Open2012 new-graduate-course-sustainability-marchese

Sustainable Technology Entrepreneurship for
Scientists and Engineers
Overview
• Institutional Context
• Motivation
• NCIIA Grant and Initial Planning
• Curriculum Development
• Implementation (First Iteration)
• Assessment
•Second Iteration and The Path Forward

Institutional Context
Sustainable Technology Entrepreneurship for Scientists and Engineers

Colorado State University
• Land Grant Mission (Ag Sciences, Engineering, Extension)
• Peace Corps Legacy
• Engineering Research and Focus on Clean Energy
• $545 million per faculty in engineering
• Clean Energy and BOP Spinoff Companies
• Envirofit International, Solix Biofuels, Abound Solar
• GSSE Program
• Entrepreneurial Community but No Formal
Entrepreneurship Courses for Engineering Grad Students

CSU Peace Corps Legacy
•Former CSU Civil Engineering Professor Maury Albertson (1919 – 2009),
was director of the U.S. Congressional study on the Point 4 Youth Corps (an
early name for the Peace Corps initiative).
•Albertson and CSU colleagues authored the book, "New Frontiers for
American Youth - Perspective on the Peace Corps," which served as the
blueprint for the Peace Corps.

• To date, over 1500 CSU alumni have served in the
Peace Corps since its creation in 1961.
• In 2010-2011, CSU was named 10th among
universities with the most nominations for Peace Corps
service and 1st in the nation for the recruitment of highly
skilled volunteers.
• Currently, 93 CSU alumni serve as volunteers.

Engineering Research Programs

• On a per-faculty basis, NSF ranked Colorado State 1st in the nation
among all public universities in federally funded research.
• Annual research expenditures of $546,000 per faculty member in FY10.
• Strong programs in engines and energy conversion, atmospheric
sciences, lasers and optics, biofuels, solar energy, etc.

Recent Clean Energy Spinoff Companies
Envirofit International. Manufacturer of clean cookstoves
for developing economies.
Abound Solar. Manufacturer of low cost cadmium-
telluride solar modules. (Founded in 2007, now 350
employees, soon to reach 850 MW production capacity).

Solix BioSystems. Manufacturer of integrated solutions
and services that enable large scale cultivation of algae

The GSSE Program

The GSSE is a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program at CSU
whose goal is to prepare a new generation of entrepreneurs who aim to
leverage CSU’s research, technology and business know-how to
create, build and grow global, sustainable enterprises with lasting impact.

The GSSE Program

GSSE students form Enterprise Teams and work in base of the
pyramid markets on ventures that serve people, planet and profit.

The GSSE Program

GSEE Cohort Approach
• Annual Class of 25 students
• 50/50 split of international to U.S.
• Very experienced (average age 30)
• GSSE students are
engineers, managers, scientists, economists, RPCVs
& other development workers
• Assembled into E-teams of 3 to 5 members.

The GSSE Program

GSSE International Cohort Approach –
Iraq, Philippines, India, Chile, Ghana, Mongolia, Venezuela, Ecuador,
Nepal, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Nigeria, USA

Motivation for ENT Program in Eng and Ag

• Most early GSSE projects were technology intensive:
• distribution network for solar lights and radios (Ghana and Peru),
• small diesel engines for irrigation (Bangladesh, Ethiopia),
• hydraulic hybrid technology transit buses (India)
• bio-diverse products from wildlife-friendly agriculture (Cambodia).
• Solutions to these problems required substantial technological expertise
from engineering and/or agricultural sciences.
•The GSSE program did not include a formal means of interfacing GSSE
students with engineering and agricultural science students.

• Meanwhile…no formal entrepreneurial training opportunities existed for
graduate students in engineering or agricultural sciences.

NCIIA Grant and Initial Planning

In Fall 2008, a meeting was convened at the “south office”
of the Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory
between GSSE, engineering and agricultural sciences
faculty.
In 2009 a Course and Program Grant was obtained from
the NCIIA to formalize a linkage between the GSSE
program and engineering and agricultural science
graduate students.
The objectives of the new program are twofold:
• Instill an entrepreneurial mindset and global/
sustainable perspective among engineering and
agricultural science students.
• Provide engineering/agricultural science expertise
and rapid product realization resources to enterprise
teams within the GSSE program.

Sustainable Technology Entrepreneurship for
Scientists and Engineers
Overview
• Institutional Context
• Motivation
• NCIIA Grant and Initial Planning
• Curriculum Development
• Implementation (First Iteration)
• Assessment
• Second Iteration and The Path Forward

Initial Planning and Curriculum Development

From Jim Collins Good to Great
and The Social Sectors (2005)

What are you - Core values
deeply passionate - Vision and mission
about?

