UCLA Epicenter Connects Students With Businesses for a Win-Win

T

his past summer, the UCLA Alumni Association became the new home for the UCLA Epicenter, further bolstering the Association's services to the UCLA community.

Founded in 2017, the Epicenter’s mission is “to augment students’ academic curriculum with project-based experiential learning in collaboration with industry partners.”

As Executive Director Raffi Simonian ’85 sees it, “The whole purpose of the Epicenter is to connect education to a career. They may earn a degree, but many do not know what to do with it. That’s where we come in.”

One way the Epicenter accomplishes this is through an intensive 10-week project-based experiential learning program, Innovation Challenge. This program is conducted in partnership with a variety of industries, ranging from tech to nonprofit organizations. To date, the Epicenter has partnered with and helped organizations such as Amazon Web Services, Slalom, Harman International and LA28 (the nonprofit committee planning the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games).

By partnering with these organizations, UCLA students are then provided opportunities to help industry leaders take on everyday challenges facing businesses today.

For example, to combat the concern of organizers about the declining viewership of the Olympic Games, a group of students designed the MedalUp app. Aimed at younger global audiences, it provides gamified experiences and competitions within close communities, allowing users to collect points and earn coupons and rewards from corporate sponsors. This idea won gold at the Spring 2023 Innovation Challenge and the product is now with Amazon Web Services, which will take it from concept to a fully developed product.

“That’s a big incentive for organizations to partner with us,” said Simonian. “We help solve their problem. Whether it's a social impact problem or other business problems, our students can provide feedback from their perspectives, increase engagement from other students, and even help develop actual products or services. We provide invaluable experience and exposure to connections and careers, and can even help students have a job lined up following graduation.”  

With the UCLA Alumni Association serving as the new home for the Epicenter, the opportunities to connect students with alumni have only expanded, adding to the Association’s extensive services through its Alumni Career Engagement office. The Epicenter now has a vast offering of pre-existing infrastructure resources to take advantage of, and as a result, is able to further service both current UCLA students and alumni for years to come.

“We want to connect alumni back to their alma mater, and part of that means making sure students can be hired by businesses run by Bruins,” said Simonian. “Our 10-week program is almost like a 10-week interview for some of our participants. We know our alumni may have business problems, and our current students may be able to solve them. These students are not only their future customers, but more importantly, they’re our future leaders.

“Through the Epicenter, alumni can help give back to the students. They [alumni] can either become coaches, speakers or mentors. Instead of reaching out to consulting firms to learn how to connect with younger generations, alumni and their businesses have bright UCLA students as a resource. They're helping the students gain experience. They're giving back to their school. And they're getting a solution to their business problem. It’s a win-win for everybody.”

For more information, including how to get involved, please visit the UCLA Epicenter website.

---

Recent Articles