The WWU Design Accelerator aims to increase collaboration between WWU's Industrial Design and Business programs and provide entrepreneurship opportunities for graduates. However, the initial assumptions that graduates would seek entrepreneurship and that excess manufacturing capacity existed proved incorrect. The accelerator concept was refined to focus on students dropped from programs and to include multiple tracks and phases of prototyping and small-batch production. Recommendations include aligning stakeholders, surveying failed and successful local businesses, focusing on dropped students, and designing a summer entrepreneurship track. While the accelerator concept is still evolving, it aims to incubate student-centered businesses that could benefit both students and the community.
This study focuses on determining a working ‘selection criteria model’ that will help Information
Technology (IT) companies choose the right candidates to work on their IT projects in areas such as system
design, requirement gathering and management,
Future of Business Education - working documentRoss Wirth
Summary of issues facing business education including some analysis of criticisms from hiring managers, what it means to be a College of Business, and emerging trends.
This study focuses on determining a working ‘selection criteria model’ that will help Information
Technology (IT) companies choose the right candidates to work on their IT projects in areas such as system
design, requirement gathering and management,
Future of Business Education - working documentRoss Wirth
Summary of issues facing business education including some analysis of criticisms from hiring managers, what it means to be a College of Business, and emerging trends.
Assessing the unique contribution and development of UoT’s through the use of...SATN
Dr Engela van Staden’s (Director: Strategic Management Support, Tshwane University of Technology) presentation at the SATN Annual Conference 2009.
Theme: “Technological innovation at Universities in South Africa: towards industrial and socio-economic development”
16 - 17 July 2009
Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Bellville Campus
Design of Success Criteria Based Evaluation Model for Assessing the Research ...Waqas Tariq
Innovations and inventions are not outcomes of single activity of any organization. This is a result of collaboration of different partners. Collaborated research of university and industry can enhance the ability of scientist to make significant advances in their fields. The evaluation of collaborated research between university and industry has created the greatest interest among the collaborational researchers because it can determine the feasibility and value of the collaboration. This paper intends to illustrate the evaluation metrics and success criteria- based evaluation model in between university-industry in their collaborated research. For bridging the model, the success criteria have been identified based on key evaluation metrics. A successful Collaboration of university and industry is not dependent on any single metric but instead on the confluence of multiple metrics from the growth of basic research to commercialization. This study is intended to provide different evaluating metrics to impound the research collaboration constraints between university and industry, and design success criteria to upsurge the successful linkage. For this purpose we have developed constraints and success criteria based evaluation metrics (CASEM) model. The proposed model is appropriate for almost all types of collaborations specially research collaborations between university and industry. By adopting this model, any university or industry can easily cross the threshold in the grown-up research collaborational community.
EngD research impacts - summary of key findingsAEngD
EngD research impacts - summary of key findings: presentation delivered by Dr Fumi Kitagawa (Manchester Business School) at the AEngD conference 2013, held at Building Centre, London on 26 September 2013
12 9243 it analysis of virtual positions managemen (edit ty)IAESIJEECS
This paper clarifies the Virtual Alliances for Learning Society (VALS) Project technological method to deal with bolster a virtual positions management development. Likewise, this paper demonstrates the first results of the viable piece of the venture, the Semester of Code, clarifying the recognized issues, the issues, the difficulties and a few activities to enhance the advancement of this sort of virtual positions programs. With a specific end goal to enable the readers to better understand the approach and its outcomes, the composition likewise portrays three of the principle virtual positions programs far and wide, in regards to both their association and innovative approach.
Transforming Chaos into Clarity: The Promises and Challenges of Digital Crede...eraser Juan José Calderón
Transforming Chaos into Clarity: The Promises and Challenges of Digital Credentialing
The Next American Economy's Learning Series.
report de Chelsea Barabas & J. Philipp Schmidt de Agosto de 2016 de Rooselvelt Institute was made possible with the support of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation. titulado "Transforming Chaos into Clarity: The Promises and Challenges of Digital Credentialing. The Next American Economy's Learning Series "
This is a slightly edited version of the presentation of the talk given at the University of Teesside on the 16th September 2011 during a Cascading Open Educational Resources event (C-SAP). The title is “Review and Endorsement of Open Educational Resources (OERs) by Graduate-Recruiting Employers in HumBox”. The objectives of the talk were to introduce the HumBox repository and the Project of SCORE Fellow Antonio Martínez-Arboleda to colleagues and to propose new ideas in the field of OERs resulting from this project. New concepts such as “employer’s reviews of OERs”, “transportability” of OERs reviews, “commoditisation” of OERs reviews, collaborative OERs reviews, partial or focused OERs reviews, and “fossilization” of OERs were presented for discussion. Some solutions for most of challenges presented to the OER movement by these issues are outlined in this presentation. There will be forthcoming discussion as the project evolves.
