Entrepreneurship Activities
for Engineering Students and
Faculty
David Barbe
Professor, ECE
University of Maryland
New Directions for Engineers
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The old days – The choices for engineers were to
work for big companies or governmental agencies
New option – starting their own companies or
working for startups
Students are demanding entrepreneurship
education
Engineering Schools can “educate” students about
technology startups
What about the down economy?
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The economy is cyclical
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Down times are a actually a good time to
start ventures
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prepare for upswings
The Radar Screen
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Dean, Provost, President support?
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If yes, very helpful
If not sure, just do it “under the radar”
Capitalizing On Innovations
Research &
Knowledge
Self-Use
Resources
Entrepreneurial
Culture
Hands-On
Assistance
Seed-Stage
Monies
Classifications of Activities
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Education and culture building
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Widely available resources
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Encourage faculty and students to examine their
research for “commercially viable” concepts
I can start a venture!
Help “entrepreneurs” to help themselves
Hands-on assistance and guidance; money
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Combine technical innovations with business
acumen and process
Education and Culture Building
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Students need to believe in the feasibility of
starting companies and commercializing
technologies:
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People available to help
Diverse monetary resources
Case studies
Students need to understand accepted
“tactics” for creating a technical venture
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How do “I” proceed with my concept?
Education and Culture Building Activities
Education and culture building activities
designed to encourage students to take the
critical step – learn about venture creation:
 Boot Camps
 Technology Ventures Clubs
 Entrepreneurship Courses
 Business Plan Competitions
 Residency Programs
 Promotion of Success Stories
Technology Startup Boot Camp
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Kicks off the academic year
Large audience of students (and faculty)
Regional sponsors
Basic startup processes
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Evaluating tech ideas
IP basics and licensing
Legal fundamentals
Building a team
Obtaining financing
Entrepreneur experiences
Presented by experienced VCs, service providers, and
tech executives
Networking
Technology Ventures Club
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Dynamic forum for technical graduate students to
network and explore commercializing an idea and
forming a venture
25 to 100 active members
Monthly meetings include start-up workshops, speakers,
and social mixers
Members have opportunity to network with local VCs,
service providers, business students and entrepreneurs
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Started by faculty/staff
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Student president and VP
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Migrate to student-run with faculty advisors
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NCIIA guide available
Fundamentals of Technology Startups
Course
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< 30 technical graduate students
Boardroom setting best
Study basic processes of tech company
formation and operation
Form into teams
Teams develop business plans during
semester
Teams present plans to “judges”
Course is best co-taught by technical and
business faculty/staff
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Adjuncts ok
Business Plan Competition
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Culmination of academic year
Prize money and/or contributed services raised from
external sponsors
Scale the competition to the supply of entrants
Start advertising early in the Fall Semester
First level of down-select based on executive summaries
submitted near the end of the Fall semester
Use a Judging panel to select top ~ six for full plans and
presentations
Give two or three awards
Conduct Networking and mentoring sessions between
finalists and judges/sponsors during the Spring semester
Entrepreneurial Residency Programs
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Provide one location for students to
reside
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Adds significantly to relationship building
Select Undergraduate Students having
strong Entrepreneurial Spirit
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GPA
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Essay
Example: UMD’s Hinman CEOs Program
The Hinman CEOs
Program
Program Goals
• Attract students with an entrepreneurial spirit
• Create a sense of community and cooperation
among like-minded students
• Impact the way they think about their
careers and destinies
• Help prepare them to start businesses
Jointly Founded
Clark School of Engineering
Smith School of Business
David Barbe – Faculty Director
Karen Thornton - Program Director
Third cohort - 100 students
44% hard sciences, 39% business, 17% other
(30% are engineers)
Indian, African American, Asian, Hispanic – 54%
Caucasian - 46%
Female - 27%, male - 73%
Class GPA - 3.57
12% have 3.8 or above with 4 perfect 4.0 GPAs
The CEOs
CEOs Program Components
• Community
• Technology
• Team Building
• Seminars and Workshops Mentoring
• Product Development Projects
• Technology Opportunities
• Entrepreneurship Education
• Partnerships
Community
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A Living-Learning
Program
Facilitates sense of small
community within larger
university
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Living Spaces
Working Spaces
Meeting Spaces
Technology
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Incubator-Like Setting
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State-of-the-Art Technology
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Wireless technology
Videoconferencing
