Moo2u2
My Schedule
7:30 AM
to 8:00 AM
Breakfast
29 Attendees
Location
Ballroom
Type Conference Events, Meals
Enjoy a complimentary breakfast in the main stage area.
8:00 AM
to 9:00 AM
Opening plenary with Tina Seelig and James Barlow
34 Attendees
Location
Ballroom
Join us for the kickoff session of the NCIIA annual conference, designed to ignite innovation. Come prepared for an experiential exercise that will get your creative juices flowing and stimulate spirited collaboration. You will get a chance to work with your colleagues on a fast-paced challenge focusing on strategy, team work, and creative problem solving.
9:00 AM
to 10:30 AM
Guiding Principles for Sustainable Humanitarian Engineering Projects
6 Attendees
Location
Montgomery
The engineering profession must embrace a new mission statement: to contribute to the building of a more sustainable, stable, and equitable world. Recently, engineering students and professionals in the US have shown more interest in directly addressing the needs of developing communities worldwide. That interest has taken the form of short- and medium-term international trips through Engineers Without Borders-USA and similar organizations. There are also several instances where this kind of outreach work has been integrated into engineering education. This paper addresses the challenges and opportunities associated with balancing two goals in engineering for humanitarian development projects: (i) effective sustainable community development, and (ii) meaningful education of engineers. Guiding principles necessary to meet those two goals are proposed.
Tags Thurs 1A1
9:00 AM
to 10:30 AM
PIET: Building a heuristic, interdisciplinary program focused on commercializing clean energy technologies in the developing world
8 Attendees
Location
Montgomery
In 2008, the University of California, in partnership with NCIIA, created the Program for International Energy Technologies (PIET) in order to accelerate the dissemination of low cost, clean energy, energy efficient solutions into the market in developing countries. The main objectives of this initiative are to: build an on-going program that will educate and engage UC Davis students in energy-related issues in developing countries; bridge the current gap between the need and existing technologies by creating market-based, entrepreneurial dissemination strategies; and allow student teams to create an impact on partner communities. The program's founder, Kurt Kornbluth, will talk about the PIET approach as well as curricula, the challenges and successes in development of the program, and highlights the current projects.
Tags Thurs 1A3
9:00 AM
to 10:30 AM
Teaching Entrepreneurship Using Design Pedagogy
13 Attendees
Location
Jackson
This workshop introduces the pedagogy for the Babson College course Social Entrepreneurship by Design (SED). The course integrates stakeholder collaborative design and entrepreneurship for the purpose of developing new products or services that contribute to the solution of a social problem. Attendees of this workshop will participate in small teams to experience facets of designing new social entrepreneurship ventures driven by stakeholder insights. Stakeholder collaborative design is a five-phase process designed to help students create and co-create opportunities. Different from a traditional new product development course, SED emphasizes idea generation and opportunity creation using a structured creativity toolkit grounded in design thinking and principles found in such disciplines as architecture, product design, and engineering. SED is designed to develop the entrepreneurial thinking skills of students where empathy and creation take precedence over analysis and planning.
Tags Thurs 1B
11:00 AM
to 12:30 PM
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly? Lessons Learned from the Implementation of a Joint Commercialization of Technology Program
3 Attendees
Location
Mason II
This session reports on the successes and failures experienced during the implementation of a graduate-level Certificate in Technology Entrepreneurship program. The two-year program on commercializing technology was launched in 2008 and is jointly delivered by the University of Portland (UP) and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). The innovative courses developed for the program have been approved by the OHSU School of Medicine Graduate Council and UP. Only five students are accepted to join the program each year from each institution. One of the stated program objectives is to start new companies or secure technology licensing deals. Attendees of this session will learn about the design of this novel program and hear directly from one or more students in the program about their experiences.
Tags Thurs 2D2
11:00 AM
to 12:30 PM
Open Design-based Strategies to Enhance Appropriate Technology Development
9 Attendees
Location
Montgomery
The appropriate technology (AT) movement is being driven by inventors and innovators who are interested in designing technologies that are culturally, environmentally and economically appropriate, and feasible to construct and use for people anywhere in the world. This paper examines how open sharing of designs, specifications and technical information can enhance effectiveness, widespread use, and innovation of AT. This commons-based open design method has been highly successful for software development (e.g. open source), and has also begun to be used in other fields through unique partnerships, and using new information-sharing technologies on the internet. This paper critically demonstrates key examples of open design successes that can be applied to development of AT. It also identifies potential barriers to open sourcing AT designs, analyzes business models for open design in the context of AT, and outlines practical solutions with examples currently underway.