-Time
Unique and What can you be What drives your
valuable the best in the resource engine? -Money
contribution world at?
-Brand


 Research (Sustainable
Energy, Climate Change)
Global Impact
What are you  Base of the Pyramid
deeply passionate
about?

Developing
-Research funding
solutions that can
obtain global - Dynamic leaders
impact at scale. What can you be What drives your -Local community
the best in the resource engine?
world at? -Legacy


Although no ENT program existed within the engineering school, the College of
Business has an undergraduate ENT certificate program.
Course content for the STESE course was culled and/or course syllabi were
shared from the following existing courses within the College of Business:
• Social, Ethical, and Regulatory Issues in Business (BUS 260)
• Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship (MGT 340)
• New Venture Creation (MGT 420)
• New Venture Management (MGT 440)
• Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Business Strategies (MGT 496)
• Global Social and Sustainable Entrepreneurship (MGT 667)
• Financing and Evaluating the Sustainable Enterprise (BUS 669)


• New Venture Creation (MGT 420) Undergraduate COB courses


• New Venture Creation (MGT 420)
GSSE courses

Week Focus Area Content Existing Course(s)
1 Entrepreneurial Introduction, historical perspective, MGT 340
Mindset entrepreneurial mindset
2 Entrepreneurial E-ship and the economy :A global MGT 340
Mindset perspective
3 Opportunity Recognizing opportunities and generating MGT 340
Identification ideas
4 Opportunity Intellectual property protection MGT 340, MGT 420
Identification
5 Opportunity Market and Customer: Business Model and MGT 340
Assessment Value Chain
6 Opportunity Building a Team: HR Decisions, MGT 340,MGT 420
Assessment Partnerships
7 Opportunity Legal Forms of Business Organization MGT 420, MGT 440
Assessment
8 Opportunity Financing the Venture: Bootstrapping, MGT 420,MGT 440
Assessment Debt, Equity
9 Base of the Pyramid From Obligation to Opportunity MGT 496, MGT 667
10 Base of the Pyramid Entrepreneurial Approaches in the MGT 496, MGT 667
Developing World
11 Base of the Pyramid The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid MGT 496, MGT 667
12 Base of the Pyramid Microcredit MGT 496, BUS 669
13 New Venture Managing the Early Stage Company MGT 440
Management
14 New Venture Stages of Growth, Venture Capital MGT 440
Management
15 New Venture Legal, Insurance and Regulatory Issues MGT 440
Management

Initial Planning for Resources

Product development space was provided at the Global Innovation Center for
Energy, Health and Environment, which is housed at the CSU Engines and
Energy Conversion Laboratory (www.eecl.colostate.edu).

First Iteration (Spring 2010)
MECH 581/AREC 581 – Sustainable Technology Entrepreneurship

Course was dual listed (MECH 581/AREC 581) and team taught by
Marchese, Graff and Hudnut.
Enrollment consisted of 40 students among 6 different majors.
The formal meeting time for the class was a single weekly 3-hour block, which
was split into a weekly lecture, activity and guest speaker.
Team project was a major component of the course and accounted for over 50
percent of the grade for each student.
The 16-week semester was divided into four general topic areas: entrepreneurial
mindset, product realization, base of the pyramid and new venture management.
Required readings were as follows:
• FastTrac TechVenture Entrepreneur Manual: Maximizing the Potential of
your Tech Business. Kauffman Foundation, 2009
• Out of Poverty: What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail. Paul
Polak, Berrett-Koehler Publishers (September 1, 2009).

First Iteration (Spring 2010)
Week Topic(s) Readings Guest Speaker

1 Innovation, Nidumolu, Prahalad, & Bryan Willson,
1
Entrepreneurship, and Rangaswami [ ] Co-Founder, Envirofit
Development International; Co-Founder,
Solix Biofuels
2
2 Idea Generation and Polak[ ], Intro, Ch. 1-3
Entrepreneurs Millennium Development Goals [3]
3 Envirofit Case Study Polak [18], Ch. 4-5 Nathan Lorenz,
Envirofit Case Study [ ]
3 VP Engineering, Envirofit
International

4 Identifying Customer Polak [18], Ch. 6-7 Stephen Schmutzer,
Needs and Market 4
FastTrac [ ] Ch. 2-3 Co-Founder, Firefly Medical
Analysis 5
Ulrich and Eppinger [ ], Ch. 4
5 Business Model and Polak [18], Ch. 8-10
Metrics FastTrac[20] Ch. 4, 6,

