Rutgers’ IDEA Promotes Innovation Ecosystem, Student Entrepreneurism

Undergraduate students tackle big ideas designed to benefit society

Time management is a challenge for many college students, but for Srujanesh “Sunny” Gunda and other students in Rutgers-New Brunswick’s Innovation, Design, and Entrepreneurship Academy (IDEA), it’s a necessity.

Gunda, an Honors College junior majoring in biochemistry and economics, has three projects underway at IDEA, a new initiative by the Office of Chancellor-Provost Francine Conway which gives undergraduate students access to experiential learning opportunities organized around real-world challenges.

“The IDEA program has really helped me and other students to explore innovative ways to make a difference in people’s lives ,” said Gunda, 20, of Manalapan, N.J., an aspiring physician who uses Google Calendar to navigate his myriad academic commitments and – surprisingly -- free time, which he spends playing tennis and the video game Cyberpunk 2077.

IDEA, which is intended to complement any major of study, helps students to explore their interests, apply their creativity, enhance their skillset and learn about different fields of study that can help them determine their career path. It is a mix of the arts, sciences, humanities and engineering paired with design, innovation, experimenting and having fun.

Gunda’s IDEA initiatives include the Merck Vaccine Hesitancy Project, a joint initiative last summer between IDEA and Merck designed to understand why Black and Hispanic women in urban areas are hesitant to get vaccines. The five-week project was conducted by an interdisciplinary team ranging from pre-med to business and art students. They surveyed more than 200 women and found that 85 percent support getting vaccines but were hesitant due to trust and accessibility issues.

Gunda also leads an IDEA podcast with six other students, who interview industry partners and discuss “what makes an interdisciplinary change-maker in this new era where students are owning their learning and combining all of their interests to progress society through social impact businesses,” he said.

His third IDEA project is Savant, an education-tech startup that “aims to use artificial knowledge and cognitive science to improve the way teachers teach in the classroom by providing custom content, so they can help students own their learning and foster their love for becoming a lifelong learner,” he said. Gunda’s idea is to create software and a YouTube-style platform that enable teachers to create and upload virtual reality content where, for example, students could visit ancient Rome and Greece to interact with emperors, philosophers and other figures in history.

Gunda joined IDEA at the urging of IDEA Director Sunita Kramer, associate vice president for Research and Experiential Education. She also created Rutgers’ 4+4 Program, an interdisciplinary partnership between the Honors College and Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in which participating in-state undergraduate students who fulfill a range of rigorous requirements are guaranteed admission to the medical school.

Gunda, who is a member of the 4+4 Program, and his IDEA projects illustrate how Rutgers’ innovation ecosystem is growing and positioning students for lifetimes of success that benefit society, Kramer said.

“Our goal is to expose students to the most important problems that need solving in our society through co-curricular design labs and sprints, one-credit research seminars and industry-mentored summer projects,” Kramer said. “Rather than focusing on majors and requirements, IDEA has designed intentional pathways for students to mobilize the vast resources at Rutgers, including faculty mentored research, internships and business skill-building to give clarity and coherence to the student’s educational experience.”

In addition to his IDEA projects, Gunda started his own podcast, Fluxus Animo, in which he and several friends discuss philosophy, immigration, intellectual humility, entitlement, justice and other issues.

“IDEA provides hands-on and experiential learning opportunities that encourage students to experiment and discover their interests and strengths as they choose a course of study at Rutgers, and, ultimately, pursue a career path after graduation,” Kramer said. “Sunny’s projects are a good example of what IDEA can do.”

Click here for more information about Innovation, Design, and Entrepreneurship Academy (IDEA).