Tags Thurs 2C3
11:00 AM
to 12:30 PM
Build-It Modules: A hands-on approach to teaching appropriate technologies and manufacturing techniques
12 Attendees
Location
Jackson
Amy Smith, Kofi Taha, Gwyn Jones, Benjamin Linder, Nathan Cooke, Jessica Huang
Build-It modules are designed to give students experience with a variety of tools and manufacturing techniques while at the same time exposing them to simple, elegant appropriate technologies. These modules show both rapid prototyping equipment as well as techniques that are used in workshops in the developing world. Basic shop safety training is incorporated into all modules and, in the spirit of sustainability, the final product from all modules is a useful item that can be disseminated to community partners in future trips. Successful Build-It modules include a hacksaw made from bicycle parts, a corn sheller for removing kernels from dried corn cobs, a press for making charcoal briquettes from agricultural waste, a simple PVC water pump, and a solar light. The Build-It module format can accommodate a variety of products and can easily be adapted to demonstrate use of different tools, equipment, and techniques.
Tags Thurs 2B
12:30 PM
to 2:30 PM
Lunch and keynote speaker Doug Richard
28 Attendees
Location
Ballroom
Type Conference Events, Meals
Doug Richard is a leading proponent and practitioner of entrepreneurship in the United Kingdom and the US. In this keynote address, Doug will discuss entrepreneurship, its importance in the modern economy, and the role of government and universities in catalyzing entrepreneurship. Doug will talk about: Why the public interest is best served by self-interest; Why the most successful enterprises are all social enterprises; Why entrepreneurs are never born, only made; Why the US must learn to export entrepreneurship not merely to the rest of the world but the rest of the nation; Why governments can only create playing fields; Why capital is not what limits the rate of entrepreneurship; and Why universities are our best hope for cultural change.
2:30 PM
to 4:00 PM
Collaborative Innovation Program: A creative conspiracy for cross-college collaboration at the Rochester Institute of Technology
9 Attendees
Location
Mason I
The 2007 inaugural address of RIT's ninth president, William Destler, highlighted the breadth and diversity of curricular offerings at RIT from business, engineering, and computing to design, fine art, and craft. In his address, Dr. Destler included this challenge: "What if RIT students had the experience of working on complex societal problems with students from different majors on teams in...a cross-disciplinary effort to find real solutions?" The authors of this paper took that challenge to heart. In the 2008-09 academic year, we created a collaboration curriculum that was hosted by the RIT Honors program. The outcome of the program is an integrated "innovation suite" comprised of the following components: 1. innovation activities, 2. collaborative learning environments 3. collaborative technologies 4. learning outcomes and curricular models for innovation and 5. community-university partnerships. This integrated suite of innovation components will continue to grow in the new Center for Student Innovation at RIT.
Tags Thurs 3C2
2:30 PM
to 4:00 PM
Are You Innovative?
7 Attendees
Location
Jackson
This workshop is a result of an on-going NCIIA-sponsored project for the design and development of an innovation-focused event (Ideation to Innovation, I2I). In this hands-on, interactive workshop participants will learn about: (a) the traits of innovative individuals, and (b) enhancing individuals' innovative skills. Innovators share some common traits, many of which can be learned and enhanced. Quick literature survey shows some commonalities between Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Thomas Edison, Eli Whitney, and many others, some of which will be discussed. In particular, the workshop will present traits such as observing, thinking, experimenting, teaming, dreaming, persisting, having fun, and being passionate about the work. Hands-on exercises and teasers will allow participants to experience most of the discussed innovators' skills, and to use them in a classroom setting.
Tags Thurs 3A
4:00 PM
to 5:30 PM
Poster session
21 Attendees
Location
Prefunction space outside the ballroom, third level
Featuring twenty posters covering a wide range of topics, an open bar and time to network.