6 In class book report None
discussion
7 Product Specifications Ulrich and Eppinger [21], Ch. 5 Lou Bucelli, Bucelli and Co,
LLC.
8 Network and Partnerships Polak [18], Ch. 11-12 Ken Petersen, professor of
supply chain management,
CSU College of Business

9 Spring Break

10 Design for Sustainability Otto and Wood, Ch.15. Justin Discoe,
Co-Founder, Sprig Toys
11 Design for Affordability Paul Polak
12 Ethical, Political and FastTrac [20] Ch. 8 Scott Deeter,
Regulatory Aspects CEO, Ventria Bioscience

discussion
Lou Bucelli, Bucelli and Co,
First Iteration (Spring 2010)Ch. 5
7 Product Specifications
Ulrich and Eppinger [21],
LLC.
8 Network and Partnerships Polak [18], Ch. 11-12 Ken Petersen, professor of
supply chain management,
CSU College of Business

9 Spring Break

10 Design for Sustainability Otto and Wood, Ch.15. Justin Discoe,
Co-Founder, Sprig Toys
11 Design for Affordability Paul Polak
12 Ethical, Political and FastTrac [20] Ch. 8 Scott Deeter,
Regulatory Aspects CEO, Ventria Bioscience

13 In class Organizational None None
Profiles discussion
14 Intellectual Property FastTrac [20], Ch. 8 Tim Reeser,
6
Mutschler & Graff [ ] COO, Cynergy,
15 Ownership, FastTrac [20] Ch. 7 and 9 Catherine Merigold,
Compensation, Funding, General Partner, Vista
Stages of Growth and Ventures
Exit

16 Final Presentations

1
. Nidumolu, Prahalad, & Rangaswami Why Sustainability is Now the Key Driver of Innovation”
Harvard Business Review, September 2009, pp. 56-64.

Team Projects (Spring 2010)

Project Title Opportunity Statement
Fresh Point Provide a branding label indicating purified water for tourists traveling in
India and locals living in well-traveled areas.
Grounds for Change Reduce the time of drying and losses in production due to contamination
during the coffee drying process.
Pine Beetle Power Selling locally grown Colorado beetle-killed pine biomass for residential
and municipal heating needs.
SEED The engineered 2HP diesel pumpset will give small scale farmers (≤2.5
acres) the opportunity to purchase a cost effective and easily portable
device which can meet their irrigation needs.
Simple Solar Irrigation Labor free irrigation with increased capacity and well depth provides the
Pumps small farmer with an attractive invest opportunity for higher productivity
MicrobeSeed Develop a bioengineered microbe mix and waste vehicle retrofit capable of
increasing landfill gas production rates for methane generation.
Thin Air An engineered, sustainable, accessible nitrogen fertilizer for small
Ethiopian farms.
Village Energy A scalable energy distribution network for families without electricity in India

Upepo Maji Uhuru A simple, low-cost, wind-powered water pump that enables increased
income through irrigation while limiting the manual labor required

Assessment (Spring 2010)

Team projects were not quite as successful as hoped:
•Existing GSSE projects were either too far along (e.g. SEED) or too early
stage (e.g. Thin Air) for optimal contribution from STESE team.
•Need exists to improve GSSE project “in flow” and “out flow” from STESE.
Guest speakers were viewed very positively.
Kauffman handbook was not used very effectively.
Student evaluation results were strong, but reflected that this was a work in
progress:
•14% answered “strongly agree” and 86 % answered “agree” to the
question “Overall, I would rate this course as good.”
•44 % answered “strongly agree” and 56 % answered “agree” to the
question “Overall, I would rate these teachers as good”.
• 69 % answered “strongly agree” and 31 % answered “agree” to the
question, “The teachers were enthusiastic about the course.”

Second Iteration (Spring 2011)

In the second offering, we made the
following changes:
• Increased focus on commercialization
of IP from university research labs.
• More guest speakers from university
based startups.
• Change textbook to: Technology
Ventures: From Idea to Enterprise, 3rd
Edition, Byers, Dorf and
Nelson, McGraw Hill, 2011.
• Venture Challenge thread in the
Byers textbook used extensively for
Team Project assignments.


