Wayne State University's School of Business Administration and Ford Global Technologies, LLC have selected Claudia Chaalan to receive the 2010 Adams Entrepreneur Fellowship. This program connects a Wayne State MBA student or alumnus with an entrepreneur for one year to investigate options for commercializing and licensing a corporate partner's intellectual property.
Ford Global Technologies LLC (FGTL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company, is a new corporate partner for the WSU fellowship in 2010. The unit manages all aspects of intellectual property for Ford and its brands. Chaalan will explore commercialization possibilities within Ford's intellectual property assets with mentor Christopher Danowski, director of technology commercialization at the Ford subsidiary.
"Her education and experience made Claudia a remarkable candidate for this opportunity," said Danowski. "Claudia joined our organization in early January and although it has only been a couple of weeks, she is quickly learning our business processes and already is making a number of contributions with other members of the ‘One Ford' team."
Chaalan's background includes positions such as contract senior application analyst at Ford, project manager at Visteon Corporation and Web developer and IT analyst at Trilogy International. She is completing her final semester in the Wayne State University MBA program and is the first woman to be selected for the Adams Entrepreneur Fellowship, now in its fourth year.
"It's a delight to pair one of our MBA students with Ford Global Technologies, LLC. This partnership is expected to produce invaluable benefits for both Claudia and Ford," said David Williams, dean of the School of Business Administration at Wayne State.
"We presume that there are many opportunities to be discovered within Ford's intellectual property holdings," said Terry Cross, WSU School of Business Administration executive-in-residence and administrator of the Adams Fellowship program. "Collaborating with a partner like Ford Global Technologies, LLC is very exciting and I anticipate some outstanding results."
The Adams Entrepreneur Fellowship program is made possible by a grant from the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan.
About Wayne State University and the School of Business Administration
Wayne State University is a premier urban research university offering more than 350 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 32,000 students. The School of Business Administration at Wayne State University provides quality business education through degree programs accredited by AACSB International. For more information, visit www.wayne.edu.
About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 201,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide, the company's automotive brands include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Volvo. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford's products, please visit www.ford.com.
About the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan
The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan is a permanent community endowment built by gifts from thousands of individuals and organizations committed to the future of southeast Michigan. The Foundation works to improve the region's quality of life by connecting those who care with causes that matter. The Foundation supports a wide variety of activities benefiting education, arts and culture, health, human services, community development and civic affairs. Since its inception, the Foundation has distributed more than $380 million through more than 33,500 grants to nonprofit organizations throughout Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Monroe, Washtenaw, St. Clair and Livingston counties. For more information, please visit www.cfsem.org.