In Spring 2011 the Engineering Management faculty will be offering a three credit-hour capstone project course for senior engineering students with a concentration in Engineering Management. Over the semester, teams of three students will work with the founders of six local seed-stage technology companies through the thinking, analysis, and planning processes needed to turn their concept into an innovation strategy that then could be executed on. This memo is to invite you to consider offering us your innovation concept as a project to tackle. If interested, please reply at your earliest convenience. The due date for submitting a project proposal is Dec. 15.

What kinds of innovations and companies would be good candidates for an innovation strategy project?

Innovation involves taking an invention or innovation concept to commercial reality. We are looking for technology entrepreneurs who are considering launching a company or have recently organized one for the purpose of commercializing an innovation concept that takes advantage of new or emerging technology. Since the student team projects do not involve the development of technology itself, we are looking for technical concepts that are for the most part developed – to the proof of concept stage or beyond. At the same time, we are looking for concepts where the business thinking (business models, business plans, marketing strategies) is at an early stage. The teams’ job is to help the entrepreneur through the thinking, experimentation, and rigorous research processes that will move the concept to the point of commercial launch, sale to an acquirer, or presentation to a new venture investor.

Who from Vanderbilt will be participating in the Innovation Strategy Project?

The students participating in the projects are carefully screened spring semester seniors who have concentrated their studies in engineering management and who have completed all the coursework requirements in the subject area. They will use the project as an opportunity to integrate and apply everything they’ve learned.

They will be guided by Vanderbilt’s Engineering Management faculty, senior people with industry experience who bring wide-ranging skill sets, including expertise in intellectual property, enterprise development, finance, manufacturing, project management, marketing, technology strategy, and organizational development.

The project teams will apply a comprehensive, systematic approach to innovation commercialization known as Accelerated Radical Innovation (ARI). The ARI methodology is based on research and development involving innovation scholars and practitioners from several institutions and countries over the past seven years. It has been applied to a variety of early-stage technologies (for more information, see http://ari-institute.com/). The projects will aid in the further refinement and validation of the methodology in diverse settings.

What is expected of participating companies and teams?

Over the course of the semester, you should expect to meet with your team weekly for about one hour at a mutually agreeable time and place (usually either the client site or a conference room at Vanderbilt). The project will proceed along the following timeline over the course of the Spring semester (Jan. 12-May 5):

· Week 0: Three-person team forms, reviews project descriptions, and selects a project.

· Week 1. ARI methodology overview for teams and clients. Initial meeting with client. Client orients team to the innovation concept, the business objectives, and the associated technology, and provides any needed background information.

· Weeks 2-3. Team confirms and quantifies the business opportunity.

· Weeks 4-8. Team applies the ARI innovation scorecard to pinpoint, analyze, and priortize challenges and hurdles to commercialization.

· Weeks 9-11. Team applies co-develops with the innovator a business plan (system-level vision, business model, and commercialization roadmap).

· Weeks 12-14. Team develops implementation plan (innovation value network, prototyping plan, and commercialization and exit strategy).

· Week 14. Final client presentation, clarification of next steps, and handoff.

Other than your time and guidance to the team, you should not incur any expenses unless you authorize them.

Next Step…

If you’re interested in proceeding, the next step is to put together a project description to enable the students to select projects in their area of interest or training. The description should include:

· A description (or vision), in general terms, of the innovation concept (what it is, how it works, its current state of development)

· Commercialization objectives for the innovation concept (target market, application)

· Key commercialization challenges (technical, market, organizational, etc.)

· Contact information: name of project leader, title, organization, phone, e-mail, website (if one exists)

· Optional: If you feel it’s important for members of the team to have any particular interest, background, or prior course work, this would be helpful to include in your description.

Deadline for submission of project descriptions: Dec. 15

Contact Information

John A. Bers, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of the Practice

Engineering Management Program

http://engm.vuse.vanderbilt.edu/

Vanderbilt University School of Engineering

Featheringill Hall Room 336

P. O. Box 351518 Station B

Nashville, TN 37235 USA

Phone: (615) 343-4965; fax (615) 322-7062

E-mail: john.a.bers(at)vanderbilt.edu

With over 1,000 attendees, this five day conference is the largest educational conference for data center management professionals worldwide.  Celebrating its 30th anniversary, Data Center World hits the Nashville community, March 7th – 11th, at Gaylord Opryland Resort, bringing together a wide spectrum of attendees including CIOs, MIS Directors, Network and Communications managers, Systems Software managers, Facility managers, Disaster Recovery specialists, Security managers, and Operations managers.  

