Develop Ways for Scientists and Engineers to Cross-Pollinate With the Business and Entrepreneurial Community

My research specialty is the politics and economics of innovation. One consistent finding across the research literature is that good things happen when science and engineering faculty/students get together with MBA faculty/students. However our business school is physically and socially separated from the rest of campus. In the long run, we should consider relocating the business school into the center of campus and equip it with an amazing cafeteria and cafe to draw in the science-engineering crowd.

Second, our science-engineering grad students need to better understand the nuts-and-bolts of converting their research into practical problem solving. Therefore they need to take some basic classes in business so that they know how to think about their research from a business perspective: how to market their research, write a business prospectus, put together a research budget, etc. They need to understand how to approach businessmen and venture capitalists to turn their research into profitable products and services.

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Comment (1)

BIg Idea - practical problem-solving Submitted by on Wednesday January 20, at 6:54 pm

with the incredible expertise that exists at Tech, we should be able to create a "for-profit" business or center that could be contracted by governments and others looking to effect a BIG project or change. For a fee, we put together a team with our experts and help accomplish their planning, while in the process honing the skills of the people involved, and giving our students (the few who are chosen to participate) hands-on experience bringing the theoretical to the practical. The profit would serve to create a buffer for us from the kind of state budget crises we've been experiencing, and enable us to accomplish what no other university has or can.