Integrating AppropriateSustainable Technology &
Entrepreneurship
Sept 28, 2004
Phil Weilerstein
NCIIA
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
Information  Inspiration  Action
The NCIIA supports invention, innovation, and
entrepreneurship education at institutions of
higher learning by providing faculty and students
from member colleges and universities with
grants and resources and networking
opportunities that will encourage the formation
and work of E-Teams (the “E” is for excellence
and entrepreneurship).
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
E-Teams are multidisciplinary teams of students, faculty,
and industry advisors who work together to develop a
product or technology with potential for commercial
success. The NCIIA has a strong interest in supporting ETeams whose work is environmentally sustainable
and socially beneficial. E-Teams bring learning
beyond the classroom and into the real-life experience of
technology commercialization.
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
The NCIIA helps effect lasting changes within and
beyond its member institutions through support of
curricular transformation that increases institutional
and individual capacity for effective innovation and
technology innovation through.
•Cross-disciplinary collaboration
•Cross-institutional collaboration
•Technology transfer and commercialization
•Informal educational opportunities
•Cultural change
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
Grants
Each year the NCIIA provides approximately $1 million in
Lemelson Foundation grants to member colleges and
universities. Proposals are submitted twice each year
online at www.nciia.org.(December 1, ‘04 & May 1, ‘05)
Proposals for Course and Program and Advanced E-Team
grants are reviewed by panels of business and technical
faculty, industry representatives, and venture capitalists.
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
Course and Program Grants
fund:
• Equipment
•
Supplies
•
Travel
•
Technical services
•
Expenses related to students’ performing patent
searches or creating marketing analyses, business
plans, or prototypes
•
Faculty planning stipends (up to $5,000)
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
Course and Program Grants
• Faculty and staff from member institutions
• To create a new course or program or enhance one
already in place, leading to the formation of E-Teams.
• Designed to create institutional change, and to foster an
entrepreneurial and socially conscious approach to
technological education.
• $2,000-50,000
• One to three years in duration
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
Course and Program grant evaluation criteria
• Expertise
• Pedagogical methods encouraging team formation, group
problem-solving, and effective entrepreneurial approaches
• Potential to introduce students to concepts of affordable
design and/or social entrepreneurship
• Institutional commitment
• Availability of resources
• Support for E-Teams after course or project ends
• Involvement of historically underrepresented students and
faculty
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
Technology Transfer
E-Team: Torex
Integrated Approach to
Technological Innovation
Georgia Tech
A multi-disciplinary graduate
level certificate program for
engineers, scientists and law
students focused on
commercializing existing
Intellectual Property
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
Introductory Design
Intro. To Engineering
Design RPI
E-Team: Bullex Fire
Extinguisher
Training system
Sophomore level introductory
course emphasizing
creativity and market
directed product innovation.
Promising projects are
continued in a clinic setting
with intensive mentoring.
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
Assistive Technology
Assistive Technology
Devices:
University of Rhode
Island
A 2-semester course
sequence preparing students
in the design, development,
and marketing of assistive
technology devices.
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
Biomedical Engineering
Biomedical Technology
Innovation (Johns
Hopkins U) A four
semester undergraduate
BME design lab
sequence in which
students develop devices
to address needs in
health care markets.
E-Team:
BIoCervical
Technologies
Detection of pre-term
labor through bioimpendance sensing
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
Sustainable & Appropriate Technology
•CU - Boulder
• GEEN 1700 Introduction to Design
• Creating Appropriate Technologies for the Developing
World
•MIT
• D-Lab
• Humanitarian De-mining Course
•Stanford
• D -School Curriculum Development
• Assistive Technology Development
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
Advanced E-Team Grants
• E-Teams from member institutions with ideas ripe for
commercial development
• Evaluated based on the product or technology’s
potential for sustainability and commercialization, the
professional and demographic diversity of the team,
and the project’s likelihood to produce social benefits.
• $1,000-18,000
• Twelve to eighteen months in duration
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
The Glow-Bike E-Team
from the University of
Florida is developing a
novel method to illuminate
bicycles, improving
nighttime riding safety. The
bike uses
electroluminescent (EL)
panels, commonly found in
watches, night-lights, and
other electronic products.
