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Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship

We are a dedicated institute for student entrepreneurs across campus and beyond. We aim to maximize your success by fostering your entrepreneurial mindset, promote inter-disciplinary collaboration and provide support for the creation and development of your new ventures. Jumpstart your ideas and get involved today!

Tune in for excitement!

Passion. Potential. Pitches. Don't miss any of the 2025 New Venture Challenge excitement.

Tune in Friday, April 11 at 1 p.m. for great ideas and fierce competition. Then, join the judges, mentors, spectators and teams as they see who is going home with thousands of dollars in venture financing. The awards broadcast begins at 6:30 p.m. and one team will walk away as the overall best venture. 

Start your entrepreneurial journey

Central Michigan University’s College of Business Administration is the home of the Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship and the first Department of Entrepreneurship in the state of Michigan. We are a student-centric hub where experiential, curricular, and external entrepreneurial opportunities intersect.

Our mission is to maximize student success by fostering a campus-wide entrepreneurial mindset that promotes inter-disciplinary collaboration and the creation of new ventures.

We aim to create innovative programming, boost cross-campus and ecosystem collaboration and provide a comprehensive mentoring program.

Our institute provides extracurricular opportunities and is open to all undergraduate and graduate CMU students.

Student opportunities

  • Meet experienced alumni, faculty, entrepreneurs, investors, and other business and political leaders.
  • Learn practical skills, innovative thinking, and connect with mentors and entrepreneurial resources.
  • Attend skill-building workshops and compete in pitch competitions and Hackathons.
  • Take part in special scholarship programs and travel experiences.
  • Pitch your venture at our signature New Venture Challenge event and compete for up to $20,000 in cash awards.

      Find your path

      Are you interested in becoming an entrepreneur?

      Every journey is unique. Explore the opportunities that interest you.

      Math multiplies MRI effectiveness

      by Teagan Haynes

       In the medical field, precise analyses of brain imaging are vital to positive patient outcomes. Hiruni Pallage’s recent dissertation in Mathematics compared three methods of analysis to improve the accuracy of interpreting brain images obtained by the non-invasive method called Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRI.   

      Pallage worked on this project in close collaboration with her advisor, Yeonhyang Kim Ph.D., a professor in the CMU Mathematics Department. Pallage hopes her results will one day lead to reduced imaging times for patients, without decreased precision of the neural map of the brain. The details of brain images are necessary to effectively treat neurological disorders like depression and autism; however, some patients become claustrophobic during long MRI scans.   

      This project was challenging as a mathematics student because Pallage had to first spend time understanding the fundamentals of how MRI scans generate images of neurons in the brain. Her investment paid off when her advanced mathematical analyses resulted in an improved signal compared to existing methods of analysis.  

      Pallage is excited to have completed her dissertation and start a new position as an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Centre College. She looks forward to her results being used as a foundation for future studies, and one day being applied in a clinical setting to improve patient experiences during MRI scans and improve treatments for serious neurological disorders. 

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