Abrams Challenge Classes
Courses Support Abrams Sustainable Business Challenge Competitors
Story by Alex Quebbeman
The Abrams Sustainable Business Challenge is an immersive learning experience that helps Loyola students envision, plan, and launch green businesses. Top teams win up to $20,000 to help them get their business concepts off the ground. The registration deadline is February 6, and the final pitch competition takes place in April. However, several spring semester courses are already helping students get started on their sustainable business concepts.
Professors Sarah Ku, April Lane Schuster, and Ugur Uygur teach classes in the Quinlan School of Business and the School of Environmental Sustainability that work in conjunction with the challenge. We interviewed the instructors to learn how these courses incorporate the challenge's goals.
Sarah Ku, PhD, teaches Sustainable Business Management and Design for Circular and Sustainable Business.
Sarah Ku, PhD, School of Sustainability and Quinlan School of Business
As a professor holding joint appointments in Quinlan and SES, Sarah Ku teaches courses that are fantastic options for students participating in the Abrams Challenge. In Spring 2023, Professor Ku is teaching courses in Sustainable Business Management (ENVS 363 and 463) and Design for Circular & Sustainable Business (ENVS 336 and 436).
Q: How do your classes support students interested in participating in the Abrams Challenge?
In Sustainable Business Management, we examine different businesses to identify and evaluate how they are (and are not) sustainable. This course is an excellent introduction for students who are interested in how businesses can lead in sustainable activities and how they often contribute to unsustainable practices and behaviors. Since the Abrams Sustainable Business Challenge offers an opportunity for students to pitch business ideas, this course helps students understand what that involves and explore ways to tackle various business problems through sustainable solutions.
In Design for Circular & Sustainable Business, we discuss circular and sustainable designs through a systems-thinking lens. Systems thinking means that you look at overall interactions and consequences rather than looking at things in isolation. For example, if a shoe is made from recycled ocean plastic, that sounds sustainable. But if there is no consideration as to what happens to that shoe when it wears out, we may only be delaying its likely destination of ending up back in the ocean or a landfill. Therefore, it's crucial to think about a product's entire life cycle (system) instead of just designing it for its function. Looking at how nature solves problems—a practice known as biomimicry—can help us develop businesses to work smarter instead of harder. Viewing things from a holistic perspective may seem simple, but it can take practice because we live in a very complex world. This course helps students rethink how the world works and how to incorporate creative designs by looking at the big picture.
Q: What will students learn in these classes?
Students in Sustainable Business Management will learn about tools and techniques to make each functional area of a business more sustainable. They will also gain a better understanding of critical dimensions of sustainability, including the economics of a sustainable business.
Coming out of the course on Design for Circular & Sustainable Business, students will understand the role of design in creating a sustainable future. They will be able to apply circular and biomimicry design methods and human-centered (design thinking) techniques.
Q: What motivated you to get involved with the challenge?
While corporations are heavily responsible for problems that contribute to resource depletion, climate change, and social disparities, businesses also have lucrative opportunities to lead in sustainable development to enhance people's lives, improve the health of our planet, and still make profits. I love that more courses and programs, like the Abrams Sustainable Business Challenge, are encouraging students to engage with these problems and be a part of solving them. Before joining academia, I spent several years starting and managing a company. Sharing first-hand experience with startup challenges is a great way to support and guide students who want to launch their own companies.
Q: Do all students taking the class have to participate in the challenge?
Yes. Both courses have the Abrams Sustainable Business Challenge incorporated as team assignments. I like to include real-world applications and opportunities in my classes to help students practice soft skills (e.g., communication, problem-solving, creativity, collaborating) that are valuable for professional and personal development regardless of their major.
Q: Do you have any advice for students preparing for the challenge or considering competing?
All it takes to register is a few students who have an idea! We'll provide you with a mentor to help develop your vision and bring it to life. All startups need some initial funding to get off the ground, so this is a wonderful opportunity to jump in and give it a shot! What do you have to lose? I'm always happy to talk to students about ideas and help provide support and guidance. Please email me (sku@luc.edu) or stop by (BVM 417, SES, Lakeshore campus) anytime!
April Lane Schuster, MBA, teaches Introduction to Entrepreneurship, a class that complements the Abrams Sustainable Business Challenge.
April Lane Schuster, MBA, Quinlan School of Business
Professor Schuster is a senior lecturer of entrepreneurship at Quinlan School of Business. She teaches classes for undergraduate business and executive MBA programs. She also serves on the board of Catapult Chicago, a collaborative co-working space for innovative digital startups, where she previously served as executive director. During the spring 2023 semester, she is teaching Introduction to Entrepreneurship (ENTR 201), a course that complements the Abrams Challenge.
