Research to commercialization: Entre/intrapreneurship of high technology university research for creation of local start-up companies

Abstract

A three-course technology commercialization sequence has been initiated at the University of Arkansas under the financial support of the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (http://www.nciia.org). These courses combine Masters students from business, science, engineering, and law schools into teams in the classroom. The objective of the first class in the sequence (during the spring semester) is to introduce the elements of the evaluation process that is used to decide if a research area is a suitable candidate for commercialization (in either an entrepreneurial or intrapreneurial environment). The students then apply this evaluation process to current on-campus research results, select a suitable commercialization candidate, and work with the technology transfer office and research professor to commercialize the research during the following summer and fall semesters. The first course in the sequence was initiated in the Spring 2000 semester with mixed results. This paper will introduce the detailed class plan and course materials, an analysis of class concept performance after its first year of operation, and a discussion of changes incorporated into the class for the spring 2001 semester. The reader may examine the on-line course materials at the web site http://cavern.uark.edu:8900/ by entering as a guest user and then selecting course MGMT 5383.