Dr Massa from the Department of Management was invited as a judge on the final adjudication panel for the awards at the ICT Student Association’s 2018 ‘The Million Dollar Idea’ (TMDI) business start-up idea competition.
Complemented with workshops and mentoring aimed at enhancing participants’ experience, the incubation of ideas and validation of business models, the weekend event was held between Friday 6 and Sunday 8 April 2018 at The Hub Workspace. The final pitches, judging and awards were held on Sunday at the Cavallieri Art Hotel, St Julians.
Spanning academia and industry, Nathaniel is resident senior faculty at the Department of Management, University of Malta – holding a PhD in business management and international entrepreneurship, and an MBA. He is currently a member on the board of the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Business Incubation at the University of Malta, and is also associated with the Community for Internationalisation and Enterprise Research at the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow.
Other Judges on the panel for this year’s TMDI event were Dr Adrian Francalanza (Department of Computer Science, University of Malta), Mr Carmel Cachia (Executive at eSkills Malta Foundation), Dr Ing Anton Bartolo (Director Corporate Research & Knowledge Transfer at the University of Malta), Mr Ian Castillo (Co-Founder of ICON), and Mr Matthew Caruana (Manager of Malta’s crowdfunding platform Zaar).
During this weekend event teams sleep-over and further develop their start-up idea. They are given expert advice by appointed mentors, towards refining their concept and business plan. By the end of the weekend, they present and pitch their idea in front of a panel of judges. Winning teams receive cash prizes and development assistance besides exposure.
As an organisation, ICTSA incorporates and represents ICT students at various faculties at the University of Malta (including FEMA), as well as MCAST. Dr Nathaniel Massa and the Department of Management commend ICTSA’s initiative.