Not only is there the opportunity to network with peers and potential clients from businesses across the nation, there are a number of chances to educate from these individuals as well.  Conference case studies will take you through a real-life data center crisis and teach you the ins and outs of working through the problem.  Choose from 7 different roundtable discussions, which will give you the chance to ask questions to a panel if industry experts.  In addition, you can sign up for a data center tour at Nashville’s very own Dolphini Networks or Vanderbilt University’s ITS Facility.  This event also has optional tutorials, facilities/greening tracks, product information sessions, and industry leading keynote addresses.  

To find out more information on this event, visit http://www.datacenterworld.com/index.html.

The Nashville Startup Weekend crew hosted a pitch camp last night. The pitch camp listened to more than 20 different pitches and helped the budding entrepreneurs hone their pitch skills.  In addition, the audience gathered at Owen Graduate School at Vanderbilt, was able to get more information about the weekend.

For $40, participants get to work within teams to start a business over the weekend, which includes food and drinks over the weekend.

Joe Kustelski, the product manager for the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, not only provided feedback as a guest panelist, but pitched his own ideas as well.  Chris Ennis joined the pitch session via Skype.  The whole event was viewable live on UStream.com.

Nashville Startup Weekend is October 9-11, 2009, with Pitching beginning at 5:30 pm.  Everyone will have one minute to pitch their ideas.  Then the participants will select the top 8-10 ideas and begin forming companies and working immediately.  On Sunday afternoon, the companies will pitch their company to participants and selected capital players.

Register Now!

On Friday, the Vanderbilt Accelerator Program presented its thoughts and ideas on how to brand Nashville as an Entrepreneur City.  The presentations were as diverse as the student’s backgrounds. “The energy and enthusiasm of the students was amazing,” said J. Tod Fetherling, President of the Nashville Technology Council.  “The presentations showed the power of using creativity and research to build brand value.”

Every group took a different view on how to brand the city.  The Music City brand was included in most of the presentations, but not all.  Most of the groups presented a competition concept to help launch the brand and attract both entrepreneurs and capital to Nashville.  The winning team’s tagline was Nashville, Where Innovation Sings.  Second place went to I AM MUSIC CITY.  Both of these campaigns have a lot of potential to be used in the final marketing plan for the Entrepreneur Center.  Stay tuned Nashville.

Accelerator—Vanderbilt Summer Business Institute is an intensive immersion in business designed exclusively for undergraduates and recent grads in all majors. In four fast-paced weeks at the Owen Graduate School of Management (May 29 to June 26, 2009) some of the top young minds from around the globe are immersed in real-world consulting roles for companies, helping to solve issues in marketing, logistics, finance, operations and branding. Within a competitive team structure and with a “grab it and go” education from world-class Vanderbilt faculty, these students are challenged to deliver the best solutions possible for these businesses, and in doing do, shape their careers in ways that a traditional internship simply cannot come close to replicating.

While we don’t have a horse in the running for the Triple Crown this year, we do a city trying to pull off a Triple Play.  Nashville is working to position itself as a mecca for Music, Health, and Technology.  Underlying the success of all three industries is the entrepreneurial spirit in Nashville. Can it be done?

Milt Capps reported in his Blog this week about the Washington Post story covering The National Economic Stress Index from the AP.  The story specifically calls out Nashville and our ability to transform the city using the Music City Brand.  Check One.  More and more our city is being held out in national publications as unique.  We need to continue to embrace this as part of our culture.  Visit the index, it is very cool use of data and technology.

Second is our dominance in Health Care.  The work of the Nashville Health Care Council has been exceptional in branding Nashville as the Silicon Valley of Health Care.  And it is true.  The Provider and Payer industries growing out of Nashville is extraordinary and should continue to help the city weather the economic turmoil.

Third is our entrepreneurial spirit.  Approximately 21.6% of economic engine of the city is compromised of self employed/entrepreneurial ventures.  That is amazing.  We lead most major cities in this category.  The history as revealed by Ralph Schultz goes back centuries and continues to drive the economy.  So in building a brand as an entrepreneurial city, we first need to recognize it ourselves and then begin to promote it externally.

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon with a packed room full of young energetic, smart college students as part of Vanderbilt’s Accelerator Program.  It was facinating to hear their perceptions of Nashville after a great series of presentations from the Chamber, CVB, and local entrepreneurs.  What I learned is that Nashville is experimental city, meaning that when people physically experience what our city has to offer, they are surprised and excited.  They want to stay.  I can’t wait to see what these young minds come up with in Branding Nashville as an Entrepreneurial City.

I am ready to bet on our ability to win the Triple Crown.  How about you?