One of the courses I’m teaching at University of Michigan, IOE (Industrial and Operations Engineering) 422, was originated by an extraordinary fellow named Andy Crawford. Andy was a fervent believer in entrepreneurship education, and he crusaded for years to establish an entrepreneurship course at U-M. He succeeded in doing so, and the result is the IOE 422 course that I have the honor and privilege of teaching today. It is the first such course created at the University. Andy taught IOE 422 for nearly fifteen years, but tragically he passed away in 2001. Andy’s legacy is a rich set of entrepreneurship courses and programs that span the entire University campus and beyond. His legacy is also reflected in the large group of fervent entrepreneurs who have benefited from the course and have gone on to establish their own businesses. A few years ago, some of those former students, and Andy’s wife Karen, established the Andy Crawford Award, which recognizes each semester the IOE 422 student who most embodies the entrepreneurial spirit that Andy championed.
This semester, the recipient of the Andy Crawford award is Mark Grum. Mark led a team of students to develop a “home polysomnography” business that they dubbed SomniHome. What is home polysomnography, you ask? Well, it’s basically a sleep testing system that can be used in a patient’s home, rather than requiring a visit to an expensive sleep-testing lab facility. I’m getting sleepy just explaining it!
Anyway, congratulations to Mark for his outstanding work, and congratulations to the entire “SomniHome” team. Enjoy the summer. I know I will.