New York, NY – New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) is developing a pilot program to promote an entrepreneurial spirit in its School of Engineering and Computing Sciences. Through an interdisciplinary collaboration with NYIT's School of Management, all undergraduate engineering and computer science students will learn how to move their ideas in robotics, mechatronics, medical devices, e-healthcare, software, or mobile phone applications from design and prototyping to the marketplace.

This curricular and co-curricular "Entrepreneurship Path for Undergraduate Students" pilot aligns with the engineering school's mission of supporting its students in becoming "industry ready" while equipping them with the fundamentals needed to pursue their own inventions, startups, or business ventures upon graduation. This innovative program is being funded through a grant from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) for the period August 1, 2013 – December 31, 2014.

The program is structured around two major components: an Entrepreneurship Curricular Track and Co-Curricular Activities and Resources, including an enterprise team (E-Team) competition open to all NYIT undergraduate students. The Curricular Track will offer a team-taught entrepreneurship course drawing upon the joint expertise of engineering and management faculty and drawing from curricula, namely the "Senior Design Project" two-semester course sequence in Engineering and the "Small Business and Entrepreneurial Studies" track in Management. It will promote innovation and entrepreneurship with support from the School of Engineering's executive advisory board composed of senior level managers of large corporations, presidents of small and medium businesses, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and angel investors.

"We believe that the entrepreneurial talent and capabilities of engineering students are still latent and their translation to innovation and commercialization requires appropriate stimuli and support systems including proper mentoring, training and resources. We are thrilled to develop this program leveraging additional NYIT expertise to give engineering students a boost and equip them for success in entrepreneurship and management, including the confidence and ability to network and gain access to capital," said Nada Marie Anid, Ph.D., dean of NYIT's engineering school the principal investigator on this research project.

Joanne Scillitoe, Ph.D., Director, Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and an associate professor of entrepreneurship at NYIT's School of Management said, "Developing an entrepreneurial culture at NYIT requires interdisciplinary efforts that this pilot program involves. Having a solid technological or engineering concept that addresses a current problem or new opportunity is a great foundation for entrepreneurial efforts. Knowing how to manage the invention and innovation process to enter the market for profitability requires business knowledge that must co-exist with the invention process for market success. Being involved in this pilot program provides a great learning opportunity for the students to consider business issues in the context of their senior design project as well as insights on how to best commercialize their invention transitioning their business training from the abstract to a real world application."

Within this pilot resources will be available for senior design students to help foster a spirit of entrepreneurship within NYIT and to inspire a cross-school as well as school-wide conversation among students and faculty about how best to move promising ideas from concepts and prototypes to marketable products and services.

The overall goal of the "Entrepreneurship Path" program is to develop an NYIT entrepreneurship ecosystem to complement the larger NYC and Long Island ecosystem for entrepreneurial success of engineering and computer science undergraduates' capstone projects. Planned tasks and activities, along with corresponding deliverables and outcomes, will be measured by the number of students participating in the program, the number of E-teams formed, the number of proposals and business plans developed, and the number of start-ups formed.

The entrepreneurship modules developed during the pilot will be permanently integrated into NYIT's curricula, creating a permanent and sustainable Entrepreneurship Path for engineering and computer science students beyond the lifetime of the NCIIA grant.

About NCIIA

The NCIIA catalyzes positive social and environmental impact through invention and technological innovation by providing funding, training and mentoring for university faculty and student innovators. With support from The Lemelson Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Agency for International Development and a membership of nearly 200 colleges and universities from all over the United States, the NCIIA engages approximately 5,000 student entrepreneurs each year, leveraging their campuses as working laboratories for invention and innovation and incubators for businesses, and ultimately helping them to bring their ideas to market. For more information, visit www.nciia.org.

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About NYIT

New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) offers 90 degree programs, including undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees, in more than 50 fields of study, including architecture and design; arts and sciences; education; engineering and computing sciences; health professions; management; and osteopathic medicine. A non-profit independent, private institution of higher education, NYIT has 13,000 students attending campuses on Long Island and Manhattan, online, and at its global campuses. NYIT sponsors 11 NCAA Division II programs and one Division I team.

Led by President Edward Guiliano, NYIT is guided by its mission to provide career-oriented professional education, offer access to opportunity to all qualified students, and support applications-oriented research that benefits the larger world. To date, nearly 95,000 graduates have received degrees from NYIT. For more information, visit nyit.edu.

Elizabeth Sullivan
Public Relations Strategist
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