IP Phones in the rooms
Computer-based
conferencing capabilities
Computer labs
Business software
Copiers, fax
Team building
Ropes Course
Facilitate Team Forming
Seminars and Workshops
Weekly seminars
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Education
Experiences
Resources
Entrepreneurship Education
Four-Course Entrepreneurship Citation Program
• Starting a New Venture
• Financing a New Venture
• Growing and Managing an Emerging Venture
• Business Plan Development
Mentoring
Level One Mentoring Just-in-time
• Program Director
and MBA Grad Assistant
Level Two Mentoring Advanced
• Faculty and Staff
• Outside Experts
Product Development
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NCIIA and Campus Sponsored
Funding for patent work and to
help build Prototypes
Faculty Supervision including
internships
Technology Opportunities
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To Expose CEOs to
Technology
Commercialization
Opportunities
Network CEOs with MBAs
and Technical Grad
Students to form Teams
Partners
• Technology firms
• Venture firms
• Legal firms
• Other service providers
• Individuals
• Retired executives
Promotion of Success Stories
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Evidence that it can be done is a powerful incentive
for others to try
Word about successes will spread among students
Legislators and Alums will like it
Successes stories should be promulgated
to expand the reach
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Campus newspaper
Local publications
Self-Use Resources
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Creat resources to support venture formation:
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Build a mentor network: execs, VCs, marketing
experts, legal, accounting…
Technology Startup Portal with comprehensive
information in plenary stage
Mentor Network
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Business plan reviews, questions about funding,
advice about IP common inquiries to mentors
Available to all students or students involved in the
other entrepreneurial activities
University staff involved in technical
entrepreneurship provide “level one” mentoring
Extensive database of entrepreneurs, consultants,
retired execs, VCs, and service providers offer “level
two” mentoring
Entrepreneurial Resources Web Portal
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Technical entrepreneurship web portal
under development:
 Forecasting template
 Business plan preparation guidance
 IP rules
 Information on funding sources
 Testimonials and case studies
Hands-On Assistance
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Build programs to provide hands-on guidance
and assistance to technical ventures started
by students on campus
Many successful technical ventures follow a
“dual-path” approach to launch – assistance
needed!
Launching Technical Ventures
Technical development:
 Final product development
 Beta testing
 Alpha testing
 Laboratory testing
 Begin developing
prototype(s)
 Concept is feasible
Business Planning:
 Recruitment
 Marketing materials
 Customer segmentation
 Solicit funding
 Monetary needs
 Business planning
 Commercial viability
Many technical entrepreneurs lack experience in business planning.
Hands-On Programs
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VentureAccelerator: Hands-On Assistance
Couple with local incubator(s)
VentureAccelerator
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Comprehensive consulting and “interim”
management services for approximately five
companies at one time
Selection process
Services coordinated by on-campus person
provided by a network of key mentors and
service providers
VentureAccelerator
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Services:
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Strategic planning
Forecasting
Executive recruitment (database)
Fundraising (debt, equity, grants)
License negotiations
Legal/accounting issues
Marketing analysis
“Marshall” diverse business resources
Graduation from Accelerator
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Demonstrate likelihood of “self-sustainability:”
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Significant financing event (e.g. “A” round)
Significant initial customer(s)
Addition of key, full-time executive managers
Or…recognize business not worth pursuing
Identifying Accelerator Companies
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Incubator
Faculty outreach
Residency program
Tech Ventures Club
Tech Ventures Class
Accelerator can feed other programs too
Seed Monies
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The Current Climate
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Investors returning to fundamentals
Fundamentals = great technology
Universities good places to find technology
Seed Monies
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Actively build “seed investor” network
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Couple with nearest “angels” and VC firms
Take max advantage of SBIRs and other
programs (e.g. NIST ATP)
Encourage solicitation of strategic
investments by startups
Other sources??
Program Information Sources
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NCIIA
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N2TEC
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www.nciia.org/
www.n2tec.org/
Small Business Administration
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www.sba.gov/gcbd/7j.html.
Meetings
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ASEE – Entrepreneruship Division - June
NCIIA - March
Funding for Starting a Program
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NCIIA
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Kauffman Foundation
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www.emkf.org/
Coleman Foundation
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www.nciia.org/
www.colemanfoundation.org/
Lemelson Foundation
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http://www.lemelson.org/index.html
Conclusion
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Your campus can become a nucleus of
technical venture formation in your region
Engineering research and knowledge provide
sources
Combining research with increasingly
entrepreneurial culture as well as new
resources, assistance programs, and sources
of seed monies will yield even more
successful startup ventures