USC Has New Blueprint for Engineers

By Joel Russell
Los Angeles Business Journal
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Yannis Yortsos wants to solve the big problems. And Fariborz Maseeh wants to solve them in a way that benefits Southern California and leads to creation of local companies.
So Maseeh, a wealthy Newport Beach engineer, this week will announce a $1 million donation to fund the Maseeh Entrepreneurship Prize Competition at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, where Yortsos is dean.
The competition is designed to encourage engineering students to create business plans – and eventually companies – by giving $50,000 in seed money to one team each year. While many business schools have similar entrepreneurial competitions, this is one of the first exclusively for engineering students.