Guiding Principles for Enterprise "Bring Your Own Device" (BYOD) InitiativesHelena Sefcovicova
Examination of existing literature and trends in BYOD & IT consumerization, identification of best practices and consultation interviews with experts from specific organisations.
- Technical Configuration
- Governance Approach
- Implementation
- Best Practices
- Industry Trends
QSO 680 Module One Journal Guidelines and Rubric Overvi.docxmakdul
QSO 680 Module One Journal Guidelines and Rubric
Overview: Journal activities in this course are private between you and the instructor. Review this tutorial for information on creating a Blackboard journal
entry.
The use of case study analysis gives you an opportunity to see project management in action. Case study analysis takes abstract methodologies and puts them
into practice. In this assignment, you will analyze the case study will be used for your final project: a program performance report.
Prompt: Begin by reading the case study Value-Driven Project and Portfolio Management in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Drug Discovery versus Drug
Development - Commonalities and Differences in Portfolio Management Practice. You will be working with this case study throughout the course, so take the
time to familiarize yourself with it. Focus on the important facts and key issues. Use the following guiding questions to focus your reading and assist in writing
your overview:
What is/are the defining objective(s) identified in the case study?
What are the differences and similarities and the advantages and disadvantages of managing at the project, portfolio, and program levels?
Who is the target stakeholder group that would benefit from understanding the portfolio management process?
How does corporate strategy align with the project portfolio in the case study?
What role does the project manager play in this case study?
Write a concise (3 to 5 paragraph) overview of the case study addressing the above questions and summarizing your final thoughts on the case study presented.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Define the objective(s) in the case study.
II. Identify the target stakeholder group and explain the benefits of the portfolio management process to this group.
III. Explore the differences/similarities and the advantages/disadvantages of managing at the project, portfolio, and program levels.
IV. Explain how corporate strategy aligns with the project portfolio in the case study.
V. Assess the role of the project manager in the case study.
Note: If you need additional guidance in case study analysis, refer to this article: Guidelines for Writing a Case Study Analysis.
https://my.snhu.edu/Offices/ITS/IS/resources/Documents/Creating_a_Journal_Entry.pdf
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/docview/232912662?pq-origsite=summon&accountid=3783
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/docview/232912662?pq-origsite=summon&accountid=3783
https://awc.ashford.edu/tocw-guidelines-for-writing-a-case-study.html
Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Your 3- to 5-paragraph journal entry must be submitted with 12-point Times New Roman font and any sources cited in APA format.
Instructor Feedback: This activity uses an integrated rubric in Blackboard. Students can view instructor feedback in the Grade Center. For more information,
review these instructions. ...
Assessing the unique contribution and development of UoT’s through the use of...SATN
Dr Engela van Staden’s (Director: Strategic Management Support, Tshwane University of Technology) presentation at the SATN Annual Conference 2009.
Theme: “Technological innovation at Universities in South Africa: towards industrial and socio-economic development”
16 - 17 July 2009
Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Bellville Campus
Design of Success Criteria Based Evaluation Model for Assessing the Research ...Waqas Tariq
Innovations and inventions are not outcomes of single activity of any organization. This is a result of collaboration of different partners. Collaborated research of university and industry can enhance the ability of scientist to make significant advances in their fields. The evaluation of collaborated research between university and industry has created the greatest interest among the collaborational researchers because it can determine the feasibility and value of the collaboration. This paper intends to illustrate the evaluation metrics and success criteria- based evaluation model in between university-industry in their collaborated research. For bridging the model, the success criteria have been identified based on key evaluation metrics. A successful Collaboration of university and industry is not dependent on any single metric but instead on the confluence of multiple metrics from the growth of basic research to commercialization. This study is intended to provide different evaluating metrics to impound the research collaboration constraints between university and industry, and design success criteria to upsurge the successful linkage. For this purpose we have developed constraints and success criteria based evaluation metrics (CASEM) model. The proposed model is appropriate for almost all types of collaborations specially research collaborations between university and industry. By adopting this model, any university or industry can easily cross the threshold in the grown-up research collaborational community.
