Raffi Simonian wanted to give students experience in solving real-world business and technology problems.

That’s why he decided to lead the UCLA Epicenter, which partners with companies to create quarterly Innovation Challenges – hands-on projects where student teams try to solve real world issues in fields like data science, marketing, e-commerce and sales – said Simonian, the program’s director.

Professor emeritus Lee Cooper founded the Epicenter as a research center within the UCLA Anderson School of Management, Simonian said. However, Simonian added that the Epicenter shifted its focus to experiential learning when he took over in 2022.

Students can meet with Simonian to explore ways of applying their UCLA coursework to real-world careers, said Chaaya Patel, a fourth-year cognitive science student.

“That’s really what the Epicenter is for,” Patel said. “There’s a big gap between students learning theory and then being able to apply that theory in the industry.”

Before assigning students to teams, Simonian said he meets with Innovation Challenge applicants to learn about their personalities and strengths. Students then meet weekly to learn about business and technology topics from guest speakers, such as a UCLA Anderson alumnus who came in to speak to students about their extended reality technology company, he added.

During the meetings, students also consult with a group leader on their projects and then deliver a final presentation judged by executives at the company office, said Monica Thompson, a third-year political science student.

Thompson said her team participated in the Winter 2025 Innovation Challenge and was given a business problem related to understanding the return on investment on marketing campaigns. The challenge was held in collaboration with HARMAN International – the parent company of JBL, an audio equipment manufacturing company – and resulted in students developing their own recommendations based on presented data, she added.

Thompson said her team struggled to navigate the vast data given to it in the first few weeks.

“It’s not like it’s in school, where you’re given a problem to solve on homework and you know that there’s going to be a correct answer for it,” Thompson said. “Sometimes you need to figure things out and find ways to work around the challenges that you don’t always know how to navigate.”

Thompson said while there are misconceptions that the Epicenter is mainly aimed at people in STEM-related majors, it offers opportunities to students across UCLA.

At the end of the challenge, Thompson’s team presented its pitch at HARMAN’s Van Nuys office and earned first place, she said.

Sophia Santos, a third-year statistics and data science student who participated in the Fall 2024 Innovation Challenge, said the program taught her that problem solving involves more than just getting lost in the technical details. Santos, who was initially interested in data analytics as a career, added that the challenge made her consider a future in business, including business strategy.

“After fall quarter, I realized maybe I don’t want to sit at my laptop all day coding,” Santos said.

Karl Mehu, the general manager of Slalom LA – the Los Angeles division of the global business and technology consulting firm – said he finds it refreshing to work with students who are experimental with their work, especially as someone who has been in the industry for decades and has limited room for trial and error.

In 2023, Mehu said Slalom created real-use cases for Innovation Challenge students based on his collaborations with the organizing committee for the 2028 LA Olympic Games. Mehu added that the goal was to see what innovative solutions students could offer – ones that might differ entirely from what professionals had already explored.

Mehu said Slalom invited the committee’s chief information officer, senior vice president of safety and security, and chief marketing officer to watch the students’ final presentations at UCLA. He added that one presentation about artificial intelligence models caught his interest and warranted further consideration.

“They were using AI models to democratize marketing, specifically ad sales and ad marketing,” Mehu said. “If you think back – 2023, which seems like a lifetime ago – we’re not where it (AI) is now in 2025, but I thought it was pretty intriguing as ways to do it in a very quick, low-cost way.”

Simonian said the Epicenter offers credit for Innovation Challenges – a ten-hour-per-week commitment – for courses such as Engineering 188: “Special Courses in Engineering” and Psychology 195B: “Fieldwork in Cognitive Science.”

In addition to Innovation Challenges, the Epicenter provides students with networking opportunities. Patel, who said she is interested in technology, cybersecurity and product management, added that she has been introduced to industry leaders at UCLA – such as the senior solutions architect at Amazon Web Services and a senior Salesforce developer for UCLA Digital and Technology Solutions.

Patel said in a statement that the Epicenter provided her with the opportunity to launch an AWS Cloud Club at UCLA – a student-led club focused on sharing knowledge about AWS cloud computing technologies.

Thompson, an incoming intern at FGS Global – a crisis management company – said she believes she secured the position by drawing on problem-solving and research experiences from the Innovation Challenge and demonstrating how those skills would translate to the internship. Patel, an incoming AWS sales representative intern, also said she gained confidence from Simonian’s support, allowing her to successfully complete Amazon’s rigorous interview process.

Simonian said the Epicenter hopes to secure more funding from UCLA and eventually hire additional staff. He added, though, that his primary vision is bigger – to have every UCLA student graduate with at least one industry-recognized certification and participate in an Innovation Challenge before they graduate.

“The UCLA Epicenter is a hidden gem at UCLA,” Thompson said. “I feel like it’s so hard to navigate things around here, and it’s really hard if you want to get involved with something or try something new, … because sometimes it feels like you need an extensive background of it already.”