From Concept Generation to Technology Transfer within an Entrepreneurship Curriculum
Craig Silvernagel, and
Richard R. Schultz, University of North Dakota
Entrepreneurial-minded faculty who mentor student projects with potential
market value are generally frustrated when the academic year ends with only
written reports. This paper applies dynamic learning techniques to increase the
chances of taking student projects closer to the realm of commercialization. A
number of design-oriented courses exist at the University of North Dakota, in
which student teams collaborate on prototyping technology product concepts.
Projects emanating from these courses are nurtured in Entr 200 Concept
Generation and Technology Entrepreneurship, an introductory course which
recruits students into the entrepreneurship program and brainstorms new
business concepts. After a preliminary opportunity assessment, the most viable
ideas migrate from Entr 200 to Entr 385 Venture Initiation (business planning).
In yet another stage of filtering, the highest-potential projects investigated in
Entr 385 transfer to Entr 387 Venture Growth, where reorganized teams refine
the business plans and pursue those concepts with the highest probability of
success.
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