Entrepreneurship at Penn State is led by the Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship The center has three major roles within the Smeal College of Business:
creation and management of educational programs in corporate innovation and entrepreneurship; research; and outreach.
The center's mission is to contribute to and interpret the best in academic research in the fields of entrepreneurship including innovation and knowledge management, and to translate this into actionable best practices in the commercial and government sectors.
The Farrell Center views entrepreneurism as a structured management discipline which can be applied not only in start-up companies, but also within established corporations, as well as the new form of corporate networks and "virtual enterprises" .Of particular interest is the role of entrepreneurism in networks of corporations as well as in so-called virtual corporations where the interfaces between existing enterprises become blurred.
Engineering and Entrepreneurship
Currently the Smeal College offers undergraduate courses in entrepreneurship together with Penn State's College of Engineering. In this way, engineering students benefit from the exposure to business practices and the business students work on actual technology driven opportunities created within the engineering school. At the advanced planning stage is the addition of a full undergraduate entrepreneurship program within the business school.
Idea Pitch Competition
Idea Pitch Competition gives all PSU students from all campuses and colleges the opportunity to work together to learn how to effectively formulate and communicate the value of innovative ideas and turn them into real opportunities.
The advantages of PSU's Idea Pitch competition over other competitions are:
- Access to rich teaching materials and examples via the Web for all participants to access. This enables entrants to learn while competing and participate on a "level playing field."
- Access to anonymous, unbiased and high quality judges. Opportunity to receive quality and unbiased feedback of your innovative idea from experts.
- Have your idea ready to be presented to possible sources of funding to take it further.
- Network with other entrepreneurs with various complementary skill sets
The competition is managed by PSU's Nittany Lion Venture Capital (NLVC), one of the world's largest student managed VC funds with over $5M in assets. 
Invention to Venture at Penn State University
The Pennsylvania State University hosts a one-day workshop on the basics of technology commercialization & entrepreneurship.
The workshop is intended for undergraduate and graduate students, faculty/staff as well as community members. Presentations focus on technology entrepreneurship, opportunity assessment, venture capital, marketing, intellectual property, business plans, and related topics. Speakers at Invention to Venture include experts with national stature as well as regional leaders and technology entrepreneurs.
At this fast-paced high-energy workshop, participants:
- Explore technology entrepreneurship fundamentals
- Discover how to turn an innovative product idea into a new technology venture
- Hear success stories
- Network with the people who can help make their ideas a reality