EngD research impacts - summary of key findingsAEngD
EngD research impacts - summary of key findings: presentation delivered by Dr Fumi Kitagawa (Manchester Business School) at the AEngD conference 2013, held at Building Centre, London on 26 September 2013
12 9243 it analysis of virtual positions managemen (edit ty)IAESIJEECS
This paper clarifies the Virtual Alliances for Learning Society (VALS) Project technological method to deal with bolster a virtual positions management development. Likewise, this paper demonstrates the first results of the viable piece of the venture, the Semester of Code, clarifying the recognized issues, the issues, the difficulties and a few activities to enhance the advancement of this sort of virtual positions programs. With a specific end goal to enable the readers to better understand the approach and its outcomes, the composition likewise portrays three of the principle virtual positions programs far and wide, in regards to both their association and innovative approach.
Transforming Chaos into Clarity: The Promises and Challenges of Digital Crede...eraser Juan José Calderón
Transforming Chaos into Clarity: The Promises and Challenges of Digital Credentialing
The Next American Economy's Learning Series.
report de Chelsea Barabas & J. Philipp Schmidt de Agosto de 2016 de Rooselvelt Institute was made possible with the support of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation. titulado "Transforming Chaos into Clarity: The Promises and Challenges of Digital Credentialing. The Next American Economy's Learning Series "
This is a slightly edited version of the presentation of the talk given at the University of Teesside on the 16th September 2011 during a Cascading Open Educational Resources event (C-SAP). The title is “Review and Endorsement of Open Educational Resources (OERs) by Graduate-Recruiting Employers in HumBox”. The objectives of the talk were to introduce the HumBox repository and the Project of SCORE Fellow Antonio Martínez-Arboleda to colleagues and to propose new ideas in the field of OERs resulting from this project. New concepts such as “employer’s reviews of OERs”, “transportability” of OERs reviews, “commoditisation” of OERs reviews, collaborative OERs reviews, partial or focused OERs reviews, and “fossilization” of OERs were presented for discussion. Some solutions for most of challenges presented to the OER movement by these issues are outlined in this presentation. There will be forthcoming discussion as the project evolves.
Guiding Principles for Enterprise "Bring Your Own Device" (BYOD) InitiativesHelena Sefcovicova
Examination of existing literature and trends in BYOD & IT consumerization, identification of best practices and consultation interviews with experts from specific organisations.
- Technical Configuration
- Governance Approach
- Implementation
- Best Practices
- Industry Trends
QSO 680 Module One Journal Guidelines and Rubric Overvi.docxmakdul
QSO 680 Module One Journal Guidelines and Rubric
Overview: Journal activities in this course are private between you and the instructor. Review this tutorial for information on creating a Blackboard journal
entry.
The use of case study analysis gives you an opportunity to see project management in action. Case study analysis takes abstract methodologies and puts them
into practice. In this assignment, you will analyze the case study will be used for your final project: a program performance report.
Prompt: Begin by reading the case study Value-Driven Project and Portfolio Management in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Drug Discovery versus Drug
Development - Commonalities and Differences in Portfolio Management Practice. You will be working with this case study throughout the course, so take the
time to familiarize yourself with it. Focus on the important facts and key issues. Use the following guiding questions to focus your reading and assist in writing
your overview:
What is/are the defining objective(s) identified in the case study?
What are the differences and similarities and the advantages and disadvantages of managing at the project, portfolio, and program levels?
Who is the target stakeholder group that would benefit from understanding the portfolio management process?
How does corporate strategy align with the project portfolio in the case study?
What role does the project manager play in this case study?
Write a concise (3 to 5 paragraph) overview of the case study addressing the above questions and summarizing your final thoughts on the case study presented.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Define the objective(s) in the case study.
II. Identify the target stakeholder group and explain the benefits of the portfolio management process to this group.
III. Explore the differences/similarities and the advantages/disadvantages of managing at the project, portfolio, and program levels.
