HATTIESBURG — The University of Southern Mississippi’s Coastal Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Scholarship has received a five-year grant extension, allowing students to continue pursuing an accelerated degree program combining engineering, business and entrepreneurship through February 2031.
The scholarship covers all tuition and fees for the Master of Business Administration and is designed to support Mississippi’s growing Blue Economy and the development of ocean science, engineering and maritime technology along the Gulf Coast.
Formerly known as the Ocean Engineering Entrepreneurship Pathway, the program remains the only program of its kind in Mississippi, combining engineering and business through interdisciplinary coursework, hands-on experience, real-world collaboration and financial support.
The program’s first graduate, Glenn Anglada, has already used the experience to expand his 3D printing business, Anglada 3-D. He now partners with GRoW Oyster Reefs, a company working to restore coastal ecosystems through nature-inspired reef solutions.
David Turnbull, chief operating officer of GRoW Oyster Reefs, said Anglada’s 3D-printing expertise has helped the company develop prototype molds and designs for artificial reef restoration along the Gulf Coast.
Dr. Steven Stelk, a finance professor in USM’s College of Business and Economic Development, said the partnership demonstrates the type of outcome the scholarship was created to encourage.
The scholarship was established in 2019 as one of 15 restoration projects funded through the RESTORE Act following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Funding was distributed by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Department of Treasury as part of the state’s restoration efforts.
MDEQ Executive Director Chris Wells said the agency’s continued partnership with USM supports innovation, entrepreneurship and economic opportunities along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast.
Interested students can contact Stelk at [email protected] for more information about the scholarship and program.