7:00 PM
to 11:59 PM
9:00 AM
to 10:30 AM
The Last Mile: Building an innovation ecosystem to support technology entrepreneurs
11 Attendees
Location
Washington
The last mile in the development of a new venture, moving from feasible concept to business, can result in the venture never starting. Entrepreneurs, especially those in rural communities, often lack access to the resources and expertise needed to harden the concept and convert it to an operating business. In 2009, the N2TEC Institute launched a unique summer accelerator program that included an AI2V intensive workshop and an eight-week period that addressed the critical knowledge, expertise, and resource issues of the participants by surrounding them with a team of mentors and experts. The result was the launch of five new businesses in South Dakota and one in Oregon. Participants were selected from a national call for technology entrepreneurs willing to move to Sioux Falls for the summer, receive a stipend of $15,000, and work aggressively toward the launch of their business.
Tags Fri 1D
9:00 AM
to 10:30 AM
NCIIA Grants and Resources
6 Attendees
Location
Montgomery
Type Tools and Resources, Panels
Through the stories of three students and faculty, learn how to fully leverage NCIIA grants and resources for success. This session will provide an update on current and future NCIIA programs and participants will be able to query NCIIA staff on programs, including: grants for student teams and faculty (in the $20,000-$50,000 range) to support technology innovation, entrepreneurship and social impact; student venture competitions; creativity, innovation and venture development workshops; NCIIA mentoring services for qualified student teams; Venture Well advisory services for venture development and raising investment.
Tags Fri 1B
11:00 AM
to 12:30 PM
Cultivating Innovation
6 Attendees
Location
Montgomery
Looking back at the history of science and technology over the last few hundred years, we can identify people such as Thomas Edison, James Watt and Graham Bell as innovators, due to the outward result of their endeavors. However, it is harder to recognize Isaac Newton as an innovator, even though he was able to develop the concept of calculus, almost overnight, to overcome the hurdles to the mathematical problems he was trying to solve. Fast forward to the 21st century. What makes an innovator? How do we cultivate innovation? Do we teach them? Train them? In this session, the author will share his experience of the last twenty years in Singapore, where he started promoting innovation as a binder that can hold concept with reality, art with design, form with function, abstract with concrete, fuzzy with focus and idea with business.
Tags Fri 2D1
12:30 PM
to 2:30 PM
Julia Novy-Hildesley, Executive Director, The Lemelson Foundation
11 Attendees
Location
Ballroom
Type Conference Events
2:30 PM
to 4:00 PM
Student Development Workshop (students only)
6 Attendees
Location
Sansome
Type Student Development, Workshops
One of the many challenges when setting up your venture is knowing how and where to spend that scarcest resource of all, your time. Building your networks, developing your product or service, understanding how your strategy evolves along with every new bit of information you discover, and working out how to keep your business progressing the way you want can be tough with so many moving pieces. This highly interactive session will help you develop the way you think strategically and understand how to build meaningful relationships with customers, partners and potential investors as well as mentors and advisors in the most effective way.
Tags Fri 3A
2:30 PM
to 4:00 PM
IdeaBounce as a Pedagogical Model
8 Attendees
Location
Montgomery
Type Tools and Resources, Papers
IdeaBounce is a website and event used to facilitate idea creation and collaboration. Budding entrepreneurs post information about their ideas (without giving away too much) at www.ideabounce.com, then deliver a two-minute elevator pitch to solicit additional feedback. This allows for virtual and in-person connections. In the classroom, faculty can require each student or groups of students to post and pitch. At the institutional level, public IdeaBounce events can be held to encourage cross-campus participation.
Tags Fri 3B1
6:30 PM
to 11:59 PM
March Madness for the Mind
21 Attendees
Location
Exploratorium
The March Madness for the Mind exhibition is a celebration of student E-Team innovation and entrepreneurship. Each year, top E-Teams (collaborating groups of college students, faculty and industry mentors) showcase their work in a science or technology museum during NCIIA's annual meeting, many unveiling their cutting-edge innovations to the public for the first time.
