A career academy that would provide high school students with hands-on work experience and some college credit could open as early as 2016 in the Waukee school district, likely making it the first of its kind in Iowa.

The proposed academy would offer students experience in science, technology, engineering and math-related careers, all areas employers have had difficulty filling, officials said. The proposal was dis- cussed by school board members Monday.

For some students, the decision to enroll at a community college is simple. A two-year school offers the credential they need at a much lower cost than a university, and the earnings post-degree are on par with — or better than — what they would make after going to a four-year school.

Less debt, similar salary — the math adds up.

But outside fields that require specific certificates or degrees, it’s not always clear to students which higher education path they should take. And as Jeffrey Selingo wrote in a recent Wall Street Journal weekend essay, a number of websites are cropping up that allow students and parents to compare the return on investment from college to college.

A commercialization program to match up provider, payer and pharma technology needs with willing and able healthcare startups has announced its 10 finalists. Each will receive $100,000 tied to meeting certain performance milestones. They have three to six months to work with the healthcare group they’re matched with, depending on the complexity of the program.

PILOT Health Tech NYC, developed by the New York City Economic Development Corporation and Health 2.0, is holding its demo day today at Blueprint Health’s NYC digs. The program is also supported by StartUp Health.

You are not an island. Entrepreneurs must rely on their ecosystems. Your survival depends on your interactions with those around you, for better or for worse. And those interactions depend on the quirkiness of human beings -- our passions, intuitions and foibles.

Entrepreneurs can learn valuable business management lessons from biology itself. Here are four:

1. Diversity can take you farther than expertise. Biological systems, like rainforests, thrive on diversity. The richness of the interactions between different species of flora and fauna determine the ultimate robustness of the system. What scientists have discovered is that the same thing applies to human problem solving.

AT&T Inc. has announced it will open an innovation center near Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

Company officials said Tuesday that the innovation center is expected to help AT&T speed development of new applications and platforms.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said the development reinforces the city's position as a technology capital of the southeast.

In a statement, company officials said the innovation center will test and develop products for Digital Life, AT&T's recently-launched home security and automation service.

It is no secret that the world of venture capital (VCs) was turned upside down by the recent Recession, and many other changes in the marketplace. I see now emerging a new wave of investors, popularly known as “super-Angels,” micro-VCs, or “super-seed” investors. Every early-stage startup should explore this new funding alternative.

Examples of some leaders in this space include Mike Maples in Silicon Valley and David S. Rose in NYC, who each make up to ten investments a year of up to $250,000. Business Week ran a more thorough analysis of this movement a while back, which I have updated below. I would conclude that the genesis of this trend comes from several forces, including the following:

If you hand out marketing materials at trade shows, networking events or conferences, you know what a pain it is when they’re outdated. And with technology changing at the speed of light, your product or service offerings may be changing pretty quickly too.

How do you keep your marketing materials up to date without going over budget?

The phrase “vehicle-to-vehicle communications” might currently mean little more than a few choice words hurled through an open car window. In a few years, however, it could be synonymous with technology that makes driving safer, less polluting, and certainly less antagonistic.

This week, officials from the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, DC, will see the technology in action, in a demonstration organized by experts from the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute and various communications equipment and car manufacturers. The demos will showcase a way for vehicles to exchange information—including their position, direction, and speed—with other similarly equipped vehicles as well as with roadside equipment such as traffic lights and tollbooths. The result is a peer-to-peer communication network capable of alerting drivers and onboard computers about what’s happening on the road—and what may be about to happen next.

Innovators.  Leaders. These are words that come to mind when many think of America and, in particular, our information technology industry. With increased global competition, America’s innovation and leadership position is at risk. In order to reclaim it we must address two separate but intertwined issues --  science, technology, education and mathematics (STEM) education programs and immigration reform.

Warwick University built its reputation on its close ties with local manufacturing companies. Now it is looking to global connections with partner universities. This makes it possible to attract the best academics and do the best research, says Stuart Croft, pro-vice chancellor.

In its short history of nearly fifty years, Warwick University has capitalised on its setting in the manufacturing heartland of the UK’s West Midlands. A strong commitment to manufacturing, even when others were disinvesting, allowed the Warwick Manufacturing Group to forge partnerships with industry, including Land Rover and Jaguar, which continue to invest in the development of the campus.

