2000

FENIX

University of Nevada-Reno - $12325.00

This E-Team received a grant to design and prototype an outdoor "café" chair made from a new material called Supramics, a composite made principally of flyash and sawdust combined under pressure in the presence of supercritical CO2. The team leader is an advanced graduate student with substantial experience in furniture and materials design. He has put together a strong team and obtained the assistance of the owner of the technology to be used for design and prototyping. The target market is inexpensive outdoor furniture, a very large commodity market. The proposed product is designed to be more durable, heftier, and more attractive than existing products. The work plan involves design of the chair, prototyping in various materials, construction of molds and prototyping the finished product

Tuck General Management Forum - Team Project

Rowan University - $29800.00

This project supports the work of teams within a newly modified intensive first-year management curriculum. The program provides students with a hands-on opportunity to develop and plan a new business venture in a team setting over the two years of their MBA program. The Forum (as the program is called) provides self-directed team experiences with a focus on E-business creation (although any opportunity is open). Students are encouraged to form teams and pursue ideas of their own creation or those suggested by alumni or sponsors. Outside speakers and consultants participate. Teams develop ideas, work closely with a research librarian to do an industry survey, and write business plans. The first year culminates in a presentation of the business plan to a group of venture capitalists. Successful projects can continue in the second year as the focus of work in an entrepreneurship class and as an independent study under two faculty advisors. Long-term plans for the development of an incubator are underway, in collaboration with the medical and engineering schools.

Screening Probe System for Coronary Artery Disease

Case Western Reserve University, 2000 - $20,000

This grant supported the prototyping, further development, and commercialization planning of a gamma imaging system to assess the risk of coronary artery disease. The system, based on new gamma imaging sensor technology, is intended to compete with existing technologies such as stress testing, EKG and ECT imaging by providing a lower-cost, higher-resolution test.

Update: The team has incorporated as NeoMed Technologies, secured two patents and received over $700k in funding.

E3: Education, Empowerment, and Entrepreneurship Awareness

St. John's University - $19500.00

This grant supports the development and implementation of an entrepreneurship curriculum at a large (20,000 enrollment) community college in the Chicago, IL suburbs. The program incorporates elements of existing outreach programs with a focus on technology topics, and brings in hydroponic growing systems as an area of technical and product focus. The college is currently involved in a web-based Mars exploration simulation program. This project is the focus for the development of hydroponic growing and robotics curriculum materials and kits. Students come into the program through courses, speaker forums, an exposition, and competition for innovation prizes. Opportunities for commercialization are provided through a local SBDI grant

Starting an Internet-Based Business

University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus - $2000.00

This project establishes a semester-long course in which students in the Lubin School of Business have the opportunity to conceive, plan, and develop ideas for internet businesses. Teams of students form after taking a business planning course to develop and plan business concepts, analyze and research these concepts, and then implement them in prototype form with the assistance of hired web programmers and external mentors from the local area (Silicon Alley). The objective is to develop and provide marketable concepts that will be developed further as Advanced E-Teams or startup ventures.

The course has access to the resources of the business school, including a mentoring program. Plans are underway to provide internship opportunities for students working on startups, and expand the network of mentors. A short but impressive list of existing members includes the founder and CEO of Quicken and Corcoran.

Biomimetic Hip Prosthesis

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2000 - $5,500

The major limiting factor in the lifetime of total hip prosthesis is wear and its incumbent problems. The current implant lifetime is ten or fifteen years, which is typically insufficient for most active patients, and revision surgeries are often necessary.

This grant supported the development of patent protection and the pursuit of licensing agreements for a novel approach to increasing the durability of artificial replacement hip joints. The team consisted of one student and a broad group of advisors working to develop basic technology sufficient to obtain patent protection and initiate licensing arrangements.

The innovation is a method of mimicking the lubrication capabilities of natural cartilage with a synthetic matrix containing molecules that mimic the weeping and ionic re-uptake of synovial liquid that protects the bearing surfaces.

Mechanical Systems Design

Dartmouth College - $13700.00

This grant supports the incorporation of innovative and entrepreneurship activities into the senior level Mechanical Systems Design course at the University of Rhode Island. The new course format splits the class into groups of four each plus a member from the Business School at URI. Each group works in the fall semester on one of several different, product-orientated design projects. The students are asked to perform a patent search, critique related products, prepare a marketing study, propose a design of this product, and realize their design using a 3-D solid-modeling software. At the end of the fall semester, groups compete for funding for activities in the following spring term that include building prototypes of their design, formulating business plans for commercialization, and applying for patent protection. The new format gives students better understanding and exposure to the entrepreneurial process of the product design and innovation

Arthroscopic Simulator

North Carolina State University at Raleigh - $13500.00

This E-Team has developed a mechanical device which allows surgeons to practice various arthroscopic techniques on the knee, in order to develop better techniques and muscle memory. The device incorporates feedback mechanisms to allow for performance monitoring. It is portable, affordable, and easy to use

A Flexible Protein Modeling System for Undergraduate

Michigan Technological University - $13900.00

This E-Team will design, build, and field-test a flexible protein modeling system to be used in conjunction with physical, three-dimensional models of proteins. These physical models are produced using rapid prototyping technology at the Center for BioMolecular Modeling at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. The addition of a flexible modeling component to these otherwise static models will greatly enhance the interactive nature of these instructional aids.

The models will be field-tested in conjunction with the summer program of the BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium, an organization of undergraduate educators committed to innovative curriculum development. In addition, the market potential of the product will be evaluated and a commercialization strategy will be developed for 3D Molecular Designs, LLC, a newly formed company that focuses on the use of rapid prototyping technology to produce accurate, physical models of proteins and other molecular structures.

The PIs include the developer of the technology, an entrepreneurship faculty member from Carthage College, and an influential curriculum development specialist from Beloit College. Student team members come from each of these three schools and will be on site at MSOE.

Guardian 2000 Global Monitoring System

University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus - $12500.00

This grant is helping to further develop and market the first of three models of "Guardian 2000 Monitoring system." The earlier version of this system continues to receive extensive national/international media coverage through TV, radio, Internet and national newspapers. Individuals and companies from around the world have expressed interest in buying or distributing the product. The "Guardian 2000" is a cutting edge invention designed to monitor the location of children, Alzheimer patients and other valued people and material items. Based on responses from media coverage and market research, the market demand for this product is growing rapidly. The E-Team consists of highly qualified faculty advisors (from both technical and business disciplines from two universities), technical and business experts/mentors, engineering and business students to insure success in bringing this device to the market.

This system has been prototyped in a NCIIA supported class; this grant supports a multi-institutional, multidisciplinary team of students from ETSU and LMU to develop production prototypes, business and marketing plans, and patents