Business and Engineering

A first-of-its-kind bridge between business and engineering on a university campus.

The Leeds School of Business and the College of Engineering and Applied Science have embarked on a partnership that includes a joint building expansion that physically and programmatically connects the two schools. This project serves as a way to integrate the two disciplines, bridge our two communities, and accelerate collaboration and innovation across campus and with the business community—ultimately transforming how we inspire and educate tomorrow’s leaders.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Hub

At the center of the Business and Engineering expansion will be a catalytic space where students from all majors at CU Boulder can work closely with faculty experts and industry leaders to explore the next big idea, develop new innovations and build their startups.

The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Hub brings together the expertise from both Business and Engineering’s entrepreneurship centers, effectively fostering a collaboration of each school’s diverse skill sets and knowledge. Prioritizing this kind of partnership is the type of novel approach needed to keep pace with today’s rapidly evolving technologies and the needs, desires and challenges of modern society. Leeds’ Deming Center for Entrepreneurship, led by Executive Director Erick Mueller, will relocate from its space in the Koelbel (business) building as part of this expansion. The Deming Center provides access to a wide variety of experiential entrepreneurial education and mentoring opportunities for current students.

“Such experiences provide a richness and realness to how entrepreneurship can change the world,” says Mueller. “[They] deliver an entrepreneurial foundation for students that will hopefully last a lifetime.”

“One of the things that differentiates CU Boulder is how we integrate into the entrepreneurial ecosystem that surrounds us,” says Leeds Dean Sharon Matusik. “The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Hub will give us the opportunity to engage our dynamic business community even more, encouraging these companies to interact with our students and provide opportunities to solve live problems for them, which, in turn, prepares the students for greater success in the world.”

Business and Engineering Timeline

Spring 2017

Business and Engineering
partnership launches

Spring 2019

Construction begins around
existing buildings

Summer 2019

Groundbreaking signifies this
unprecedented collaboration

Fall 2020

Spaces start to open to
students and CU community

Spring 2021

Grand opening
marks a new era

Investing in a New Era of Ingenuity and Collaboration

Tandean Tandean Rustandy, founder and CEO of PT Arwana Citramulia Tbk, established one of the most successful businesses in Indonesia and one of the best-performing ceramic tile manufacturing companies in the world. He disrupts business norms by ensuring his company positively impacts the lives of his employees and their community. As a result, Arwana has received numerous awards for Rustandy’s innovative leadership, creative approach to human capital management, and environmental sustainability.

A first-generation college student from Indonesia, Rustandy came to CU Boulder to study at Leeds, building upon his belief that education creates impact and change. Through his education, he honed an entrepreneurial mindset focused more on the value of people and giving back than on profits.

Early on, Rustandy saw the potential value for students and the two schools in connecting their nationally recognized programs and was the first donor and champion for the project. Accordingly, the new building is being named in his honor.

The entire purpose for developing this joint building venture and partnership is to provide these highly talented, emerging leaders the space to put their creativity into action—and ensure they have the resources to make their ideas come to life in a meaningful way.

— Tandean Rustandy