Week Topic(s) Readings Guest Speakers
1 Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Lou Bucelli, Bucelli and Co, LLC.
and Development
2 Economic Growth and the Byers, Ch. 1 Amy Prieto,
Technology Entrepreneur Polak, Chapters 1-3 Co-Founder, Prieto Battery
3 Opportunity Evaluation and Stephen Schmutzer, Founder,
Product Planning Firefly Medical
4 Competitive Strategy Byers, Ch. 4 Bryan Willson
Co-Founder, Envirofit International
and Solix Biofuels
5 Innovation Strategies Byers Ch. 5, 11.8, 11.9 W.S. Sampath,
Co-Founder, Abound Solar
6 Indentifying Customer Needs Ulrich and Eppinger, Ch. 4 Ken Reardon
Polak, Chap 4-5 CTO, OptiEnz Sensors
7 The Business Plan Byers, Ch. 7 Justin Discoe, co-founder, Sprig
Toys
8 Product Specifications Ulrich and Eppinger, Ch. 5

9 Spring Break
10 Types of Ventures Byers Ch. 8 Scott Deeter, CEO, Ventria
Bioscience
11 Legal Formation and Intellectual Byers, Ch. 10 Tim Reeser, COO, Cynergy,
Property Mutschler & Graff, “IP Issues Todd Headley, CSURF
in the University Setting”
12 Sources of Capital Byers, Ch. 18 Catherine Merigold, Vista
Ventures
13 The Marketing and Sales Plan Byers, Ch. 11 Book Report Due

5 Innovation Strategies Byers Ch. 5, 11.8, 11.9 W.S. Sampath,
Co-Founder, Abound Solar
6 Indentifying Customer Needs Ulrich and Eppinger, Ch. 4
Polak, Chap 4-5
Ken Reardon
CTO, OptiEnz Sensors
MECH 581/AREC 581 – Sustainable Technology
7 The Business Plan Byers, Ch. 7 Entrepreneurship Sprig
Justin Discoe, co-founder,
Toys
8 Product Specifications Ulrich and Eppinger, Ch. 5

9 Spring Break
10 Types of Ventures Byers Ch. 8 Scott Deeter, CEO, Ventria
Bioscience
11 Legal Formation and Intellectual Byers, Ch. 10 Tim Reeser, COO, Cynergy,
Property Mutschler & Graff, “IP Issues Todd Headley, CSURF
in the University Setting”
12 Sources of Capital Byers, Ch. 18 Catherine Merigold, Vista
Ventures
13 The Marketing and Sales Plan Byers, Ch. 11 Book Report Due

14 Base of the Pyramid Envirofit Case Study Nathan Lorenz, VP Engineering,
Opportunities and the Envirofit Envirofit International
Case Study
15 The New Enterprise Byers, Ch. 12 Ed VanDyne,
Organization VanDyne SuperTurbo Inc.
16 Profit and Harvest; Financial Byers, Ch. 16 and17
Plan
17 Final Presentations

Team Projects (Spring 2011)

Team Name Value Proposition
AMD Solutions Develop a lower cost, biologically based system to remediate
heavy metal waste streams from mining operations.

Breath Easy Develop the next generation value added powered air purifying
respirator (PAPR) control system that offers vast improvements in
filter life and breathing resistance over traditional, industry
adopted control systems.
EcoFuego Monitor CO and CO2 from base of the pyramid cookstoves; use
the need to verify carbon credits to pay for installation of systems
that reduce CO emissions through continuous feedback for user.
ADVentures Develop and design anaerobic digestion systems which will meet
the waste management and energy demands of the 21st century
in an efficient and sustainable manner.

PV India Develop India-based manufacturing facility for Cd-Te solar cells.

Longer Term Assessment

Goal
Outcome Year Year Year
1 3 5+
Number of COE and CAS grad students per year enrolled in 25 40 40
first-semester STESE course.
Number of COE and COS grad students whose master’s 6 10 10
and/or Ph.D theses are directly related to a GSSE and/or
STESE project.
Percentage of GSSE projects per year that result in 10% NA NA
successful startup ventures before the advent of the
proposed program.
Percentage and number of GSSE projects per year that NA 25% 33%
result in successful startup ventures after the advent of the
proposed program.
Percentage of COE and CAS graduate students who NA NA 5%,
participated in the program who are involved in startup 15%
ventures 5 years, 10 years, 15 years after graduation. 25%

The Path Forward

Acknowledgments

Development of the STESE course was supported
by a Course and Program Grant from the National
Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance
(NCIIA).

The authors would also like to acknowledge the
support of the Department Heads of Mechanical
Engineering, Management and Agricultural
Resource Economics.

Open2012 new-graduate-course-sustainability-marchese

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