022: (l-r) Dr. Philip Appiah-Kubi; Gwendolyn Meiring, mechanical engineering; Hong Anh Chu, international business management; Dominic Ruffolo, entrepreneurship; Tanner Hamilton, mechanical engineering; DJ Villhard, marketing; Grace Silverberg, mechanical engineering; Samuel Diller, mechanical engineering; Patrick Schulteis, international business management; Loring Leitzel, mechanical engineering; Melissa McCabe, engineering management, graduate student assistant.Want to become a Stitt Scholar?
The following application materials should be submitted:
- An essay (500 words max) describing your experience in innovation and design, demonstrated leadership, contributions to a team/project, passion for product innovation, support for UD’s vision of diversity, equity and inclusion, ability to communicate effectively in oral and written, work in a spirit of cooperation and support for the common good;
- A letter of recommendation from a professor or a supervisor you have worked with; and
- A current resume.
- Applications are accepted from the second Monday in the spring semester to the fifth Monday in the spring semester.
- Email your application materials to the Stitt Scholars Program director, Dr. Philip Appiah-Kubi, pappiahkubi1@udayton.edu.
Fall 2021 Projects
The inaugural cohort of 10 Stitt Scholars (five each from the School of Engineering and the School of Business Administration) started in fall 2021. The Scholars worked in multidisciplinary teams of two to four students and completed eight client-based projects with startup companies and community partners at the HUB. The deliverables from one of the projects were used to secure $15,000 from the PNC Bank to support minority-owned businesses in the Greater West Dayton area.
Greater West Dayton Initiative
Spring 2022 Projects
The Stitt Scholars worked on seven projects. A multidisciplinary team of business and engineering students worked on one project with Lunnie (Everyday Nursing Bra), a startup company, to conduct market research and social media analytics. They also designed and conducted an experiment at the Innovation Center to test and compare the absorbency of a new product with competitors. The results enabled the client to distinguish their products empirically. Lunnie won first place at the Flyer Pitch competition, taking home $50k! The client’s “presentation included a slide on the Stitt Scholar team and how they helped put the data behind the bra.”
UD Magazine Article2021
Inaugural Stitt Scholars Program Begins