IV. Explain how corporate strategy aligns with the project portfolio in the case study.
V. Assess the role of the project manager in the case study.
Note: If you need additional guidance in case study analysis, refer to this article: Guidelines for Writing a Case Study Analysis.
https://my.snhu.edu/Offices/ITS/IS/resources/Documents/Creating_a_Journal_Entry.pdf
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/docview/232912662?pq-origsite=summon&accountid=3783
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/docview/232912662?pq-origsite=summon&accountid=3783
https://awc.ashford.edu/tocw-guidelines-for-writing-a-case-study.html
Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Your 3- to 5-paragraph journal entry must be submitted with 12-point Times New Roman font and any sources cited in APA format.
Instructor Feedback: This activity uses an integrated rubric in Blackboard. Students can view instructor feedback in the Grade Center. For more information,
review these instructions. ...
Ll from over 200 projects presentation fileKMIRC PolyU
The talk summarises the lessons learnt from nearly 200 cases of Knowledge Management journeys by Hong Kong and Asian enterprises. Much of the data is gained through the extensive number of student, consultancy and research projects carried out or supervised by KMIRC staff at private companies, non-profit social services organizations and government departments.
Built Environment BSc Architectural Design & Technology BSc Buildi.docxchestnutkaitlyn
Built Environment
BSc Architectural Design & Technology BSc Building Surveying
BSc Construction Project Management BSc Quantity Surveying
Procurement and Administration
Coursework
Submission Deadline: Friday 24
th
April 16:00hrs
This assessment contributes 50% of the marks for the above module. 4000 word limit
1. BRIEF
1.1 About You
You are employed by the GMSA as independent construction procurement professional for this project.
1.2 Background
The Greater Manchester Strategic Alliance (GMSA) is a partnership of universities, colleges, work based learning providers and other stakeholders who collectively deliver a Lifelong Learning Network (LLN) and promotes the progression of vocational learners into Higher Education. GMSA have identified within their strategic plan for 2014 - 2019, the opportunities presented by recent government commitment to fund a significant increase in the delivery of Higher Apprenticeships. As a result, GMSA are consulting on the viability of a new "Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre" situated alongside the M62 Corridor in Greater Manchester. The centre will draw on the specialist skills of both the four Greater Manchester universities together with a series of local colleges
1
including those in Rochdale, Oldham and Bury together with leading business organisations located in the Greater Manchester area.
Important features of the development to note:
10 storey, 30,000m
2
main building including 3 250 seat lecture theatres,
30 seminar rooms, a central catering facility, Coffee shop styled area,
office accommodation and student support areas.
2 storey, 5.000m
2
‘advanced engineering’ centre, providing specialist
engineering laboratory and workshop facilities.
4 Storey, 8,000m
2
central learning centre, providing student services
including open access rooms, silent study areas, group study rooms and a
library facility
External works including infrastructure development.
The Client requires the building to be carbon neutral. In addition, to illustrate both aspirations of both Central Government and the GMSA the facility should make a clear architectural statement and must be constructed to the highest aesthetic and qualitative standards. Value for money given the current economic climate is also a key consideration.
The budget to cover the total development cost, inclusive of construction works, external works, statutory and professional fees is estimated to be £71 million. The completion date is critical, as the building requires handover by August 2017 at the very latest, to accommodate the new academic year.
Title to the land is currently under negotiation. As the scheme forms part of the
‘Northern Power House’
vision, public funding (provided by the Department of Education) has been approved. Who will operate the facility on completion is yet to be decided.
1.3 Assessment Requirements
Task 1 (word limit 3000):
GMSA have commissioned you to recommend the most app.
why is lifelong learning important for Engineers Give an example to.pdfrajeshjangid1865
why is lifelong learning important for Engineers? Give an example to support your argument.
please help me with this ..
Solution
A decade ago, a group of experts estimated the half-life of an engineer\'s technical skills--how
long it would take for half of everything an engineer knew about his or her field to become
obsolete. For mechanical engineers it was 7.5 years. For electrical engineers it was 5. And for
software engineers, it was a mere 2.5 years, less time than it takes to get an undergraduate
degree. Today, those numbers are surely even smaller.
