More than 200 alumni are expected to return to campus April 18-19 for the annual Entrepreneurship@Cornell Celebration, a two-day conference on entrepreneurship.

The event, which celebrates entrepreneurial alumni, faculty, staff and students, will include workshops and panel discussions; a showcase of emerging technology from the Cornell Center for Technology, Enterprise and Commercialization (CCTEC); an eLab Demo Day where students will show off their startup companies; and the finals of two business competitions.

This year’s keynote speaker for the April 18 evening dinner will be Shelly Porges ’74, MPS ’77, senior adviser leading the Global Entrepreneurship Program at the U.S. Department of State. Under her leadership, the program has grown from reaching a handful of countries to more than 140 countries this year. Before joining the program, Porges launched the State Department’s Global Women’s Business Initiative, working through multilateral relationships to promote women’s entrepreneurship worldwide.

Panel topics include health care innovation, protecting a brand, entrepreneurship in the food and beverage industry, rebuilding small business manufacturing and translating social value into market value. A special panel session will also offer an inside look at progress at Cornell NYC Tech.

The following events are free and open to the public:

Thursday, April 18:

• 8:30 a.m.-noon: Cornell Venture Challenge Finalist Presentations, Sage Hall;
• 12:30-2:30 p.m.: CCTEC New Business and Emerging Technologies Showcase, Ballroom, Statler Hotel; and
• 4:30 p.m.-6 p.m.: eLab Demo Day. Come and see some of Cornell's most entrepreneurial students demo their startups at the first annual eLab showcase, Statler Auditorium.

Friday, April 19:

• 4:30-6 p.m: "BIG Idea" Undergraduate Competition Finals, Ballroom, Statler Hotel.

For more information about Celebration, visit <http://entrepreneurship.cornell.edu/activities/celebration/2013&gt;.

Kathy Hovis is a writer for Entrepreneurship@Cornell.