Q: How does this class support students interested in participating in the Abrams Challenge?
In the class, we discuss how to find an idea for a new venture, evaluate whether it is a good idea that the student should pursue, and explore how to build a business around the concept. Although we don't focus specifically on sustainability, I encourage students to consider it and enter the competition as our class and the competition focus on similar topics. They would only have to add a few elements to the coursework to enter the challenge.
Q: What will students learn in the class?
This course introduces students to the process of innovation and how to think like an entrepreneur. Students will also learn how entrepreneurs conceive, vet, and test new venture ideas. Students will develop knowledge and skills through a combination of theory and application that will prepare them to move to the next level of entrepreneurial studies.
All businesses, from the smallest to the largest, began as entrepreneurial ventures. Someone had an idea that they turned into a product or service that customers are willing to pay to purchase. In this course, students learn about the very beginnings of these businesses and discover how to create their entrepreneurial sparks scientifically and creatively. This course introduces entrepreneurship to business students and non-business students. The class teaches essential entrepreneurial skills and attributes and provides the foundation and basic competencies required for further entrepreneurship courses.
Q: What motivated you to get involved with the challenge?
I am passionate about entrepreneurship, especially youth entrepreneurship, and the Abrams competition offers a great pathway to starting a new venture. The process, mentoring, resources, support, and prizes are incredibly helpful for any student who has an idea and wants to bring it to fruition. I am excited and grateful to be a part of the process and support students on their entrepreneurial journey. The fact that their ventures will also help the world around us adds a cherry on top.
Q: Do all students taking the class have to participate in the challenge?
No, I make it optional. Students can work on any idea that excites them. With that said, many of the students opt to work on sustainable ventures as it is a topic about which they are passionate.
Q: Do you have any advice for students preparing for the challenge or considering competing?
I have two pieces of advice: 1. Just do it. You have nothing to lose but so much to gain. 2. Take advantage of the resources available. The workshops, videos, mentors, and other elements of the process are incredible resources and can help you on every step of your journey. You don't have to do it on your own, and you don't have to know everything. We're here to help.
Ugur Uygar, PhD, teaches Introduction to Entrepreneurship and Recognizing Entrepreneurial Opportunities.
Ugur Uygur, PhD, Quinlan School of Business
Dr. Uygur is an associate professor of entrepreneurship at Quinlan and the founding director of Ignite Lab, Loyola's virtual business incubator, available to all students. In Spring 2023, Professor Uygur will be teaching courses in Introduction to Entrepreneurship (ENTR 201) and Recognizing Entrepreneurial Opportunities (MGMT 480).
Q: How do these classes support students interested in participating in the Abrams Challenge?
In both of these courses, students go through the process of creating an idea, developing it, and testing it to build a viable business concept. They also practice narrowing a broad vision down to a specific problem and target. Then, the class requires them to test their ideas in the real world. They gather evidence supporting the concept, which can be useful in the Abrams challenge.
Q: What will students learn in the class?
Introduction to Entrepreneurship (ENTR 201) teaches students how to create and solidify an idea, design prototypes, test hypotheses, and come up with an evaluation for them. Students gain insight into the innovation and entrepreneurial mindset and learn to identify market problems and translate ideas into viable products and services.
Recognizing Entrepreneurial Opportunities (MGMT 480) is a graduate-level course focused on the very early stages of the entrepreneurial process. We will discuss how entrepreneurs discover new opportunities and create how societal value. In its approach, the course will include classic theoretical readings, insights from economics, strategic management, organizational studies, psychology, and cognitive science. Students will learn to apply analytical and critical thinking skills to identify untapped entrepreneurial opportunities.
Q: What motivated you to get involved with the challenge?
I've been involved with the Abrams challenge from pretty much day one. I met with the initial organizers of the challenge and assisted them in designing it. I thought my classes would fit well with the challenge, and they do.
Q: Do all students taking the class have to participate in the challenge?
No, students are not required to participate in the challenge, and the courses don't focus specifically on sustainability. At the beginning of class, I tell students that since they will be generating business ideas anyway, they can make their ideas sustainability-related and participate in the challenge if that interests them.
Q: Do you have any advice for students preparing for the challenge or considering competing?
My advice would be to think narrowly. Students often get excited about tackling a big problem like climate change or plastic pollution. However, focusing on such grand and general ideas can make it difficult to sort out the details. Have a vision in the back of your mind, but narrow down the problem to something more specific and work from there.