Technology is rushing headlong into the future at a pace that takes one\'s breath away. Personal
computers, the Internet, genetic engineering, advanced materials, new forms of chemical
synthesis--all these things and more are changing our world swiftly, profoundly, and, in most
cases, for the better. But the excitement and the progress come at a cost. Rapid change is not
always comfortable, and no one knows this better than the people whose job it is to stoke the
technological juggernaut.
Think about it. In some specialties, engineers must update half of everything they know every
couple of years, all the while working full-time to design products according to the best
standards of the moment--which might change next month. In even the slower-paced fields,
engineers must reinvent themselves at least once a decade.
There\'s more. A generation ago, an engineer could expect to carve out a niche in one well-
defined area-- automotive steering systems, say, or chemical plant instrumentation--and remain
there for a lifetime. No longer. As technological change accelerates and product lines rise and
fall in ever-diminishing life cycles, engineers find themselves switching jobs more often, to the
point that those starting out today may hold half a dozen jobs over their careers, even if they
manage to remain with the same company throughout. So besides staying abreast of
developments in their own specialties, engineers must be prepared to switch nimbly to a new
field when the old one peters out.
And, to complicate things further, these professional demands come at a time of upheaval in the
employment landscape. Global competition has sparked a wave of downsizings in technology
firms, destroying much of the job security that engineers used to take for granted and pushing
companies to contract out more and more of their design work. Today, service firms such as
Andersen Consulting are the largest recruiters of engineering graduates on some college
campuses, eclipsing the big manufacturing companies in the number of hires.
The bottom line: A large and growing percentage of engineers now work as contract technical
experts, hiring out for a particular job at a particular company, then moving on when it is
finished. They may be independent consultants or they may work for consulting firms, but either
way they don\'t have the long-term stability that joining a traditional manufacturing firm used to
provide.
I.
why is lifelong learning important for Engineers Give an example to.pdfarri2009av
Why do financial assets show up as component of household wealth
Why do financial assets show up as component of household wealth
Solution
National wealth is a measurement of the real assets used to produce goods and services.
Financial assets are claims on those assets held by individuals.
Financial assets owned by households represent their claims on the real assets of the issuers, and
thus show up as wealth to households. Their interests in the issuers, on the other hand, are
obligations to the issuers. At the national level, the financial interests and the obligations cancel
each other out, so only the real assets are measured as the wealth of the economy. The financial
assets are important since they drive the efficient use of real assets and help us allocate
resources, specifically in terms of risk return trade-off..
1. The WWU Design Accelerator
An Alternate Path to Success for Western Washington University Graduates
1. Executive Summary
Subject matter: The Design Accelerator (Accelerator) is a business structure conceived to
increase collaboration between the Industrial Design and Business programs at Western
Washington University (WWU). The Accelerator is intended to provide opportunities for
graduates of these two departments to realize the presumed desire of some to become
entrepreneurs. The hypothesis is that Industrial Design graduates will capitalize on Northwest
Washington’s unique business environment, including proximity to precision aviation
manufacturing and the periodic excess capacity inherent in its cyclicality, to form their own
small businesses. The availability of high-end manufacturing capacity, academic instruction and
industry support are calculated to cumulatively provide an ideal atmosphere for entrepreneurship.
Methods of analysis: Information for this paper was gathered from public documents, and from
interviews with a range of stakeholders including successful local entrepreneurs and Western
Washington University students, faculty and staff.
Findings: Analysis of interviews and written materials revealed that some assumptions upon
which the project is based were in error. Additional stakeholder groups have been identified, and
the initial concept of a “Design Accelerator” may prove too limited to describe its growing scope
and form.
Conclusions: The Design Accelerator concept remains in a nascent stage, so it may be
premature to attempt to draw conclusions. It seems clear however, that the concept remains
valid, and that additional exploration is necessary.
Recommendations: The team has identified general recommendations, described in Paragraph
Seven, items (a.) through (h.).
2. Limitations of the report: This paper is a bare frame, based upon written works of several
respected authors, and on interviews of a small circle of stakeholders. It is likely that many more
parties, yet to be identified, may have a stake in the Design Accelerator. The geographic range
of interview subjects is currently limited to the immediate vicinity of Bellingham, Washington.
Only a small sample of stakeholders at Western Washington University, who may eventually be
identified as primary stakeholders, have yet to be discovered and interviewed. This paper will
require further development, review and revision.
