Tag: experiential learning



Students in the CELect Entrepreneurship Course held at the T-REx startup accelerator are sharing their team projects this semester on the Olin Blog. This report is from the team working at Sparo Labs, a company founded by Wash U Class of 2013 grads.

Asthma is a devastating public health issue. Despite a staggering number of asthma patients – estimated at 300 million worldwide and 1 million new cases diagnosed in US every year – asthma (and other related respiratory illnesses) is still a tremendously misunderstood and mismanaged condition affecting quality of life and imposing significant, yet avoidable, economic burdens on the health care system. The healthcare system as a whole isn’t working for asthma patients – clinicians don’t have time to spend with patients to properly educate them, additionally they don’t have effective tools for properly managing patients and making well-informed decisions.

Current solutions for asthma patients to track their symptoms, even in developed Western nations, are inadequate for daily use. Spirometers found in doctor’s office are expensive, and require the services of a trained technician to calibrate them often. Peak flow meters have the advantage of being distributable to patients, but they are unwieldy, unreliable, and not sophisticated. Moreover, neither offers patients a meaningful way to engage with the status of their lung function or to better understand what and how different factors (medications and triggers) affect their asthma.

Without a system to actively track lung capacity changes, patients and doctors experience great difficulty understanding causes, symptoms, and successful remedies, which can vary greatly from individual to individual.

Sparo Labs: Taking flight with Wing

Sparo Labs are located at the T-Rex accelerator in downtown St. Louis. While students at Wash U they won the Olin Cup, Discovery Competition, and an Arch Grants while developing their plans for Sparo Labs.

Sparo Labs are located at the T-Rex accelerator in downtown St. Louis. Watch video of Abby and Andrew demonstrating their mobile-enabled spirometer.

Abigail Cohen and Andrew Brimer, co-founders of Sparo Labs and WashU alumni, are introducing Wing. Wing is an innovative product that allows asthma patients to be pro-active in managing their asthma and not have to rely on their doctor as the single source of information.

Wing combines the strengths of clinical spirometers and peak flow meters, while also discarding their barriers to patient access. It is a simple, no-frills, pocket-sized sensor that connects to a visually appealing cloud-based management and education app on smartphones. This innovative technology allows asthma patients and caretakers (such as parents, nurses, and doctors) to accurately measure lung function at any given time. Asthma patients will have the power to always know “how their asthma is doing” and what preventive measures they can take before the onset of an asthma attack. Furthermore, chosen clinicians can easily access the data, improving dialogue with their patients.

With the product nearing the FDA submission and clearance process, Abigail and Andrew have set their sights on selecting the best channels to spread awareness and excitement in preparation for a beta-launch of Wing.

Where Team CELECT Adds Value

Abigail and Andrew provided the CELect team with in-house research and suggestions to familiarize themselves with the customers they were looking to garner the most support amongst and the different options to implementing a successful pre-launch campaign.

Specifically, the CELect team needs to understand the potential target customers’

1) Individual pain points i.e. parent’s frustration with inability to help their children,

2) Technological ability and comfort level, and

3) Appropriate channels to provide the necessary and applicable information.

The goal now is to find the appropriate channels that will garner the most support (as part of a pre-launch campaign) to demonstrate credible demand and interest that Sparo Labs can use to leverage for further promotion post-FDA approval.

The CELect team looks forward to working closely with Abigail and Andrew over the next two months and is excited to take part in a project that will have real, significant, and long-lasting impact on the asthma community. More broadly, the team feels Wing can serve as an actionable example to help fix the information disconnect that limits chronic diseases patients from actively managing their lives.

CELect – Sparo Team
Kenneth Mao – MBA 2016
Srinivas Medepalli – PMBA 38
Kevin Smith – JD 2016
Christopher Weber – JD 2016

Images: WUSTL Photos


Candidates for the Master of Science in Leadership (MS-Leadership) degree program gathered on September 12, 2013 for a full day orientation and a master class. The 2013 Master class marked a pivotal shift for the MS-Leadership degree as it was the first time many of the students gathered as a MS-Leadership community. A sense of family, shared experience and camaraderie fill the room with an unprecedented energy.

This distinctive degree is one of the few offered in the United States for leaders in the public sector granted by Olin Business School delivered via Brookings Executive Education (BEE). The accredited MS–Leadership curriculum centers on a series of courses—Executive Pathways—that can be taken in any order over as much time as needed. These courses are held at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.

“The practical application and not just a theory based learning of the Master of Science in Leadership program is the competitive edge I was looking for in a graduate degree.”

The day’s agenda included reviewing degree requirements and expectations, understanding and improving written communications, student presentations on Strategic Thinking: Examples of Impact, and a MS-leadership dinner.

“I get an opportunity to interact with folks from different agencies that I normally would not. I understand the challenges I have traverse across agencies. The only interaction I have at this level of this type is in these courses.”

BEE is providing MS-Leadership students with the services of a writing coach to assist them with style, precision, and clarity in writing. In addition, the writing coach will provide guidance on the development of the Office of Personnel Management competency of written communication. The coach will not grade the paper but will be available for advice while a student is composing it and will provide feedback after submission.

Shannon Baker Moore, M.A., is our BEE Writing Coach. A freelance writer and editor, Moore also teaches writing at the Pierre Laclede Honors College of the University of Missouri – St. Louis. Her writing background includes business and technical writing as well as creative writing and non-fiction.

“You can only run on instinct for so long. This curriculum provides the framework to inform decisions I make at my agency.”

Student presentations covered the afternoon and aroused thoughtful discussion among students and present professors, Jackson Nickerson and Stuart Bunderson. Presentations included the topics critical thinking, strategic thinking, and inspiring creativity. Each presentation demonstrated the major impact the MS-Leadership curriculum is having on the work they do at their Federal agency.

“Asking ‘what problem am I really trying to solve’ allows you to look at the right solution.”

Dinner in the St. Louis room at Brookings provided an intimate conclusion for the day. Why individuals are participating in the MS-Leadership degree, the unique advantages of the program, the return on investment at the personal and agency level, and the diverse experiences were among topics discussed. Students, faculty, and staff pinged ideas off of each other on new ways to grow the program; all wanting to share the incredible experience that is the MS-Leadership.




Students will travel downtown to T-REx, home to entrepreneurial startups in the historic Railway Exchange building for the new MGT550X course. The experimental elective is a collaboration between Olin and Wash U’s engineering and law schools. Students will work in consulting teams with companies on projects ranging from marketing to revenue modeling.

Companies participating in the inaugural semester include:

  • Food Essentials
  • Makaboo
  • MedPreps
  • IDC Projects
  • Tunsespeak
  • Observable Networks
  • BusyEvent
  • Graematter

Read more about the course in Olin News.