Learn more
Challenge Hosts
- School of Environmental Sustainability
- Baumhart Center for Social Enterprise and Responsibility
- Quinlan School of Business
About the Abrams Challenge
Courses Support Abrams Sustainable Business Challenge Competitors
Story by Alex Quebbeman
The Abrams Sustainable Business Challenge is an immersive learning experience that helps Loyola students envision, plan, and launch green businesses. Top teams win up to $20,000 to help them get their business concepts off the ground. The registration deadline is February 6, and the final pitch competition takes place in April. However, several spring semester courses are already helping students get started on their sustainable business concepts.
Professors Sarah Ku, April Lane Schuster, and Ugur Uygur teach classes in the Quinlan School of Business and the School of Environmental Sustainability that work in conjunction with the challenge. We interviewed the instructors to learn how these courses incorporate the challenge's goals.
Sarah Ku, PhD, School of Sustainability and Quinlan School of Business
As a professor holding joint appointments in Quinlan and SES, Sarah Ku teaches courses that are fantastic options for students participating in the Abrams Challenge. In Spring 2023, Professor Ku is teaching courses in Sustainable Business Management (ENVS 363 and 463) and Design for Circular & Sustainable Business (ENVS 336 and 436).
Q: How do your classes support students interested in participating in the Abrams Challenge?
In Sustainable Business Management, we examine different businesses to identify and evaluate how they are (and are not) sustainable. This course is an excellent introduction for students who are interested in how businesses can lead in sustainable activities and how they often contribute to unsustainable practices and behaviors. Since the Abrams Sustainable Business Challenge offers an opportunity for students to pitch business ideas, this course helps students understand what that involves and explore ways to tackle various business problems through sustainable solutions.
In Design for Circular & Sustainable Business, we discuss circular and sustainable designs through a systems-thinking lens. Systems thinking means that you look at overall interactions and consequences rather than looking at things in isolation. For example, if a shoe is made from recycled ocean plastic, that sounds sustainable. But if there is no consideration as to what happens to that shoe when it wears out, we may only be delaying its likely destination of ending up back in the ocean or a landfill. Therefore, it's crucial to think about a product's entire life cycle (system) instead of just designing it for its function. Looking at how nature solves problems—a practice known as biomimicry—can help us develop businesses to work smarter instead of harder. Viewing things from a holistic perspective may seem simple, but it can take practice because we live in a very complex world. This course helps students rethink how the world works and how to incorporate creative designs by looking at the big picture.
Q: What will students learn in these classes?
Students in Sustainable Business Management will learn about tools and techniques to make each functional area of a business more sustainable. They will also gain a better understanding of critical dimensions of sustainability, including the economics of a sustainable business.
Coming out of the course on Design for Circular & Sustainable Business, students will understand the role of design in creating a sustainable future. They will be able to apply circular and biomimicry design methods and human-centered (design thinking) techniques.
Q: What motivated you to get involved with the challenge?
While corporations are heavily responsible for problems that contribute to resource depletion, climate change, and social disparities, businesses also have lucrative opportunities to lead in sustainable development to enhance people's lives, improve the health of our planet, and still make profits. I love that more courses and programs, like the Abrams Sustainable Business Challenge, are encouraging students to engage with these problems and be a part of solving them. Before joining academia, I spent several years starting and managing a company. Sharing first-hand experience with startup challenges is a great way to support and guide students who want to launch their own companies.
Q: Do all students taking the class have to participate in the challenge?
Yes. Both courses have the Abrams Sustainable Business Challenge incorporated as team assignments. I like to include real-world applications and opportunities in my classes to help students practice soft skills (e.g., communication, problem-solving, creativity, collaborating) that are valuable for professional and personal development regardless of their major.
Q: Do you have any advice for students preparing for the challenge or considering competing?
All it takes to register is a few students who have an idea! We'll provide you with a mentor to help develop your vision and bring it to life. All startups need some initial funding to get off the ground, so this is a wonderful opportunity to jump in and give it a shot! What do you have to lose? I'm always happy to talk to students about ideas and help provide support and guidance. Please email me (sku@luc.edu) or stop by (BVM 417, SES, Lakeshore campus) anytime!
April Lane Schuster, MBA, Quinlan School of Business
Professor Schuster is a senior lecturer of entrepreneurship at Quinlan School of Business. She teaches classes for undergraduate business and executive MBA programs. She also serves on the board of Catapult Chicago, a collaborative co-working space for innovative digital startups, where she previously served as executive director. During the spring 2023 semester, she is teaching Introduction to Entrepreneurship (ENTR 201), a course that complements the Abrams Challenge.