Western Washington University MBA candidates researched successful accelerator models from
other regions, reviewed related publications, and based upon those learnings, investigated the
feasibility of initiating a custom program at WWU. The team was asked to examine the viability
of the original WWU concept and to propose a workable model based on their discoveries. This
paper describes the process and progress, what was learned and recommendations for those who
continue the effort. Criteria paraphrased in the following italicized text was presented to the
research team by Professor Aric Mayer, in consultation with Professor Jason Morris, both of
Western Washington University.
a. Create more cross-collaboration between the Industrial Design (ID) Department and the
Business Department (CBE)
b. Optimize the relationship between ID, which produces skilled customer-focused products,
and the CBE which produces marketers and business managers etc.
c. Verify or disprove the availability of cyclically present excess local high-end
manufacturing capacity, believed to be a byproduct of cyclicality of its parent industry,
aviation manufacturing, which might be capitalized upon by members of the accelerator.
d. Research the apparent shift in high technology manufacturing from large-run processes,
to small batch production conducted in close proximity to the end user (aviation or other
industry)
e. Determine how to integrate the extant components of business expertise, industrial design
excellence, and electronics engineering present at Western Washington University, with
the manufacturing expertise and capacity in the Bellingham area at large, while taking
3. advantage of the trend toward lean, small-batch, local manufacture, in order to create
the Design Accelerator.
f. Conduct study with the end-purpose of creating businesses that producing customer-
facing products for the general market, with the eventual spillover benefits to WWU and
the community at large.
g. Assume approximately five WWU Design or Engineering students with product designs,
will be evaluated and selected for inclusion in a “first run”, with a focus on “lean, pull-
system models and locally sourced manufacturing”.
h. The opportunity statement accompanying these criteria follows:
Opportunity:
1. The I-5 corridor between BellinghamandOlympia is a high-technologymanufacturingenvironment built ondecades of aerospace and
heavy industrymanufacturing(highquality andcustomizable).
2. Lean Startup andLeanManufacturingcreate business models where design andmanufacturingare closelyinterwovencomponents of
the business andtherefore needgeographic proximity in order toeffectivelyinteract (the two needto occur together,makingoff-
shoringless of an option).
3. Cyclical fluctuations in aerospacecontracts create times of underutilizationof local manufacturingresources (potentiallylower cost
for agile companies).
4. Washington State is underutilizedfordirect-to-customer design (most local production is B2B design andmanufacturing).
5. Western Washington University has two of thebest product design programs in the Northwest in theIndustrial Design andElectronics
EngineeringTechnology departments.
6. Students in the Industrial Design program already regularlyproduce products that demonstrate both demandandtraction.
2. Assumptions/Discoveries: The discovery process began with certain established
expectation, some of which were verified and others of which were demonstrated to be in
error. These are described below:
a. The first assumption was that Industrial Design program graduates would
welcome the opportunity to become entrepreneurs. Several inquiries and
unrequited overtures indicated that the program enjoys a near 100% employment
rate, and that students are not motivated to risk disruption of the promise of steady
employment by attempting instead to establish their own businesses.
b. The second assumption was that there was considerable enthusiasm on the part of
Industrial Design instructors for an entrepreneurial option. Research revealed
however, that the entrepreneurial track was considered not to be an ideal to aspire
4. to, but rather a last option, and that the design instructors’ grail is a high
“employment” rate. The following passage offers evidence of this perspective:
An assignment given to Design students, with which the MBA’s offered
assistance, was to write a plan for a “worst case scenario” in which no jobs were
available and the student “had to form a company”. The MBA team offered
assistance in drafting the document. No response to the overture was recorded,
and a follow-up query also produced no replies.
The nature of the assignment, and students’ responses to it, illuminated the
investigation in two ways. It first indicates in its wording that Industrial Design
instructors consider entrepreneurship to be a last-resort, and secondly, the lack of
any response from students to offers of help suggests that their interests do not lie
in entrepreneurship.
c. An aviation-related publication review supported by an interview with managers
from local manufacturing company Pro CNC, verified the assumption put forward
by initial hypothesis, that precision manufacturing capacity was available in a
cyclical pattern.
3. Examples at other universities:
a. A search for templates upon which WWU’s accelerator might be based, and the
effects successful accelerators have on their communities, provided existing
models. Literature described several subtle differences, dependent on
surrounding industry and the Accelerator’s entrepreneurship aims (purely art vs.
novelty/utility vs. industry), but that the four central elements of university based
accelerators/incubators are similar. Those elements include mentorship, access to
some level of funding, networking opportunities and business training.
