MIMIC Fair planned
By Jason Hochstatter
IV Leader Staff
Students in the MIMIC (Making Industry Meaningful in College) program will be
selling the products they’ve been working on this semester on April 26 in the
main lobby.
Students recently finished the prototypes of their products, which include a
fountain lamp, desk organizer, lighted dog collar, portable fish tank, clock,
and a lighted stein. Some of the products are redesigned versions of past
products. These will be sold at prices likely between $2-20, and one of the
organizers, Dorene Perez recommends that IVCC students shop early, because in
the past some products have sold out by 8 a.m.
The goal of MIMIC is to, “Take students from CAD [Computer Aided Design],
electronics, marketing, accounting and put together teams called companies that
have to ‘Design Market and sell a product on campus,” said Perez. Perez also
noted that students involved will have a “realistic experience when they go on
to a job.”
The companies have a meeting every Wednesday to work on their project, and it is
a requirement that they wear something that they would wear if they were working
for a real business.
“It’s difficult sometimes,” said Cheryl Morency, a student in MIMIC who is
returning to school after being in business, when asked about the dress code.
Over the course of the semester, students also have to give presentations about
their project to the other groups. Companies give surveys throughout IVCC in
order to get a better idea on how they might fine-tune their product.
“I’ve learned things in MIMIC that I never knew about even when I was in
business,” said Morency.
This is the 11th year for MIMIC, and it is being organized by Perez, Jim Gibson
and Susan Koepke. The program is funded through a National Science Foundation
grant. According to Perez, there are 40 students in MIMIC who have been divided
into six companies with two engineer students each. She said that any fewer
engineering students per group is too hard, and any more is too cumbersome.
In the past the variety of other programs have been involved with the company
projects, including web site designs and theatre students working on
advertisements. “We really miss that. We’re trying to resurrect that,” said
Perez when asked about online components to the web site.
In the future, Perez hopes that she will be able to expand the program even
further, starting programs in high schools and eventually even grade schools.