Q: How does this class support students interested in participating in the Abrams Challenge?
In the class, we discuss how to find an idea for a new venture, evaluate whether it is a good idea that the student should pursue, and explore how to build a business around the concept. Although we don't focus specifically on sustainability, I encourage students to consider it and enter the competition as our class and the competition focus on similar topics. They would only have to add a few elements to the coursework to enter the challenge.
Q: What will students learn in the class?
This course introduces students to the process of innovation and how to think like an entrepreneur. Students will also learn how entrepreneurs conceive, vet, and test new venture ideas. Students will develop knowledge and skills through a combination of theory and application that will prepare them to move to the next level of entrepreneurial studies.
All businesses, from the smallest to the largest, began as entrepreneurial ventures. Someone had an idea that they turned into a product or service that customers are willing to pay to purchase. In this course, students learn about the very beginnings of these businesses and discover how to create their entrepreneurial sparks scientifically and creatively. This course introduces entrepreneurship to business students and non-business students. The class teaches essential entrepreneurial skills and attributes and provides the foundation and basic competencies required for further entrepreneurship courses.
Q: What motivated you to get involved with the challenge?
I am passionate about entrepreneurship, especially youth entrepreneurship, and the Abrams competition offers a great pathway to starting a new venture. The process, mentoring, resources, support, and prizes are incredibly helpful for any student who has an idea and wants to bring it to fruition. I am excited and grateful to be a part of the process and support students on their entrepreneurial journey. The fact that their ventures will also help the world around us adds a cherry on top.
Q: Do all students taking the class have to participate in the challenge?
No, I make it optional. Students can work on any idea that excites them. With that said, many of the students opt to work on sustainable ventures as it is a topic about which they are passionate.
Q: Do you have any advice for students preparing for the challenge or considering competing?
I have two pieces of advice: 1. Just do it. You have nothing to lose but so much to gain. 2. Take advantage of the resources available. The workshops, videos, mentors, and other elements of the process are incredible resources and can help you on every step of your journey. You don't have to do it on your own, and you don't have to know everything. We're here to help.
Ugur Uygur, PhD, Quinlan School of Business
Dr. Uygur is an associate professor of entrepreneurship at Quinlan and the founding director of Ignite Lab, Loyola's virtual business incubator, available to all students. In Spring 2023, Professor Uygur will be teaching courses in Introduction to Entrepreneurship (ENTR 201) and Recognizing Entrepreneurial Opportunities (MGMT 480).
Q: How do these classes support students interested in participating in the Abrams Challenge?
In both of these courses, students go through the process of creating an idea, developing it, and testing it to build a viable business concept. They also practice narrowing a broad vision down to a specific problem and target. Then, the class requires them to test their ideas in the real world. They gather evidence supporting the concept, which can be useful in the Abrams challenge.
Q: What will students learn in the class?
Introduction to Entrepreneurship (ENTR 201) teaches students how to create and solidify an idea, design prototypes, test hypotheses, and come up with an evaluation for them. Students gain insight into the innovation and entrepreneurial mindset and learn to identify market problems and translate ideas into viable products and services.
Recognizing Entrepreneurial Opportunities (MGMT 480) is a graduate-level course focused on the very early stages of the entrepreneurial process. We will discuss how entrepreneurs discover new opportunities and create how societal value. In its approach, the course will include classic theoretical readings, insights from economics, strategic management, organizational studies, psychology, and cognitive science. Students will learn to apply analytical and critical thinking skills to identify untapped entrepreneurial opportunities.
Q: What motivated you to get involved with the challenge?
I've been involved with the Abrams challenge from pretty much day one. I met with the initial organizers of the challenge and assisted them in designing it. I thought my classes would fit well with the challenge, and they do.
Q: Do all students taking the class have to participate in the challenge?
No, students are not required to participate in the challenge, and the courses don't focus specifically on sustainability. At the beginning of class, I tell students that since they will be generating business ideas anyway, they can make their ideas sustainability-related and participate in the challenge if that interests them.
Q: Do you have any advice for students preparing for the challenge or considering competing?
My advice would be to think narrowly. Students often get excited about tackling a big problem like climate change or plastic pollution. However, focusing on such grand and general ideas can make it difficult to sort out the details. Have a vision in the back of your mind, but narrow down the problem to something more specific and work from there.
Learn more
Challenge Hosts
- School of Environmental Sustainability
- Baumhart Center for Social Enterprise and Responsibility
- Quinlan School of Business
About the Abrams Challenge