As an experiential prize for being selected as one of the top three student teams in the Elon Innovation Challenge, students Cory Dowd, Alex Trevisan and Keith Williams enjoyed an afternoon at the home of Dave and Suku Rendall on Feb. 27.
Dave Rendall is a former Nortel Networks executive and telecommunication industry analyst. He was one of the company’s initial executives in North Carolina. While at Nortel, Rendell served as vice president of systems engineering, vice president of product planning and vice president of strategic planning.
Rendall left Nortel in 1985 to open Rendall and Associates, a boutique consultancy working with telecom service providers and suppliers on strategy. He has worked with venture capitalists, new ventures, corporate executives and senior government officials worldwide. Gartner Consulting acquired the consulting company in 1999, and Rendall became group vice president and director of research for the firm.
In meeting with the students, Rendell discussed entrepreneurship opportunities, strategies and career paths.
Hosted by the Doherty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, the Elon Innovation Challenge was held in coordination with the Stanford Global Innovation Tournament. This creativity competition encouraged teams to add value to an everyday object that was unveiled in a Nov. 12 kickoff event. The teams had less than a week to create a video of three minutes or less to show added value using any number of water bottles.