4. Value to students:
a. The presumption that Industrial Design graduates would be interested in
entrepreneurship was disproved, as described above in paragraph 2.b. That
realization led to reevaluation of who the primary stakeholder in WWU’s
accelerator might be. Research revealed that the design program at WWU has a
5. high attrition rate by design. The program accepts approximately 40 students in
its first year, but progressively culls its students until the class graduates a
maximum of 15 designers. The approximately 20 culled students consist not
necessarily of poor quality students, but of those not able to produce frequent and
consistently high-quality designs in the manner of high volume industrial
applications. Interviews with WWU personnel in the office of the Registrar and
Academic Counseling, revealed that dropped students are not necessarily advised
by either department regarding new paths of study. These offices expect that the
academic college/department from which students depart, will advise the student
to seek guidance from Academic Counseling. If they do not, the student is only
contacted by the Registrar to notify them that they have been dropped, and
whether they owe money to the university. It may be these students, who in many
cases are gifted designers, but who do not fit the highly selective, industry-
oriented criteria of the Industrial Design program or other similarly selective
programs, from which the Accelerator can select and develop potential
entrepreneurs. The set of conditions described here may present an ideal and
unique opportunity to identify, screen and select students who have separated
from their intended tracks, but who may be even better suited and equipped for
entrepreneurship than conventionally successful students.
5. Iterations of the Accelerator model
a. The original WWU accelerator model hypothesized that graduates would seek
entrepreneurial opportunities, and that the accelerator would provide an
environment in which they would be introduced to manufacturers with the
capacity and interest to produce their products for market, and which would
provide access to some form of market outlet in which the entrepreneur would sell
his or her products.
b. The so-called three phase (3Ф) model evolved from the original model, as it
became apparent that scalability was important, especially in the early stages of
the Accelerator. The three phases included:
i. Phase one, in which a single prototype would be produced to verify the
viability and determine the cost of small scale production. This prototype
6. could be produced at WWU or at a prospective manufacturer’s site, and
ideally sold at some profit. Confirmation of the practicality of this phase
was gained via an interview with an established and current entrepreneur,
Mr. Tim Neimier, inventor of Ocean Kayaks. He offered us a tour of his
prototyping facility, which he offered for use by the Accelerator for
occasional soft-materials prototyping. He described his own
entrepreneurial experience dating back twenty years, and explained is
intention to begin processing and using recycled plastic materials.
ii. Phase two would produce a limited run to verify or disprove demand for
the product, ideally selling all produced units. Proof of the viability of this
phase included a tour by Mr. Mark Dudzinski, of Western Washington
University’s own Technology Development Center, which possesses CNC
and other small batch production equipment, as well as meeting rooms and
space for eventual expansion of production.
iii. Phase three would consist of regular production at a rate dependent upon
the learnings from the previous two phases. This phase, which is partly
dependent upon verification of the “cyclical capacity” described above.
The presence of aviation industry cyclicality, and the resultant
manufacturing capacity was validated during at tour by Mr. Paul Van
Metre, of his company Pro CNC, which he founded in partnership with
two fellow Western Washington University alums, and which he was in
the process of selling to a national manufacturing corporation. Pro CNC is
an example of a precision manufacturer which, according Mr. Van Metre,
maintains excess capacity in order to be responsive to the cyclical demand
within the aviation industry, for which the firm is an ancillary producer.
Each phase will be conducted under the scrutiny of at least one faculty
mentor and one industry mentor.
6. Redirection of the research team’s efforts was spurred by the realization that the
accelerator concept was perceived differently by each of the following three key
stakeholder groups; faculty from WWU’s College of Business Education (CBE)
7. perceived it as a viable path for Design and Business students to take from academia into
business ownership, while Industrial Design faculty seemed to view it as a last-ditch way
to prevent their employment numbers from falling below 98%, and graduates designers
who have been groomed for entry into an established industry, viewed it as little more
than a distraction from universal goal of “getting a job”. Review of Bellingham’s
demographics, and the comparison to those of cities of similar size reveals that though
our population consists of persons of a typically entrepreneurially active age group (22-
30), that a large segment of our population is transient in nature due to their enrollment in
Western Washington University, rather than being long-term residents of the city. The
transient aspect of this population reduces the social capital necessary to provide access
to resources, individuals and organizations, whose influence is essential in gaining
societal acceptance of success among entrepreneurs.