8:00 AM
to 9:00 AM
Breakfast plenary: Steve Blank
22 Attendees
Location
Ballroom
Type Conference Events, Meals
Steve Blank, author of Four Steps to the Epiphany, will share currents and trends in Silicon Valley as they relate to entrepreneurship and design thinking educators.
9:00 AM
to 10:30 AM
Tinkering, A Vehicle for Teaching Innovation in the University Industrial Design Studio
5 Attendees
Location
Mason II
One of the inherent dilemmas regarding the teaching of innovation is that if we, as teachers, become too prescriptive or recipe-oriented with our assignments and lectures, we run the risk of missing the very essence of innovative thinking. How do we teach a subject that really can't be taught in the same formal manner as a language or science course? The answer lies in the teacher's ability to not be overly restrictive and create an environment conducive to innovative thinking. What is this environment and what kind of tools and activities help students tap into the part of their brain that allows for innovation? The author describes various tools and activities he has used in his industrial design studio to promote innovation amongst his students. The most powerful of these is the activity of tinkering, and is the focus of this session.
Tags Sat 1A2
9:00 AM
to 10:30 AM
What's Your Problem? Designing Questions that Lead to Creative Solutions
13 Attendees
Location
Jackson
Some people call it Need Finding, others call it Point of View, and others call it Problem Definition. Whatever you call it, crafting a thoughtful question is key to finding a valuable solution. Without a well-thought-out problem, the resulting solutions are apt to be mundane or meaningless. This workshop will focus on framing problems in ways that lead to the most creative solutions. Participants will be introduced to powerful techniques that facilitate the process of finding innovative solutions to challenging problems in all areas, including design, research, business, teaching, and in their personal lives.
Tags Sat 1E
10:30 AM
to 11:00 AM
11:00 AM
to 12:30 PM
UC Davis D-Lab Activity: Build a small wind generator in two hours!
8 Attendees
Location
Sansome
Type Clean Energy, Workshops
The WindBelt wind generator is a example of a "confluent technology": a design that grows out of the highly constrained energy landscape of developing countries with far-reaching applications worldwide. This hands-on workshop, adopted from the UC Davis D-Lab curriculum, will teach participants the basic theory behind power generation and walk them through the steps to build one. Each group will build a working prototype from scratch and test it in the NCIIA "wind tunnel." The workshop will include: basic theory behind power generation; an overview of the need for small-scale power generation in the developing world; the use of basic hand tools; the use of jigs and fixtures; and the basics of wind power.
Tags Sat 2B
11:00 AM
to 12:30 PM
Assessing the Patent Landscape: A method for the entrepreneur
4 Attendees
Location
Mason II
Type Intellectual Property, Papers
Beginning with the earliest stages of developing an invention and continuing through to commercialization, it is prudent to assess the competitive patent landscape. Knowing the competitions' proprietary advantage is important in defining a new product's features and specifications to avoid a potential lawsuit for patent infringement. Too often this is ignored and the new product has to be redesigned in response to a cease and desist letter. While it is preferable that a patent attorney be engaged to evaluate this threat during the design process, financial limitations of the inventor may make this unfeasible. Accordingly, the authors' simplified method of classifying patents may be the most practical alternative and the resulting data can be incorporated in table form into a business plan. The authors explain the rationale for the seven basic classifications and provide a real-world application of the method.
Tags Sat 2D3
11:00 AM
to 12:30 PM
Developing, Protecting, and Transferring Intellectual Property in Undergraduate Capstone Courses
4 Attendees
Location
Mason II
Type Intellectual Property, Papers
To successfully complete the Engineering Technology Capstone Design Sequence at Texas A&M, student teams must function as small startup ventures to transition an idea, opportunity or problem statement to a fully functional product prototype ready for operational testing and validation. With the programs' new-found success, both public and private sector organizations are becoming actively involved in the sponsorship of capstone projects. Issues such as intellectual property rights and licensing are now being addressed so that guidelines and procedures are in place to insure a true winning experience for students, faculty and the external sponsor. Working with the Office of Technology Commercialization, our programs have established a formal process for protecting and transferring intellectual property know-how to the sponsoring organization or managing the IP for licensing and commercialization. This session describes the process, provides examples of success, and presents the lessons learned.
Tags Sat 2D1
12:30 PM
to 2:00 PM