Far from the jaded, disconnected image you might have of them, 18- to 30-year-olds have a bright view of the future, and are willing to work to make the world better.

Young people in the U.S. care less about the environment and are more optimistic than their counterparts in other countries. They’re more concerned about the economy than anything else, but they still believe their quality of life is better than their parents’ generation. And through it all, the vast majority believe they can make a difference in their local communities.

If you need more reason to make a jog part of your morning routine or to turn your afternoon meetings into walk-n-talks, try this: exercise boosts your cognitive functioning and improves your memory.

HUSTLE WITH THE BODY, HUSTLE WITH THE BRAIN

Writing in Scientific American, Justin Rhodes, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Illinois, reports that a "growing body of evidence suggests we think and learn better" when we walk, jog, or otherwise workout--though the reasons why aren't completely understood.

Summer officially began last week, and in many regions that means beguilingly warm days and a nagging desire to trade spreadsheets for sunscreen. But not everyone is ready to abandon their professional ambitions for three months. Plenty of new graduates, entrepreneurs and strivers of all stripes want to find ways to enhance their careers during the summer.

An innovative business idea can strike at any time. Just ask Igor Faletski, John Boxall and Peter McLachlan. While waiting for a bus in the Vancouver rain in 2007, they conjured up the concept for an SMS application that would provide passengers with up-to-the minute transit data on their mobile device. It was one of the first systems of its kind in North America.To read the original article: Do business accelerators really work? - The Globe and Mail

Graduation: A time that brings together public figures, celebrities, and intellectuals alike to impart their words of wisdom on the graduating class. Throughout this celebratory season, commencement speakers are called upon to share the defining moments in their lives and the lessons they’ve learned in facing adversity. Many give advice on how to prepare for the road ahead and remind the graduates to stay true to themselves as they move forward on their journey. In the spirit of the graduation season, the team at Fueled compiled a list of the top commencement speeches of 2013:

As the unpaid internship debate rages on, we’ve forgotten someone:

The Intern.

And not just forgotten; through neglect, naivety and personal agendas… we’ve hurt the very interns we’re trying to help.

How?

By forgetting that beyond unscrupulous employers, there are many others to blame for the plight of interns everywhere, both paid and unpaid.

Your chances of meeting an Ironman finisher walking down the street are about 1 in 1,000. Get a bunch of entrepreneurs in a room, and they're much higher.

Have you ever noticed the disproportionate number of successful entrepreneurs who have completed an Ironman triathlon?

I don’t have hard data, but it seems strange that everywhere I turn in entrepreneurial circles, there’s another Ironman. Last week I had drinks with fellow Entrepreneurs’ Organization member David Rich, and we talked about his last Ironman race. The next day, I met a Scandinavian who runs a coaching business in Vienna and is training for Ironman Austria at the end of June. Then I happened to read the bio of Scott Shewerty, founder of Nashville-based Ethos3, and … you guessed it … an Ironman.

Ever been called crazy?

You know, by well-meaning family or friends for your hair brained ideas?

Most every entrepreneur worth his or her salt has.

But what if it’s true? What if you really have stepped over the line between reality and Fantasy Island?

Time to find out.

Here are 8 sure signs (read: cognitive disorders) you’re slightly out of whack as an entrepreneur;

Denmark has doubled the number of innovation centres with the opening of three new centres in Brazil, India and South Korea.

The opening of the three new innovation centres is part of the Danish government’s innovation strategy, which will prepare Danish companies and knowledge institutions for new global development. These new centres also advance the government’s growth market strategies.

The innovation centres have been established in cooperation with the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Denmark already has innovation centres in Shanghai, Munich and Silicon Valley.

To hear Fortune tell it on CNN Money, every city in the country will have a chief innovation officer before too long. The city of Austin, Texas, announced the creation of a new chief innovation officer post a few weeks ago. And Christine Quinn recently pledged to establish an office of innovation if she is elected mayor of New York City. While responsibilities vary, in general, city chief innovation officers are charged with developing new ways of deploying governmental services and engaging residents, mostly through the innovative use of technology.

But in an era of budget shortfalls, is creating (and paying for) an innovation post really a good idea? Before cities jump on the innovation office bandwagon, they need to think carefully and critically about what such groups can and cannot do.