The panels are attached to
a bicycle frame and
wheels, providing a distinct
light signature in the shape
of a bicycle, making drivers
aware that a bicyclist is
sharing the road.
E-Teams generated
from engineering
courses
The Cooper Cooler,
created by an ETeam at the Cooper
Union, spins a can
or bottle at high
speed under a
stream of ice water,
cooling it in 1-4
minutes.
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
CameraMouse: University of Texas at
Austin
This E-Team has developed
CameraMouse™, a hands-free mouse
control device. Invented by a professor at
Boston College and developed by this ETeam, CameraMouse™ technology allows
people with severe disabilities to completely
control computers with slight movements of
a finger, toe, head, or any other body
movement that can register on a standard
computer camera.
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
Societal impact: Appropriate Technology
Xtracycle (Stanford Univ.)
Cargo carryiung bicycle developed as “SUB” for sale and as a technology being
transferred to individual entrepreneurs in Kenya through Xtracycle Foundation in
collaboration with Approtec.
(Advanced E-Team Grant, 1997)
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (LZW) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
Societal impact: Affordable technologies
UV-Tube (University of California,
Berkeley) The UV-Tube uses ultraviolet
light to create an inexpensive, highly
effective method for disinfecting drinking
water. The UV-Tube technology
deactivates pathogens without
generating harmful byproducts. Users
can construct the UV-Tube from locally
available parts. It operates passively,
without extensive maintenance or
monitoring.
(Advanced E-Team grant, 2002)
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
Societal impact: Environmentally beneficial
technologies
Novel Open Ocean Aquaculture Cages
(Univ. of Florida)
The design of these novel aquaculture cages is
based on inflatable flexible members that are
stiffened when pressurized. (Advanced E-Team
grant, 2004)
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
Advanced E-Team grant evaluation criteria
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Strength of the commercial opportunity
Diverse student and advisor skills
Technical feasibility and appropriateness
Likelihood of producing social or environmental benefits
Licensability or marketability of product or service
Demonstrated knowledge of market
Commitment- both individual and institutional
Faculty and mentor recommendations
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
Advanced E-Team grants fund:
• Summer stipends for students
• Equipment and supplies
• Expenses related to
•Performing patent searches
•Creating market analyses
•Developing product prototypes
• Legal fees for patent or copyright activities
• Project-related travel
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
Other Resources
To foster mentoring, help build infrastructure, and
support and encourage the institutionalization of
technological entrepreneurship programs, the NCIIA
offers a variety of resources, from online and printed
materials to technical and commercialization expertise,
advice, and services.
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
NCIIA 9th Annual Meeting:
Dynamic Learning:
Changing models for
Changing Times
San Diego, CA:
March 20-22, 2003
Design for the Bottom of
the Pyramid
Pre-conference
Workshop 3/16 on
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
NCIIA Member Resources
On our website:
•Curricular materials and database
•Intellectual property policies database
•Networks for access to
•R.A.P.I.D. prototyping
•Assess - Educational Assessment
•NCIIA Crossroads Social Networking tool
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
The NCIIA provides grant support
for N2TEC, the National Network
for Technology Entrepreneurship
and Commercialization. N2TEC is
a National Science Foundation
Partners for Innovation Project
raising the level of innovation and
technology commercialization in
colleges, universities, and
communities across the nation.
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
BME IDEA
Competition
Seeking and
celebrating the finest
in student biomedical
innovations
Sponsored by the NCIIA and Medical Device Diagnostics Industry in partnership with the Biomedical Engineering Society
and the Biomedical Engineering Council of Chairs.
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
NCIIA Member Resources
Online student guides, also available in print.
Revised versions will be released this year.
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education
Information  Inspiration  Action
Contact us:
Phil Weilerstein, Executive Director
pweilerstein@nciia.org
100 Venture Way, 3rd Floor
Hadley, MA 01035
Tel. (413) 587-2172 Fax. (413) 587-2175
www.nciia.org info@nciia.org
Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Education