Of the many valuable experiences Matt Shobe had as a UW graduate student in Human Centered Design & Engineering, he particularly appreciated opportunities to interact with professional engineers. Since graduating in 1996, he’s spent much of his career as an entrepreneur, pushing forward new ideas. He’s worked at both small, innovation-driven start-ups and in big corporations, tackling large-scale problem solving. Matt believes that entrepreneurial thinking can contribute to a student’s success no matter where they end up working.
It was this philosophy that led Matt to sponsor a design competition in entrepreneurial leadership, the Shobe Prize. In this competition, student teams test their skills by submitting a proposal for a tech-focused project to be developed into a prototype and sales pitch. The winning design could be a web service, mobile device app, or another service for personal computing and communications. The winning team is awarded a grant, office space and one-on-one mentoring. By making a gift to create this competition, Matt is helping students develop entrepreneurial skills early in their engineering studies, preparing them for professional success while fostering innovative tech projects.