Evidence discovered during the same review, revealed that another demographic crucial
to entrepreneurial development, persons aged 65 and greater, is subject to a similar
transiency due to Bellingham’s recent evolution from an industrial community to a
retirement and recreation-based community, populated heavily by persons who are not
vested in the community in a manner typical of long-term residents. Many in this
demographic are seasonal residents, ”snowbirds”, who do not possess the sort of social
capital that a long-time resident may have accumulated, and are simply no longer
engaged in, or concerned about commercial activity.
7. Recommendations/conclusion. The Design Accelerator presents the following
recommendations as a result of evaluating the research conducted on behalf of WWU.
a. Seek and foster alignment of purpose and method between all departments and
stakeholders in the accelerator (product or process), including Industrial Design
staff and students (ID), College of Business Education staff and students (CBE),
Registrar, Academic Counseling, Technology Development Center and any others
who remain to be identified by continued exploration.
b. Identify businesses, including enduring successes and those which have failed,
and survey them to determine what caused the failures, to what the successes are
attributable, and for what reasons successful businesses first established in
8. Bellingham, but no longer in the city, moved elsewhere. This information may
inform many aspects of the Accelerator’s research and evolution.
c. Focus on students who have departed or been dropped (from design or other
potentially entrepreneurial programs) before graduation. As discovered,
graduates from the design program have a 100% employment rate, and therefore
have little interest in an accelerator.
d. Establish formal communication channels with the Registrar to identify
prospective students for this program. According to interviews with staff from
that office, currently, students dropped from a major are contacted by the
registrar, but the subject is clerical/financial rather than academic. The student is
merely advised as to whether they need to reapply to the school or not in order to
continue, and whether or not they have a hold on their account. These students
may be ideal for inclusion in the Accelerator’s research, and eventual
implementation.
e. Establish regular communications with Academic Counseling (AC), to assure that
the Accelerator program is presented to the student as a viable alternative to
beginning an entirely new track. A potential remedy lies in an alternate academic
track, outlined below. According to AC personnel, the department is not notified
by the Registrar when a student is dropped. The presumption is that either the
student will have the initiative to seek out their assistance, or that the department
from which the student has been dropped will direct the student’s attention to the
availability and location of counseling. The remedy for this apparent deficit is for
the Accelerator to gain commitment from administrative departments to bridge
the communication gap in such a manner that the Accelerator is notified when
prospective Accelerator candidates are dropped from their chosen programs.
f. Design and implement a summer University Business Entrepreneurship Track (U-
BET) as a means by which to offer a formal alternate track to students dropped
from other programs. This will require the development of curriculum, and
likely, coordination with the Continuing or Extended education services offered
through the Woodring College of Education, or development of new and unique
program in the College of Business Education. This program will benefit from
9. the coordination efforts between the CBE, Registrar and Academic Counseling
offices referred to above.
g. Consult with a wide range of stakeholders including students, in designing
curriculum.
h. Consider the range of academic and experiential backgrounds of potential
students and the possibility of multiple/parallel tracks, which might be inclusive
of course materials already learned by candidates in their original tracks, in order
to minimize academic redundancy commonly known as “super-senior” status.
The Design Accelerator concept continues to evolve at Western Washington University. It is an
excellent concept, and worthy of further review. This author encourages the development and
testing of new models, the inclusion of the broadest possible sample of stakeholders and the
consideration of greater scope. All of the elements necessary to develop a healthy and
sustainable student-centered business do exist in Northwest Washington, and Western
Washington University is uniquely positioned to align them into a coherent Accelerator. Certain
aspects of Bellingham’s history and current demographics complicate efforts to incubate
entrepreneurship, but recognition and evaluation of those factors can inform mitigation efforts,
and help to nurture new and innovative businesses. These businesses can bring with them a new
prosperity for the community and increased prestige to their sponsors, including Western
Washington University.
WWU Design Accelerator Team
Bo Prince, MBA
Alex Jia, MBA
Robert Hampton, MBA
Kenneth Holzemer, MBA(Team Lead)